This article examines an important and thorny problem in interview research: How to assess whether what people say motivated their actions actually did so? We ask three questions: What specific challenges are at play? How have researchers addressed them? And how should those strategies be evaluated? We argue that such research faces at least five…

In this paper, we explore the methodological implications of conducting qualitative interviews when researchers and participants come from different social classes. Singling out class on its own terms, rather than considering it as an auxiliary structural factor, we examine the unique challenges that arise during cross-class interviews. Such…

In this article, the author discusses how researchers can use mixed-methods approaches and intersectional analyses to understand college access among first-generation Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs). First, he discusses the utility of mixed-methods approaches and intersectionality research in studying college access. Then, he…

This article analyses some typical consequences of a specific research policy on experimental research in biology. The policy is conducted by a national funding agency--the Swiss National Science Foundation--through a particular programme, the "National Centres of Competence in Research" which is designed to promote both "scientific…

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…

This publication reports the findings of research carried out in recognition of the need for an in-depth analysis of the U.S. jazz music audience in order to identify and assess ways to shape the future of jazz as part of the "Survey of Public Participation in The Arts" conducted in 1982. The research problem was to learn the size,…

Qualitative research evokes rather stereotyped responses from the mainstream of social science. The following 10 standardized responses to the stimulus "qualitative research interview" (QRI) are discussed: (1) it is not scientific, only common sense; (2) it is not objective, but subjective; (3) it is not trustworthy, but biased; (4) it is not…

The Research on the Improvement Process (RIP) Program of the Research and Development Center for Teacher Education has made the investigation of the change process in high schools their primary research priority for the 1980s. In this paper, the high school research endeavors of the RIP program are described, with special attention being given to…

The efficacy of the random digit dialing method in telephone surveys was examined. Random digit dialing (RDD) generates a pure random sample and provides the advantage of including unlisted phone numbers, as well as numbers which are too new to be listed. Its disadvantage is that it generates a major proportion of nonworking and business…

This paper reviews the methods and findings of published research on the validity of police selection procedures. As a preface to the review, the typical police officer selection process is briefly described. Several common methodological deficiencies of the validation research are identified and discussed in detail: (1) use of past-selection…

To investigate the coping skills and adaptational outcomes among elderly survivors of the holocaust and a comparison group of aged individuals who did not endure extreme stress requires overcoming several methodological challenges. First, stress must be defined to include the personal meaning or evaluation of the sources of stress and its…

Already a standard technique in anthropology, the life history method is widely used in the development of oral and local history, and within educational and social science research the method is growing in popularity. This is in large part due to the growing respectability of qualitative research in general. Part I of this paper explains the life…

This document consists of four symposium papers each providing a critical examination of a particular data collection technique in vocational education research. Texts of the following presentations are provided: "Mail Survey Research," by Betty Heath-Camp; "The Telephone Interview as a Data Collection Technique," by James P. Key; "The Personal…

Two innovative methods for collecting and analyzing qualitative data are vignettes and pre-structured cases. Vignettes are descriptions of situations or problems written by a professional, with a suggested outline and comments provided by a researcher. Advantages of this method are strength of impact of the written descriptions and efficiency of…

the factors which maximize response rates, both through reducing refusals and increasing the probability that respondents will be available for interview, were studied in rural California. Phone directories were used to generate a sample of 250 households who were contacted on either of two evenings or Saturday. The interview questions concerned…