A team of researchers at the University of South Florida is developing a multimedia program to identify and help students with statistics anxiety. This program, EncStat, includes tests that provide information about a student's level of anxiety and negative attitudes toward statistics, computer anxiety, and study skills, and it contains…

The purpose of this study was to augment current knowledge regarding the antecedents of statistics anxiety and negative attitudes toward statistics among graduate students. The researchers also sought to investigate and identify promising methods for gathering and analyzing data in order to advance study in this emerging domain. Initially, 3 focus…

As part of the Community Vision Initiative, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Education Foundation conducted a series of educational forums that included 94 guided discussions and focus groups. About 400 to 500 citizens and educators participated in at least 1 of the discussions. Eight major categories emerged as concerns for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg…

A research study was designed to provide evaluative data to the New Zealand Ministry of Education on models and parts of models that would enhance programs for developing liaison between schools and Pacific Islands parents and communities. Information was collected from 6 clusters of schools, for a total of 38 schools. After initial visits to the…

If educational success and failure are social accomplishments, then they are communicatively constituted; to this end, communication education scholars must begin to add their voices to a conversation started long ago in education. A study explored the likelihood of educational failure as a social construction. This paper does not neglect the…

This study examined faculty views in regard to support for teaching at Emory University. Data were obtained from 24 small focus groups of faculty who discussed their reactions to a report on teaching at the university. The data were analyzed using HyperRESEARCH software to generate detailed reports on frequencies of categories, subcategories, and…

This paper attempts to show how the effective use of both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies can provide a more complete picture when conducting research and can serve as a means of validation. The context is research on special education reform in South Carolina. The first phase of the research project focused on constructing…

Senior marketing research students conducted an unobtrusive survey of reference services at Central Missouri State University, and found 74% of reference transactions rated satisfactory or very satisfactory. Focus groups suggested including library information in freshman orientation packets, providing reference help during the day, and requiring…

Public Agenda's national surveys over the past six years depict an American public angered by the state of public education. Many see the schools as mirroring the moral decay that infects society. The public feels the schools are no longer theirs, that they have been captured by teachers, reformers, unions, or others. Unless educators address…

This article details the qualitative results of focus groups with adults who are visually impaired and received assistive technology (AT) training (n=55) and with AT trainers (n=48). Participants described the state of AT training at the beginning of the 21st century from their perspectives as students and teachers. (Contains 4 references.)…

Explores the utility of focus group methodology as a tool for community service and student community-based learning through a service learning college course. Concludes with a discussion of how the group's focus aids student comprehension of sociology. (Author/KDR)

This focus group study explored library patrons' opinions about Texas A&M library's Web pages. Discusses information seeking behavior which indicated that patrons are confused when trying to navigate the Public Access Menu and suggests the need for a more intuitive interface. (Author/LRW)

Discussion of research traditions in education focuses on an analysis of the effectiveness of two research strategies, an individual debriefing interview and a group colloquium. Explores the results within two literatures: the literature of interviewing, including focus groups; and the literature of higher education on the relation between…

Examines the views of students completing educational administration preparation programs at an American and a Mexican university. Focus groups are used to explore perceptions of how students change over the course of the program, what distinguishes them from graduates of other programs, and how they feel about the quality of their experience.…

This article discusses how a focus group of seven individuals with Down syndrome was used to explore experiences of going to the doctor. Obtaining consent and acknowledging the power differential between participants and researchers are highlighted as key challenges for those wishing to engage in disability research. (Contains references.)…