Outlines problems encountered and strategies evolved to deal with them in four studies of the elderly in Manitoba, Canada. Ethical concerns include consent, obligations of the researcher to the respondent, and demands of the respondent. Emphasizes the heterogeneity of the elderly population and its effect on research process. (Author)

Reviews some problems which have risen from the neglect of actual language behavior data in favor of data comprised solely of intuitions as to sentences' grammaticality. Discusses a study of syntactic variation across sex in Japanese as an example of research using socially situated real speech. (EKN)

Provides further support for the contention held by Thomas, Chess, and Korn (1982) that the concept of difficult temperament is not totally a construction of the parents. (MP)

Correction for guessing does not fulfill its intended function when test takers who have nothing to gain from scoring will respond randomly when they could have answered correctly had they tried. Raw scores underestimate abilities. If random guessing is more prevalent in the control group, correction for guessing inflates treatment effects.…

Examines these questions: What are life histories? What problems and people are best suited for them? What motivates people to write them? Does the collection procedure affect the content? and How should the material be analyzed? (Author/SK)

Meta-analysis techniques were used to examine almost 200 studies that considered the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and academic achievement. Results indicated that as SES is typically defined and used, it is only weakly correlated with academic achievement. (Author/RH)

Discusses a survey undertaken to determine how much attention natural and social scientists pay to the works of philosophers of science. A citation analysis revealed that social scientists are more than 25 times as likely as natural scientists to cite the works of prominent philosophers of science. Implications and explanations are presented. (DB)

Post-hoc blocking and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) both employ a concomitant variable to increase statistical power relative to the completely randomized design. It is argued that the advantages attributed to the block design are not always valid and that there are circumstances when the ANCOVA would be preferred to post-hoc blocking.…

To test the use of Bayes's theorem to adjust for nonresponse bias, 600 hospitals were used in a simulated sample survey. On the basis of known information on five variables, Bayes's formula correctly predicted the status of 92 of the 100 "nonrespondents" relative to a sixth variable. (Author/BW)

Criticizes Roger Perry's article about research on alternative schools for failing to define terms explicitly and failing to adequately describe the types of alternatives he was discussing. Holds that Perry's article only adds more confusion to educational theory and gives a picture of hopelessness about the viability of alternative schools.…

The author considers the need for and the problems involved with research into educational futures, emphasizing that such a task demands detailed values-inquiry. He therefore suggests that educational philosophers begin to tackle problems at the classroom level and in cooperation with empirical researchers. (Author/SJL)

Presents a general description of curriculum studies made in the sociology of education and comparative education in the past decade. Discusses structural/functional studies, studies in the "new" sociology of education, and ethnomethodological studies. Argues that ethnomethodology provides the most heuristic approach to curriculum…

Considers evidence on the criteria and characteristics of critical period phenomena with respect to endogenous and exogenous influences. Describes and evaluates methodology of critical period research and discusses past attempts at subclassification of the field and "recovery of function" as a refutation of the critical period…

Points out the problems in designing and evaluating research on writing courses. (JL)

Points out that teaching writing with a process style and conducting in-class research may be inherently incompatible activities. (JL)