In response to a paper by E. Culpepper Clark, Eva M. McMahan, and Michael J. Hyde that calls for the application of hermeneutic theory to the study of the oral history interview, this paper notes problems in the relationships between the proposed research design and the conceptual framework for the proposed research. While conceding that the…

Hans-Georg Gadamer's development of the hermeneutic question points to the need for a hermeneutic consciousness in the United States appropriate for human communication research. Communication studies in the United States have taken a route very different from hermeneutics. They are based on attempts to understand the subjective intentions of a…

Relationships between change agent performance and outcome success within the context of group behavioral programs are identified. The evaluation of either the ultimate effectiveness, or the specific change processes in a group program often requires assessing the behavior of the change agents, as well as that of the target population. Five design…

A great need exists for increased attention to standards of rigor in collecting sequential interaction data. As in any other research strategy, powerful statistics are not sufficient to organize data meaningfully. A knowledge of individuals, their relational histories, and communication are all necessary to insure proper conclusions about the…

All available research in which a therapeutic expectancy was directly assessed and than related to a measure of outcome was reviewed. The review revealed that across all studies both client and therapist expectancies appear related to improvement; however, in the better-designed research a differential pattern emerges in which client expectancy no…

The uses of various research designs in educational research are discussed. Research methodologies such as social anthropology, path analysis, classroom observation, historiography, interaction analysis, and statistical analysis are described. The educational settings in which each of them would be an effective research tool are illustrated. (JD)

This document provides data from an ongoing longitudinal study of the degree of continuity in individual development over time and describes the complexities involved in efforts to determine the nature of individual continuity. Findings from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of children in a day camp provide evidence for continuity in individual…

This paper presents a discussion of evaluation methods which can be used in preschool programs and emphasizes the importance of considering both outcome and process variables. Emphasizing the limitations of research which utilizes only outcome measures, the paper focuses on the benefits of an analysis of ongoing processes and interactions within…

A model has been developed that proposes five different perspectives on the curriculum--the ideal, formal, perceived, operational, and experiential. Each perspective has a different data source, and it is hypothesized that each perspective will produce a different picture of "the curriculum." Data collection for a national study of schooling will…

Data from the 1969-70 and 1970-71 Head Start Planned Variation (HSPV)Study were used to examine program-child interactions. An effort was made to determine whether different preschool programs have different cognitive effects on different types of children. Seven hypotheses for the analysis of the data were generated from the results of the HSPV…

The Utah Pupil/Teacher Self-Concept Program is designed to train teachers in the use of verbal behaviors that improve the self concept of students by replacing judgmental statements with positive descriptive messages. The program is based on a successful prototype used with elementary school teachers. Four individualized modules were developed to…

Interracial/interethic choice patterns of 398 third and fourth grade children are measured utilizing various methods, including both projectively-based and reality-based paradigms. Attempts are made to establish the equivalence or nonequivalence of the different methodologies used to assess interracial choice patterns. Results indicate that all…