To support rural postsecondary students' college access and completion, researchers, policy makers, and educators need a more comprehensive understanding of their demographic characteristics and financial needs, especially compared to nonrural students. Previous rural-nonrural analyses have not disaggregated students by degree type (bachelor's,…

Compares second-, fifth- and eighth-graders' reasoning about their relative ability and that of another child (who applied more or less effort) with their reasoning about the relative ability of two others (who differed in effort). Responses to specific questions may be more sensitive to situationally induced motivational influences than responses…

There is increased interest by parents in communicating with their children about political violence. However, limited attention in the scholarly literature has focused on parent-child communication about war and terrorism. In response, the purpose of this study is to assess, within their respective ecological contexts, American and Northern Irish…

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 paper reports results of one project from the National Institute of Mental Health Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) Program: the Duke ECA study (also known as the Piedmont Health Survey). To determine if depressive symptoms are different in the depressed elderly, 46 community subjects, over 60 years of age with a current diagnosis of…

Interviews with parents of 87 preschool children within a year of a stuttering diagnosis found that onset tended to occur earlier than was previously thought and was sudden and/or severe in many cases; about twice as many boys as girls stuttered; and there was a positive relationship between severe stuttering and sudden onset. (DB)

Interviews with 96 children and 73 adolescents following sexual abuse found significant age and sex differences. Adolescents reported a higher level of depressive symptoms, negative reactions by others, and lower levels of self-esteem, social support, and sexual anxiety. Girls reported higher levels of intrusive thoughts, hyperarousal, sexual…

Addresses limitations of previous research by testing second-, fourth-, and sixth-grade children on three measures: an open-ended interview, a story-recognition task, and a questionnaire about the importance of different characteristics to friendships and acquaintanceships. Friendship expectations based on dispositional characteristics increased…

Questions designed to assess children's reactions to the ending of friendships were asked in structured interviews involving 64 children (30 third graders and 34 sixth graders). Subjects, divided almost equally by sex, were mostly white and primarily middle-class. Questions were specifically designed to elicit information regarding (1) why and how…

This study is a preliminary attempt to characterize the development of students' conceptions of education in a comprehensive fashion. The participants were recruited from a middle class suburban school district in Michigan. Seventy students in grades 3, 6, 9, and 12 were interviewed about several issues related to each of the following: (1) the…

Investigated were school children's recognition of social class distinctions, cues they used, and the relationship of their ideas about social class to other beliefs and attitudes about the social world. An ethnically mixed group of 201 male and female subjects participated in the study. Five age groups were represented: second, fifth, and sixth…

Analysis of interactions during 55 videotaped interviews of high-risk sex abuse cases found no support for the assumption that a credible disclosure of abuse must include the display of emotion by the child. Some behavioral differences between preschool and school-age children were found, but no gender differences. (Author/DB)

Reactive scales dominate the self-concept field. Using these instruments leaves two questions unanswered. First, if left to his/her own devices would the individual even think of him/herself in terms of that dimension? Second, what are the dimensions in terms of which individuals do think of themselves? With these two questions in mind, 536…

Uses fables to study the moral orientation used in problem solving by 54 first, second, and fifth grade children. The following findings are reported: (1) all adopted a "care" orientation; (2) only fifth grade boys used solutions involving tricks; and (3) the ability to explain the logic of solutions was related to abstract reasoning…

This paper describes four problems that may confront researchers interested in capturing and describing participant perspectives when the participants of interest are young children in early childhood education settings. Problems were identified with interview data collected in three studies conducted in separate preschool and kindergarten…