This study identifies major problems and concerns encountered when attempting to apply the multifaceted classification model developed by Campbell and others (1981) called "Patterns of Participation," which describes the multiple ways that secondary students participate in vocational education and how their courses are classified. It…

A study was conducted to clarify some of the ambiguous findings reported in the media dependency literature. Specifically, it sought to establish whether relationships between use of the media and surveillance gratifications obtained from that use were affected by an individual's medium of primary reliance or whether these relationships might be…

Throughout most of the 1970s, the two major competing syndicated services measuring consumer magazine audiences utilized different methodologies in gathering magazine audience measurements and released somewhat differing figures. A study was conducted to explore the historical developments of W.R. Simmons and Associates Research, Inc. (Simmons),…

In the educational research literature alpha, the a priori level of significance, and p, the a posteriori probability of obtaining a test statistic of at least a certain value when the null hypothesis is true, are often confused. Explanations for this confusion are offered. Paradoxically, alpha retains a prominent place in textbook discussions of…

This digest discusses demographic, technological and other factors influencing adult career development and describes new career services, assessment instruments, and interventions for adults. Problems with research in the area of adult career development are noted. (MCF)

This paper presents a historical overview of the use of action research in education and describes the basic assumptions and expectations that continue to characterize collaborative research projects today. Action research was initiated in the 1930's by Kurt Lewin and adapted by educators in the 1940's. Interest in action research declined between…

In almost all applications of measurement there is some sort of response by a human subject. Almost always, the response scale is ordinal, but almost always it is treated as if it were an interval measure. Methods for treating data ordinally are currently being developed in three areas: ordinal analysis for questionnaire responses, ordinal…

Elementary school children made same-different judgments of prototypes of letterlike forms paired with transforms of these prototypes generated on a dimension either critical or noncritical for object identification. Results challenge the view that dimensions irrelevant in object identification are ignored or not detected in graphic…

This paper discusses the special problems of research in desiging for user groups with various functional limitations, such as the elderly, the mentally ill, and the economically deprived. (Author)

The range of methodological choices appropriate to adult education research is surveyed in this study. The most central consideration is the conflict between emphases on quantitative techniques and various approaches to researchable areas which are not grounded in positivistic/empirical designs. Skills, talents, defects, and ideologies reflected…

A review of primary sources relative to the death of John Sassamon, an American Indian, reveals the difficulties of ethnocentrism, religious bias, and/or personal interest encountered by historians. (JC)

This study was designed to determine the extent to which (speech) motor timing control, as defined by a statistical model, improves in consistency with age and the degree to which peripheral feedback is used by children to maintain this consistency. Clinical applications and possible genetic implications are discussed. (Author/ED)

The use of fieldwork in evaluation presents the fieldworker and agencies connected with educational evaluation with a number of critical problems. Four of these problems are identified and discussed: 1) definition of the "problem"; 2) multiplicity of signals, expectations, and responses; 3) dispensation of fieldwork data; and 4) collection of data…