Attempts to determine research problems in the field of social work and to interpret them as a characteristic of that field. Stresses the double burden of pedagogics: to provide practical moral foundations and to provide reliable descriptions. Considers topics of major concern in research and practice in social work. (DSK)

Addresses many of the statistical and epidemiological flaws identified in previous studies of campus student suicides. Analyses, based on longitudinal data covering 261 student suicides, reveal a significantly higher suicide risk for students 25 and over, although the overall student suicide rate is one half of the national rate. (RJM)

How social science theory and insight could be applied to understanding and resolving the issues surrounding misconduct in scientific research is discussed. Understanding why scientists break the norms of acceptable conduct may come when their survey responses are interpreted in the contexts of sociology and psychology. (SLD)

Claims that increasing numbers of children are growing up in stepfamilies. Discusses research concerns, specifically the context of step situations, comparison groups when studying stepfamilies, specific issues for consideration, and policy development. Claims that understanding how families manage change and supporting all families to provide…

Presents a series of arguments that emphasize the importance of comparatively evaluating psychotherapies with appropriate pharmacotherapy and pill placebo. The lack of a pill-placebo arm has rendered moot those studies that compared pharmacotherapy directly with psychotherapy because of the lack of an internal sample defining calibration with…

Discusses various brambles that ensnare educational researchers and their reports. Several identifiable problems include allowing methodology to drive research questions, stressing results over meaning and interpretation, disguising researchers' voice and identity, and paying too little attention to composition and style. Remedies are suggested.…

Investigates claims of superior white intelligence from an emerging race relations perspective that describes the symbolic labor used to construct a psychological and cultural self that legitimizes white privilege. Representations of the white self and other notions are critiqued, such as the construction of equality as the prerogative of whites…

Criticizes the current status of school-level factors as they appear in research reviews and in school-effectiveness models, from both a theoretical and empirical perspective. Argues that most studies do not investigate factors at the classroom level. Outlines a theoretical basis for these factors based on learning theories and instruction…

Discusses an exploratory study of administrators' potential for generating knowledge out of their own practice settings. Describes various topics studied, the methods used, and the practical, epistemological, and political dilemmas encountered. Insider research could be a powerful lever for personal, professional, and organizational…

Adventure education research struggles to measure components of the field's larger, complex processes and outcomes. Because valid measures provide the foundation of quantitative research, finding, assessing, and utilizing good measures of the outcomes and processes of adventure education are necessary. Describes measurement techniques, validity,…

Introduces the "person approach" to the study of adolescence, and discusses the consequences of the approach for theoretical thinking and research methodology. Reviews major types of pattern-based methods used for carrying out a person approach and discusses methodological challenges for adolescent research, including interindividual…

This article critiques the research methodology used by Mudford, Hogg, and Roberts (1999) that resulted in a failure to achieve inter-observer agreement on adults with mental retardation when using an experimental, 13-category behavior state code. Arguments are provided on why their videotape study does not meet requirements of acceptable…

This commentary on the previous article on an interpretive research approach discusses the journey of a researcher from radical behaviorism, to interpretive social science, to an emerging viewpoint in which art more than science is used as a way of seeing issues related to disability, education, and change. (Contains 10 references.) (CR)

This commentary discusses the wide acceptance of and the expenditure of limited resources on unproven behavioral therapies for individuals with autism. Considerations that need to be reviewed before adopting a behavioral treatment are outlined, including the need to establish whether direct effects can be attributed to a treatment. (Contains 11…

Uses data from national assessment programs to compare Scottish pupils' mathematics performance at primary stages P4 and P7 with French students' performance at stages CE2 and 6e. Discusses methodological issues, including comparability of samples, selection of common items, and curriculum coverage of items. Reports some findings on relative…