Discusses the generalizability of educational research and uses the area of main idea comprehension to illustrate how a line of research can be overgeneralized and lead to unfounded conclusions and pedagogical implications. (FL)

Describes a study of reliability among coders of information for meta-analysis (a quantitative procedure for synthesizing data in primary research reports) of research on life satisfaction in American adults. Identifies sources and areas of disagreement among coders and discusses measures that can be used to enhance intercoder consistency.…

The normalized mean is developed and discussed as a descriptive measure of central location. The advantages of the normalized mean over the arithmetic mean, median, and trimmed mean are discussed. (Author)

Collected information on the quality of needs assessments of the elderly from three sources. Found that the overall quality of the majority of needs assessments was so low as to provide little meaningful input to the planning process. Recommends that states focus on the improvement of needs assessment efforts. (Author)

Responds to Wilson and Wilson's critique (Sept 1981) of the use of the developmental approach to the study of children's art. Lewis argues that the developmental approach is appropriate for age-related studies and it should not be abandoned as a method because researchers are working on projects where its use is applicable. (AM)

It is argued here that the choice of the appropriate method for calculating least squares analysis of variance with unequal sample sizes depends upon the question the experimenter wants to answer about the data. The different questions reflect different null hypotheses. An example is presented using two alternative methods. (Author/BW)

Results from a study of 104 college students generally did not corroborate previous findings. A small, statistically significant correlation between locus of control and birth control knowledge was found, but the practical significance of the relationship was diminished because the correlation was small and other relationships tested were found to…

Proposes that three sets of variables must be analyzed in order to determine the growth and direction of the sociological study of ethnicity: (1) the diversification of theoretical approaches; (2) the innovation in research methods; and (3) the implications of community social policy concerns. Demonstrates this approach in research focusing on…

This article describes the potential measurement problem in analyzing costs and benefits of vocational education so that policymakers and educators can distinguish between proper use and misuse of this evaluation technique. (Author/CT)

Presents national data on teacher salary trends from 1967 to 1980 as background for a review of 15 major studies on collective bargaining's effects on teacher salaries. Discusses problems in the research and concludes that the studies indicate bargaining has had some effect on salaries. (RW)

A case study of a survey of new students made at a postsecondary vocational-technical school illustrates several sampling problems, including sample size, target population definition, determination of research purposes, costs, error tolerance, accuracy, and interpretation of research results for use by policymakers. (RW)

Pure and applied mathematical research is discussed briefly. The author gives an example of mathematical research on functional differential equations that was motivated by a student error on a calculus examination. (MK)

This research note examines respondent-nonrespondent bias in a statewide population survey. The findings indicate general support for using master lists in the selection of respondents for participation in a large mail questionnaire survey. Two papers follow which react to this information. (Author/CT)

This study provides support for the hypothesized effect of leniency on the discriminant validity of grouped questionnaire items. It was found that controlling for leniency resulted in a slight decrement in convergent validity but that discriminant validity was substantially improved. Implications for questionnaire validity and further research are…

Focuses on the fundamental issues of criticism of participatory research: responses to the critique of traditional research; conceptual clarifications; the role of values; uses and misuses; and questions of class relationships. (SK)