The Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) represents teachers and researchers of composition and communication in all possible genres, media, contexts, and exigencies; for the purpose of these guidelines, "writers" and "writing" will be all-encompassing, and the term "researcher" will refer to…

This paper presents phenomenology as an alternative approach in conducting educational research. The aim of phenomenological research is the exploration of the fundamental consciousness of the person or people being studied so that their perceptions can be identified and interpreted. Today's phenomenology comes from the work of a group of European…

Provides an introduction to the theme of this issue, the limits of educational research methodology. Advocates a combination of research methodologies and identifies three approaches to educational research. Includes sections on the nature of research and common research problems. (JDH)

Examines the schism of values between qualitative and quantitative social science researchers. Focuses on some practical methodological issues which face researchers wishing to adopt a qualitative-interpretive approach. (JDH)

The study of the role parents play in the reading development of their children requires a methodology that is unobtrusive, humane, objective, and natural. Ethnography, with its corresponding technique of participant observation, offers these characteristics. The distinctive features of an ethnographic research design include: formulation of the…

The purpose of this project was to research and develop two design guides on environments important to child development: child care facilities and outdoor play areas, and to specify new, research-based criteria for the planning and design of these facilities for military bases around the world. The current paper is a synopsis of parts of this…

Notes the drawbacks of the artificial separation of content and method in most undergraduate, sociology department, course offerings. Reports on the development and operation of a local research center as a means of melding content and method. (JDH)

Describes how the lost letter technique, a research ploy involving leaving stamped, addressed letters in public locations and seeing if people will mail them, may be used to introduce students to experimental method in sociological research. Students manipulated letter location, size, and address in order to judge different effects such variations…

Notes that one-semester field methods courses in sociology often lack adequate time for students to learn appropriate techniques and still collect and report their data. Describes how undergraduate students bypass this problem by using multiple observations of a single event to quickly form a corpus of ethnographic data. (JDH)

Describes how sociology students in undergraduate research methods are involved in conducting an annual poll for the university. The emphasis is upon interviewing as a general data-gathering method. Includes information about how useful research problems are determined and the process used to design and implement the poll. (JDH)

In the course of qualification, many teachers of adults undertake research studies into adult education. Author points out how few of these researches are of a disciplinary nature; using music as an example, shows how more tutors might undertake research in their specialisms. (Author/CSS)

Presents a theoretical discussion of evaluation research and the need for gathering data to support the decision-making process concerned with training program performance. Guidelines for conducting evaluation research are discussed, the participants involved with successful implementation are described, and data gathering methods are explained.…

Presents a brief overview of the evolution of documentary material of Native American cultures and problems confronted by researchers in locating relevant information. Bibliographic sources for research are discussed and a directory of major repositories of Native American art documentation is provided. (EA)

Recommends establishing review processes at both school building and classroom level, and provides checklists for such evaluations. Both together provide a basis for determining the school's handling of equity issues. Also recommends training all school staff with respect to their legal responsibilities. (LHW)