Advocates the use of interviews in conducting research on child learning and development. Explores some of the difficulties inherent in interviewing children (e.g., suggestibility, unwillingness to respond to strangers), interviewer bias, situational variables, uses of the self-report, and ethical considerations. Also outlines approaches used by…

The normative implications of applying significance tests in evaluation research are examined. The authors conclude that evaluators often make normative decisions, based on the traditional .05 significance level in studies with small samples. Additional reporting of the magnitude of impact, the significance level, and the power of the test is…

Ruth Wade replies to an article written by Georgea Sparks in the same issue of "Educational Leadership" (EA 518 309) as a response to Wade's meta-analysis of inservice teacher education also appearing in this issue (EA 518 308). A closer look at the major findings is needed. (DCS)

This paper demonstrates the variety of positive-skew phenomena and discusses their theoretical, research, and practical implications in education. (PN)

Applied ethnography has strengths in areas that vitally need research and can inform policymakers in areas where rationalism and positivism cannot. However, several threats to the ethnographic approach are posed by a utilitarian culture, e.g., redefinition of the variables studied, a focus on discrete facts and "controlling" knowledge…

Suggests that the work of reading researchers may be ineffective because it lacks a practical impact on teacher educators or classroom teachers. (AEA)

Five dissemination models that may ensure that research findings are translated into practice are described from the literature. Current research findings in seven areas (such as technology, curriculum, and early intervention) related to education for visually handicapped people are summarized, together with recommended dissemination procedures.…

Aims to clarify the distinction between elicitation and reinforcement discussed in Bloom (1984); to make explicit theoretical and methodological assumptions about the experimental analysis of infant behavior as shown in components of Poulson (1983); and to clarify differences in interpretation of other infant vocal conditioning research.…

Rubin and Thayer recently presented equations to implement maximum likelihood estimation in factor analysis via the EM algorithm. It is argued here that the advantages of using the EM algorithm remain to be demonstrated. (Author/JKS)

The authors criticize the value-free notion of social science and evaluation. They particularly assail relativists, those who confuse the making of reliable value judgments with how these value judgments are used. (Author/PN)

This note proposes an alternative implementation of the regression method which should be slightly faster than the principal components methods for estimating missing data. (RC)

In most selection validation research, only the upper and lower tails of the criterion distribution are used, often yielding misleading or incorrect results. Provides formulas and tables which enable the researcher to account more accurately for the distribution of criterion within the middle range of population. (Author/RW)

Defines the "worship of p" as the current phenomenon of attaching major significance to statistical analysis, and contends that such statistical analysis and precision are useful only when viewed as secondary tools in scientific research. (MH)

An educational feasibility framework is described which considers constraints to feasibility, sources of data for determining feasibility, and feasibility study methodology. (Author)

Since Shapiro's introduction of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in 1989, it has been a highly controversial therapeutic technique. Critical reviews of Shapiro's initial study have highlighted many methodological shortcomings in her work. And early empirical research that followed Shapiro's original study has been criticized…