Whether media affect learning has been debated for decades. The discussion of media's effectiveness has raised questions about the usefulness of comparison studies, not only in assessing applications of technology but in other areas as well. Arguments that media do not affect learning are re-examined and issues concerning media effects on expert…

The failure to attain a true synthesis of six ethnographic studies of interracial education in desegregated schools is examined. Detailed individual descriptions of desegregation processes were yielded but the failure of summary attempts is attributed to the lack of a theory of social explanation appropriate to interpretive social science, and a…