Examines the history of research on the teaching and learning of English as reflected in the 20-year history of the Promising Researcher Award. Focuses upon changes over time in the kinds of questions asked, topics addressed, conceptual frameworks employed, and methodologies used in the studies. Reveals a strong but shifting influence of…

The author reviews published material pertaining to the history of black athletes in American sport, focusing on the most influential books and articles, including popular literature. The aim is to assess the quality and character of the research and to make recommendations for further studies. (Author/MT)

Intended to provide the novice media researcher with an introduction, review, and current thinking on media-related research, this article traces the historical emphases and development of such research, discusses its positive and negative aspects, and presents recommendations by practitioners and researchers, as well as directions for future…

Examines historical roots of the link between statistics and psychology, exploring the way in which the conceptual framework for the application of probability in psychological research was created by experimental design. In the social sciences, statistics creates and defines objects of study more directly than in the physical sciences. (SLD)

Examined the shift in the educational-research paradigm in Finland as seen in 335 doctoral dissertations. Early in the century, educational history was the dominant topic, but by the 1950s the experimental paradigm took over. By the 1980s, factor analysis was a very common research method. In the 1990s, qualitative analyses account for one-third…

Discusses the necessity of setting boundaries for a research topic while bridging gaps with information from other disciplines and history of education in other nations. Illustrates the point with the history of women's education in the United States. Includes discussion of the influence of British boys' schools, French boarding schools, and the…

Describes the use of library surveys as a tool for library planning in the United States from the late 19th century to the present. Different eras of library planning in the United States are identified, and the weaknesses and strengths of the survey method are discussed. (CLB)

Reviews personality studies examining relationship between personality and choice of librarianship as profession and observes changes in theories and methods of measurement that have taken place over past 35 years. A brief overview of different approaches to understanding personality and summary of theories of vocational choice are presented. (72…