The content of graduate courses on qualitative research methods in higher education research is discussed. Major topics suggested include entree and building rapport, field notes and data management, adequacy criteria, ethics in qualitative inquiry, site selection, and writing the case study. (Author/MSE)

This article reviews basic issues of theory and method in qualitative research approaches to applied linguistics research, focusing on the ways in which qualitative research can contribute to an understanding of second-language acquisition and use. (83 references) (MDM)

Fourth and fifth graders who had completed the mile-run physical fitness test were interviewed to determine what they thought, felt, and knew about the test. Students reported little understanding of why they had to complete the test. They viewed it as a painful, negative experience that was little fun. (SM)

Addresses problems of ethnographic educational research that lead to theoretical and linguistic difficulties often unresolved in research reports, such as the veneration of research participant/informants. Related concerns include researcher's position in the study, ethnography as a product of research, ethnography as textual practice, researcher…

Illuminative evaluation is concerned primarily with description and interpretation. At an English residential outdoor education center, illuminative evaluation of the program involves establishing operational questions for study and collecting data through questionnaires, interviews, observation, document analysis, and field notes. Data are…

A scale was developed for measuring the persuasive impact of qualitative and quantitative evaluation reports on decision makers. Using two exploratory (n=192 graduate and undergraduate students) and two confirmatory (n=200 administrators) samples, researchers developed a 28-item Likert-type scale that demonstrated high reliability and validity.…

Ethnographic research methodology is reviewed as an emerging methodology in special education, with application made particularly to understanding regular classrooms into which students with learning handicaps may be integrated. Suggested descriptive questions for an ethnographic interview are given, for use in research investigations and in…

Argues that the clinical trial paradigm is the wrong model for educational research. Interpretive case study research suggests that the best thing policymakers can do for educational improvement is to give local educators and school communities more freedom and funding to work out their own ways to improve practice. (SLD)

Reports on 18 months of action research that examined the effectiveness of using the history of science to promote British students' understanding of the nature of science. Both quantitative and interview data offer substantial evidence of a strategic movement away from serendipitous empiricism and toward an appreciation of the interactive nature…

Discussion of the use of qualitative research methodology in the study of information-seeking behavior focuses on a study of the information-seeking attributes of 31 members of the Stanford University (California) academic community. Qualitative and quantitative analyses are explained, and issues and problems encountered in implementing the…

Describes a qualitative study of affective variables in the second-language experience. The study used as its data, graduate students' self-report papers about their Community Language Learning experience, which revealed three affective variables--anxiety, motivation, and attitude. (41 references) (JL)

Considers how sociohistorical context affects procedures by which sociologists obtain subject permission for interviews and audiotaping interviews. Reviews a 1950s study involving interviews with institutionalized, schizophrenic women contrasting ethical and institutional implications of informed consent in that context to contemporary informed…

Internal institutional auditing can improve effectiveness and efficiency and protect an institution's assets. Many of the concepts and techniques used to analyze higher education institutions are qualitative in nature and suited to institutional research, including fiscal, operational, data-processing, investigative, management consulting,…

This paper describes student performance and beliefs regarding fractions resulting from a five-phase approach toward developing mathematical intuition via physical materials. Interviews with students using this approach and with students using a conventional textbook approach indicated significant differences in problem-solving abilities and…

An ethnographic approach with added quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis was used to study the extent and nature of technology-based materials in 15 elementary school mathematics classrooms. The blend of methods provided rich and varied information and gave insights either type of analysis could not provide alone. (SLD)