Discusses the difficulties in conducting a case study on the attitudes and beliefs that individuals held about mainstreaming a boy with disabilities, including changes in terminology, methodological dilemmas, and discrepancies between the definitions that participants explicitly shared and observations of their interactions with the boy. (CR)

Nine types of errors occurring in the process of synthesizing research are described, with examples from a recent synthesis of research on teacher professional growth. Types of errors include excluding relevant literature, wrongly reporting details such as sample size, erroneously attributing findings to studies, and stating unwarranted…

Problems in using comparative data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study include the following: inadequate funding of the research; unique cultural factors; questionable sampling procedures; noncomparative curricula; irregularities in test administration; and student preparation for tests. Results do not identify the root…

Although converging evidence favors fostering phonemic segmentation and phonic decoding knowledge in the primary grades, there is little agreement on best ways to accomplish these goals. The well-documented importance of teacher expertise is often ignored. Administrators evaluating reading programs should exercise considerable skepticism and…

A study of 270 abstracts of articles published from 1952 to 1996 investigated the literature on social and emotional needs of gifted students and found most articles were not research based. Half of the articles were overviews of programs, models, or guides and did not include adequate information on their outcomes. (CR)

Shares the experiences of a researcher engaged in qualitative research. Looks at researcher sensitivity and flexibility, ethical dilemmas, and the importance of a good "research alliance" with participants. Discusses, the implications of including participants as collaborators and the role of co-researchers. Emphasizes the impact of…

Examines the claim in a recent paper that biotechnology develops in a self-organizational mode, which is empirically supported by a multivariate analysis of documents from core biotechnology journals showing a relationship between title words and region of origin. This paper argues that this claim is an artifact of the method used. (Author/MES)

Asserts that Harper and McCluskey's study addresses a "second generation" research question concerning differential effects of interventions/settings on children with different characteristics; provides information about needed supports in inclusive settings for children with either severe motor impairments or severely limited language skills.…

Discusses the role of ontology in knowledge representation, including enabling content-based access, interoperability, communications, and new levels of service on the Semantic Web; reviews current ontology generation studies and projects as well as problems facing such research; and discusses ontology mapping, information extraction, natural…

Reiterates hypothesis that there are two routes from onset and rime awareness to reading: one indirect and one direct. Asserts that the evidence that Hulme et al. present against the hypothesis is not convincing, partly because the hypothesis predicts most of the Hulme et al. results and partly because of weaknesses in the design of Hulme et al.'s…

A review of the status of research on literacy concludes that vagueness and ambiguity of definition, measurement, methodology, and evaluation continue to grip the large body of literacy research, debates, and programs, with the underlying assumptions made about the concept of monolingual societies resulting in overly simplified and speculative…

Reviews several assumptions commonly made about the grieving process: that depression is inevitable; that distress is necessary and failure to experience it indicates pathology; that it is necessary to "work through" a loss; and that recovery and resolution are to be expected following loss. Notes that available empirical work fails to support and…

Conducting research in university classrooms is difficult because the lecture method stifles discussion and limits opportunities to observe student/professor interactions. A recent study found that university classrooms are probably as chilly for minority students as they are for women. Bias against foreign students is less discernible. Study…

Characteristics and concerns of faculty development programs are briefly outlined to suggest reasons for the dearth of research in this area of program evaluation. The lack of representative and accurate outcome measures is seen as the central reason behind the lack of research. (TJH)

Inmates engaged in a televised instructional program (n=360) had significantly lower recidivism than nonparticipants. No differences in behavior as measured by disciplinary actions were found. Because of uncontrolled variables (employment and educational level), causal inferences could not be made. (SK)