Background: Our ability to look at structure and function of a living brain has increased exponentially since the early 1970s. Many studies of developmental disorders now routinely include a brain imaging or electrophysiological component. Amid current enthusiasm for applications of neuroscience to educational interventions, we need to pause to…

The highlights of articles evaluating the results of media research over the past 25 years are briefly reviewed, and the constructionists' and the reductionists' approaches to media research are described. It is pointed out that for the researcher in media, the implications of a constructionist approach are quite clear, at least from a…

Sketches some events in the life and career of Lowry Nelson, a rural sociologist, and relates these events to the development of rural sociology and the Rural Sociological Society. Asserts that the dream of using science to ameliorate social problems during the early development of rural sociology is still present today. (KS)

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)

This paper presents a historical overview of the use of action research in education and describes the basic assumptions and expectations that continue to characterize collaborative research projects today. Action research was initiated in the 1930's by Kurt Lewin and adapted by educators in the 1940's. Interest in action research declined between…

The purpose of this report on research in secondary education is to study: (1) the personnel of educational research bureaus; (2) the undertakings of research departments in city school systems and in individual secondary schools; (3) the research undertakings carried on by individual secondary-school staff members not officially connected with…

Highlights steps for carrying out a needs assessment survey research effort in the Black community. Stresses the need for understanding (1) cultural-linguistic and historical factors, (2) the potential or inadvertent role of the researcher, and (3) the obstacles and resistance one may encounter in carrying out the survey and implementing its…

This paper examines the tradition of research within the field of educational technology and cites problems endemic to the dominant research methods. It is suggested that a reexamination of the history of the field has intrinsic merit and is necessary at this time; furthermore, historical analysis may assist in the development of new research…

Origins and problems of classroom-centered research on language learning and teaching are surveyed, tracing the development of both the concerns and the research tools used. The development of a productive controversy over objective versus subjective methods is described. (MSE)

The current state of social psychology is assessed in light of its historical and social context. The discipline is viewed as a social system, and it is argued that the properties of this system have influenced the research techniques, substantive content, and theories of contemporary social psychology. (Author/RD)

The authors trace and critique various thrusts operative in British educational sociology since its beginnings in the 1950s: structural functionalism, school-level analysis, the interactionalist "New Directions" approach, and the Neo-Marxist perspective. They also comment on the place of educational sociology in teacher training. (SJL)

Reviews the controversy surrounding the work of Cyril Burt on the genetic contribution to mental ability and argues that the disparagement of Burt's results provides one of the most extraordinary cases of counterfeit charges in academic psychology. Suggesting genetic differences in brain size or intellect is politically incorrect. (SLD)

The history of the study of human mental ability is an example of the dialectic in social science between those who interpret data within the framework of existing social inequities and those who look for perspectives that might eventually dissolve inequities. The dedication of Henry Herbert Goddard to a belief in the scientific proof of…

Funded in 1979, the Administration for Native American Research Analysis Project (ANARAP), had three primary objectives: (1) to create a computerized data base of the past decade of research about Native Americans (including American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Hawaii natives), especially research concerning natural and human resource…

Taken from the author's doctoral dissertation, this award-winning monograph describes a method for humanizing educational research in adult education and provides five stories of adult education efforts in the 1930's as examples of such research. The method described suggests valuing qualitative data as much as quantitative in the field of…