Describes qualitative techniques and their use in industrial and vocational psychology for theory generation, elaboration, and testing. Discusses research design, data analysis, and best practices using qualitative methods. Contains 54 references. (SK)

Comments on the draft research guidelines prepared at the 1997 annual meeting of the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). (Author/CCM)

Illustrates a range of alternatives to the position and criteria outlined in the qualitative research guidelines drafted at the 1997 annual meeting of the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). Proposes that the process and conduct of judging the quality of qualitative research in environmental education research requires…

Discussion of the editorial process for journals in library and information science focuses on problems presented by qualitative research, including definition, structure, voice, and meaning, that can influence the reactions of editors and referees. Topics include why authors should understand the editorial process, and strategies for changing the…

Introduces the concepts and terminology of qualitative research methodologies in the context of science education. Discusses interviewing, observing, validity, reliability, and confirmability. (Author/MM)

Discusses qualitative methods of impact analysis and provides an introductory treatment of one such approach. Combines an awareness of an alternative causal epistemology with current knowledge of qualitative methods of data collection and measurement to produce an approach to the analysis of impacts. (SLD)

This paper explores the challenges involved in the development of coordinated management consulting services for small and medium-sized international companies in the East of England. This paper synthesises the findings of recently published quantitative and qualitative research to identify the characteristics of small to medium-sized enterprises…

This paper focuses on the data analysis stage of phenomenographic research, elucidating what is involved in terms of both commonality and variation in accepted practice. The analysis stage of phenomenographic research is often not well understood. This paper helps to clarify the process, initially by collecting together in one location the more…

Since its original inception in the 1960s grounded theory has been widely used by many qualitative researchers. However, recently epistemologically different versions of grounded theory have been presented and this epistemological diversity among grounded theorists and the erosion of the method will be the major focus of this paper. The first…

This qualitative study was undertaken to explore the meaning that students make of their interactions with campus judicial systems. Using a multiple case study approach, 10 students from 3 institutions in the Southeastern United States were observed and interviewed. The findings presented here relate to students' perceived learning and anticipated…

Researchers have suggested that experimentation may be a necessary, constructive component of identity formation. However, these researchers have also noted the paradox of risk taking; an individual may experience both positive and negative precursors and consequences of risk taking. The present investigation used qualitative methods to explore…

Interviewing is key to many forms of qualitative educational research; we interview respondents for oral histories, life histories, ethnographies, and case studies (see Tierney & Dilley, 2002, for an overview of interviewing in education). Despite the primacy of verbal data in qualitative research, basic introductions to qualitative research…

The multiple segment factorial vignette design (MSFV) combines elements of experimental designs and probability sampling with the inductive, exploratory approach of qualitative research. MSFVs allow researchers to investigate topics that may be hard to study because of ethical or logistical concerns. Participants are presented with short stories…

This paper documents the results of a qualitative study of student-faculty interactions. The work explores the frequency and nature of interactions, sheds light on the determinants of interactions, and reveals the dynamic processes that underlie contact between faculty and students. Focus group results indicate that students have minimal contact…

A National Research Council report, "Scientific Research in Education," has elicited considerable criticism from the education research community, but this criticism has not focused on a key assumption of the report--its Humean, regularity conception of causality. It is argued that this conception, which also underlies other arguments for…