Evaluating school-based mental health services for children and youth with emotional disturbance (ED) has been a challenge for researchers. One particular challenge is the study design of using the student as the statistical unit of analysis, which in certain cases may lead to a violation of the "independence of error" assumption.…

A process for judging the alignment between curriculum standards and assessments developed by the author is presented. This process produces information on the relationship of standards and assessments on four alignment criteria: Categorical Concurrence, Depth of Knowledge Consistency, Range of Knowledge Correspondence, and Balance of…

The all-possible subset approach is recommended as an alternative over stepwise methods for selecting the best set of predictor variables for multiple regression. Several criteria are available for selecting the best subset model. These are compared with the principal component regression (PCR) method to investigate their usefulness for subset…

In 1896, Sigmund Freud stated that early childhood seduction caused hysteria in his female patients. He later recanted his original finding and claimed that the reports of abuse he heard from his patients were not descriptions of real events, but his patients' expressions of unconscious childhood wishes. The theory of the Oedipal complex gave…

Using data collected through telephone interviews with a national sample of adults, this study searched for evidence as to whether interviewers have stronger effects on the responses given to a wide range of questions by older people than on the responses of younger people. Responses to 30 items for which significant interviewer effects had…

The potential benefits of satellite communications development have been recognized since the notion of a geostationary "space platform" was proposed by Arthur C. Clarke in 1945. Although there have been examples of developmental applications of satellite technology, the promise has been slow in being fulfilled. The history of the…

Although field studies in human geography have some advantages over restricted classroom and laboratory studies, special methodological and ethical concerns arise. For example, field studies are able to take into account the complexity of events in natural settings as opposed to the controlled setting of a laboratory, particularly when subjects…

A discussion of constructing research designs that avoid the conflict between securing internal validity at the expense of external validity. Several such designs and examples of their application are offered. (HB)

A case for adopting participatory research methods in adult education, based on the research activities of the author while in Africa, is presented. Four shortcomings regarding survey research methodology and seven principles for developing participatory research methods are discussed. (LH)

A crucial question in any study is how representative the sample is of the population being studied at the time of the interview. This is of particular concern when the study is based on a follow-up of a sample of respondents initially interviewed for other purposes. This study evaluated the representativeness of a sample of elderly female…

Numerous misuses of statistics are described and illustrated, and ways of recognizing and avoiding such misuse are discussed. The following five categories of statistical misuse are identified: a lack of knowledge of the subject matter, the quality of the basic data, the preparation of the study and the report, the statistical methodology, and a…

A decision-making approach to the study of adolescents' risky behaviors is described in detail. In contrast to other approaches, the decision-making approach assumes only that risk taking involves choosing among alternative courses of action, and that the chosen alternative, by definition, entails some chance of loss. A short definition of risky…

To examine methodological issues of managerial gender communication, a study conducted a meta-analysis of the primary research of managerial gender communication. The study addressed the following four issues: (1) the inconsistent findings in managerial gender communication research; (2) the potential influence of male and female stereotypes on…

This presentation by a practicing marital therapist describes how exercise behavior can be used as a preventive measure against spouse abuse. This crisis intervention approach is intended to help couples develop stopgap techniques to prevent physical violence; it is one segment of a more comprehensive approach which might include contingency…