Notes that smaller than expected main effects in psychotherapy research are often attributed to mismatches between clients and treatment. Examines issues in aptitude-treatment interaction (ATI) research in psychotherapy, including Type II and Type III errors, manipulation checks from both patient and practitioner perspectives, considerations of…

The validity of true experiments is threatened by a class of self-report biases that affect all respondents at pretest, but which are diminished by treatment. Four of these inaccurate self-evaluation biases are discussed. Means of detection include external criteria, special conditions of measurement, and retrospective pretests. (TJH)

Discusses problems in carrying out time-series research in organizational settings that include issues of site selection; choices about data collection and degrees of involvement; the importance of clarifying research outputs, audience, and presentation; handling problems of complexity and simplicity; ethical issues; and managing a community or…

Creative projects, whether in the arts, literature, or social aspects of education, demand a mixture of the "subconscious" (imaginative) and "intellectual" (rational), not the rejection of one in favor of the other. Rationality and imagination are complementary in speculative research. An advocacy approach may be appropriate in certain cases. (20…

As dropout and student disengagement rates reach alarmingly high levels, learning styles theory offers one way to expand teaching methods and curricula to reach more students. Although accommodating individual differences is appealing, nagging doubts and murky research results (detailed in a sidebar) persist. Another sidebar explores culture/style…

Provides an overview of changes in contrastive rhetoric and research problems associated with them; reanalyzes the concerns of process-oriented teachers and researchers in light of these changes; and examines the extent to which the findings of modern contrastive rhetoric can play in second-language writing classrooms. (59 references) (GLR)

The Huntington Library (California) decision to make generally accessible, for the first time, copies of photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls, previously tightly controlled by a small group of editors, is hailed as breaking a scholarly monopoly over an important intellectual resource, reaffirming the mission of the research library and the…

Criticizes the research literature in comparative education for its pessimism over the perceived failure of education to bring about changes such as economic development in developing nations or elimination of social inequalities. Suggests that educational researchers must clarify what they mean by desired change, which changes are valuable and…

Two articles discuss the controversy about the relationship between reliability and the power of significance tests in response to the discussion of Donald W. Zimmerman, Richard H. Williams, and Bruno D. Zumbo. Lloyd G. Humphreys emphasizes the differences between what statisticians can do and constraints on researchers. Zimmerman, Williams, and…

Reviews the research methods literature examining the benefits and pitfalls of doing educational research in familiar settings and among peers. The review encompasses educational literature and material from anthropology and sociology. The impact of structural differences between researcher and researched is discussed, noting problems of antipathy…

Responds to comments by David Hursh and Aggie Seneway on the author's classroom experiments with student democracy. Clarifies points from her initial article to answer questions by the commentators. Finds agreement with them on most points, except for the necessity of parliamentary debate as a fundamental element of democracy. (DSK)

Suggests that testing developmental ordering hypotheses is difficult because rare use of ratio scales prevents direct comparison of measures. Demonstrates that the observed data pattern is constrained by the underlying relationship--although observed data pattern may not reflect the exact relationship, it limits possible relationships. Shows the…

Aware of the invasive aspects of emancipatory research methods, the author constructed a classroom experience to expose her own use of power when conducting such projects. Her student participants had varied responses to a power definition/perception experiment: trapped, captured, and willing. (27 references) (MLH)

Conducting qualitative research takes researchers to places and into lives to generate new knowledge. When researchers move beyond academic curiosity to caring, they cross a fine line. This article recounts a three-year study of middle-schoolers, in which subjects and researchers moved beyond invasive inquiry to develop common ground, mutual…

Meier and Krashen, both employed in California's education system, do an injustice to students in rehashing an already settled battle. Fed up with two decades of failure, California voters replaced bilingual education with structured English immersion. Meier and Krashen offer no suggestions for coping with Proposition 227. (27 references) (MLH)