This qualitative study assessed clients' participation in organizational decision making in a public long-term psychiatric hospital. Numerous examples were found in which clients meaningfully participated in the decision-making process and achieved favorable policy changes. Three means of involving clients were found to be especially useful: (1)…

Transition models include components of student self-determination during transition planning meetings. Researchers acknowledge that cultural identity may influence both transition decisions and self-determination strategies. Yet the appropriateness of these approaches for culturally and linguistically diverse students with learning disabilities…

The issue of boundaries between professionals and individuals/families is well documented within the clinical fields of counseling and social work but not thoroughly investigated in special education. Because maintaining quality relationships between families and educators is important, the development of appropriate guidelines requires a thorough…

Advocacy is an integral component to effective school counseling. Using focus group methodology with nine school counselors, this qualitative study examined how current school counselors define advocacy and how and when school counselors advocate on behalf of individual students. Further, this research also explored how school counselors have…

The paper reports a study for determining a suitable process for converting traditional surface science courses into case-based learning ones in two universities in Hong Kong. In this preparative study, a set of baseline data was collected on the current level of students' conceptual understanding and also students' perceptions about the…

In this study, the authors report on their research into the inquiry component of a newly conceptualized pre-service teacher education program. In a series of focus group discussions conducted over a 3-year period, 17 teacher candidates talked about their understanding of, and their experiences with inquiry. They were able to identify benefits…

Background:: A variety of definitions of child abuse and neglect exist. However, little is known about norms in the general population as to what constitutes child abuse and neglect or how perceived norms may be related to personal experiences. Methods:: We conducted a random-digit-dialed telephone survey of 504 Washington State adults.…

Since perestroika there have been many changes in Central and Eastern Europe. The states of the region have regained the opportunity to establish partnerships within the European Union. Higher education development has enabled increased communication and opportunities for staff and students. Greater interaction has resulted in a greater mobility…

The world regards AIDS as the most disastrous health threat in the world. HIV/AIDS- related issues amongst adolescents were initially neglected due to the visible impact of this pandemic on babies and adults. Adolescents' behavior is however regarded as high-risk because of their involvement in sexual activities from a young age. The purpose of…

Focus group research is commonly employed in communication and related disciplines. Despite the growing popularity of focus group methodology, it is generally discussed only briefly in research methods texts. Students are very familiar with the process of taking a survey, but most have never participated in focus groups, and a brief lecture on…

In this article, the authors present two stories that depict the best and worst of times experienced by today's community college students. Within these narratives are both vestiges of the past--pieces that some colleges have yet to fully discard--and exemplars of a potentially brighter, more engaging future. While they are fictitious, these…

Purpose: To provide current information on managers' expectations of their employees, toward structuring future research on amount of time and energy devoted to work. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative data, acquired through focus groups and interviews, provide a sample of the perceptions of 57 managers in the mid-Atlantic region of the USA…

The use of qualitative methods is increasing in the health education literature, and there is need for more information on these methods and their use. This investigation looks at qualitative sampling practices as reported in the 93 qualitative or mixed-method studies published in Health Education & Behavior from 1980 to 2000. It focuses…

Many researchers have been inquiring into focus groups as a qualitative data collection method (Barbour & Kitzinger 1999; Krueger 1998; Morgan, 1998), but only a few have been able to analyze the different levels of understanding in focus groups, which we focus on in this article. The guiding research question is how do focus groups offer deeper…

Researchers queried school counselors throughout the United States 2 months prior to and 2 months following the April 1999 Columbine (CO) High School shootings. The counselors were asked whether or not they would breach a student's confidentiality in 26 specific scenarios. The "before" and "after" groups were demographically similar but differed…