As the number of publicly funded early childhood education (ECE) programs increases, policymakers will need empirical evidence to justify the taxpayer investment. Such justification will require a stronger understanding of the essential components of an ECE program's design, as well as solid evidence on which components, or constellations of…

This book focuses on conducting research on International Service Learning (ISL), which includes developing and evaluating hypotheses about ISL outcomes and measuring its impact on students, faculty, and communities. The book argues that rigorous research is essential to improving the quality of ISL's implementation and delivery, and providing the…

Purpose: The expansion of alternative education, globally, has coincided with a shift towards greater accountability for ensuring educational access and opportunity, high academic standards and increased graduation rates. While studies suggest the pervasive influence of accountability may be redefining how school leaders provide meaningful…

The purpose of this book is to help school administrators who use educational research by describing and explaining the components of research and skills of researchers. Chapter 1 defines educational research. Chapter 2 describes streams of research on particular administrative problems. Chapter 3 illustrates the conduct of a research review and…

Urges developmental educators to undertake classroom research. Offers guidance on the formulation of research questions. Compares four research methodologies: correlational, experimental, descriptive, and ethnographic research. Reviews potential problems. (DMM)

Increasing numbers of music education researchers have begun to use qualitative methods to examine research topics using interviews, observations, documents, and archival data. In this article, I review qualitative research methodology and its origins and methods, discuss topics that have been studied by music education researchers using…

This book discusses two major approaches to social science research: quantitative research, which involves converting observations to numbers and analyzing them statistically; and qualitative research, which looks at participants' opinions, behaviors, and experiences from their own points of view and in a more subjective way. In the book,…

Research on special needs education is often very complex and puts specific demands on the methodology used. Data-triangulation, at the very least, is required. In most of our recent research projects on the development of special needs education in Flanders (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium), we have made use of qualitative case studies to…

Educational practitioners tend to resist or avoid doing educational research primarily for two reasons: their prior experience with statistics, computers, and research design has produced insecurity and anxiety; and, they have acquired a basic misunderstanding of the nature and purpose of research. Good research should be both technically sound…

Contends that using qualitative methods in a research methods course presents several problems. Examines reasons why qualitative research is not accepted by some instructors and students. Provides suggestions for overcoming these objections. (CFR)

This introductory level text provides a background for understanding the uses of qualitative research in education, its theoretical and historical underpinnings, and specific methods of educational research. This revised edition places qualitative research into the context of current discussions of research methods and alternative ways of knowing.…

Outlines the foundations of the qualitative and quantitative approaches to research and discusses the implications of these two completely different approaches in educational research. Points out they are not complementary as they are separate scientific paradigms.(MD)

This curriculum guide introduces students to the process of scientific research. Through the process of science research, middle school students practice techniques to randomize sampling, control for unwanted effects, and standardize methods so that they can be replicated. Data analysis is taught from a statistical perspective providing students…

Describes the Streetwork project, a qualitative research project in contemporary cultural geography. Outlines the project's goals, implementation, and necessary skill training. Concludes with a discussion of problems that have occurred with the project. (CFR)

One in a series of issue papers commissioned by the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE), this document presents a comparison of contemporary evaluation approaches for special education programs. The first section describes the two approaches to be compared: (1) traditional scientific inquiry which emphasizes quantitative methods;…