This paper discusses some methodological, clinical and theoretical issues in the use of self observation raised in an experiment by McFall. (Author)

Study findings indicate that returns might be increased substantially by increasing the number of novelties or incentives associated with mailed questionnaires. Increases were consistent over differences in sex and type of occupational training completed by the subjects. (Author)

Methodological problems in measuring and interpreting infantile heart rate reactivity in research are discussed. Various ways of describing cardiac activity are listed. Attention is given to the relationship between resting state and heart rate responsivity. (Author/WY)

Discusses implications of a study of middle-class infants seen in the Ainsworth strange situation at 12.5 and 19.5 months; the investigation produced results inconsistent with the corpus of previous findings. (Author/RH)

Criticizes the previous article on positivism in educational thought by Denis Phillips. Takes issue with Phillips' assumption that, at the base of theoretical disputes and inquiry, there exists a final and absolute truth. (GC)

Updates the author's 1968 perceptions of the quality of periodical literature in educational administration. Finds improvement in journal content but also points out continued circumlocution in researchers' writing and an enduring gulf between researchers and practitioners. (RW)

With regard to the preceding articles in this issue, Joseph F. Dominic identifies key ideas of the research on writing, Susan Florio-Ruane points out similarities and differences among the articles, and Nancy L. Stein discusses methodological and conceptual issues in writing research. (RH)

Examines the "cognitive process theory of writing" expounded by writing researchers Linda Flower and John R. Hayes, discussing problems with their theory and with the methodology on which it is based. (HTH)

Noncognitivism, the belief that normative statements (unlike empirical statements) do not convey objective knowledge is contrasted to Karl Popper's "critical dualism," which maintains that science is imbued with values and value judgments. Noncognitivism impedes the development of a social scientific method which would integrate…

Reports on a study designed (1) to modify one of the few existing standardized tests of conservation so that it can be used to assess the conservation of identity as well as the conservation of equivalence and (2) to use both versions of the test to gather additional evidence on the question of developmental priority among young children. (MP)

Discusses the difference of opinion between evaluators over the correct interpretation of the results of an experimental program aimed at reducing recidivism of ex-convicts by providing them with a monthly monetary allowance. This article explicates this difference and attempts to resolve it. (Author/AM)

Although Piaget's theory remains the most impressive in its field, there are reasons for caution: its tenuous base in good data, overemphasis on failures or successes of logical structure as explanations of behavior, underemphasis on the possibility that much knowledge is socially constructed and transmitted, and the central but dubious tenet of…

Ascribes difficulties associated with the use of ethnography in educational research to faulty or partial transmission of traits from one sociocultural system to another. Maintains that the appropriate use of ethnography demands that the whole trait complex be borrowed. Describes educational studies that used ethnographic methods. (Author/MJL)

Implications of controlled studies for health professions education are explored. An alternative research strategy is proposed, in which descriptive account of a situation allowing the important factors to become apparent throughout the observation is emphasized. This facilitates an hypothesis-generation strategy. (GK)