This article describes the design and evaluation approaches to address the complexity posed by systems change initiatives. The role of evaluations in addressing the following issues is briefly reviewed: moving from strategic planning to implementation, impacts on system-level coordination, anticipated timeline of impact, and individual level…

The purpose of this article is to illustrate how theory and particularly the theoretical perspective of social constructionism can influence the ways in which scholars conduct qualitative research studies in the area of family systems. The authors argue for the importance of theory in qualitative research projects and promote researchers' clear…

In this report, it is argued that the most salient factor in the contemporary communicative landscape is the sheer abundance and diversity of possibilities for literacy, and that the extent and nature of students' communicative resources is a central issue in education. The text outlines the conceptual underpinnings of the Literacies for Learning…

Reviews Gordon and Shontz' (1990) article on Representative Case Research (RCR) with emphasis on its contributions to science and practice integration in helping professions. Raises RCR policy issues concerning potential for dual relationships and academic institution and service agency policies that could hamper RCR's widespread adoption.…

Lays out a systematic analysis of different experimental designs for message effects research. Discusses advantages of designs that include replications. Considers the issue of a fixed- versus random-effects analysis, and argues that replication factors should be treated as random except in very unusual circumstances. Examines in detail two…

In this article, I argue that when design and intervention are central to the research process, context as a construct is problematized. How we define context can facilitate or impede our ability to construct rich and veridical accounts of learning. A design stance may predispose us to less profitable notions of context. I present the advantages…

The net result of the social-scientific developments in the 19th and 20th centuries is that educational research has inherited a science that is assumed to constitute a disinterested technology of social engineering and a benevolent source of positive social advance. Unfortunately, the social experiment conducted on traditional lines depends upon…

This article suggests that teacher effectiveness research in vocational education has not improved the delivery of classroom instruction to the extent desired by either researchers or teachers. Researchers are encouraged to consider qualitative research methods and case study reports as one means of increasing compatibility between research and…

R. T. Ogawa and B. Malen's article does not meet its own recommended standards for rigorous testing and presentation of its own conclusions. Use of the exploratory case study to analyze multivocal literatures is not supported, and the claim of grounded theory to analyze multivocal literatures may be stronger. (SLD)

One effective method to improve the learning of science is through case study teaching. Teachers use realistic or true narratives to provide opportunities for students to integrate multiple sources of information in an authentic context, and may engage students with ethical and societal problems related to their discipline. However, little…

Analysis of the assumptions underlying the stakeholder approach to evaluation combined with the limited experience in testing the approach reported in this volume, suggests that some claims are cogent and others problematical. (Author)

This article outlines how the past decade has witnessed a substantial increase of interest in the nature and extent of bullying in British schools. It presents case study methods as an alternative to the existing quantitative methods that have generally been employed to investigate bullying within schools. (Contains references.) (CR)

Discussion of different types of methodological approaches, and description of the research methods used to study an innovative secondary school in England, make clear why the case study was chosen as the method to employ. The methodological approaches considered included the positivist or scientific method, involving external observation and the…

Focuses on alternative paradigms to experimental inquiry useful to instructional systems researchers, including quasi-experimentation, meta-analysis, case study and ethnography, systems-based evaluation, and technique and model development. Each is discussed in terms of how it generally applies in the field and how it has been employed by…

Evaluates empirical studies on child development. Suggests that most such research consists of studies of a priori, nonempirical, logical relations between concepts, whose definitions guarantee the relationship studied. Argues that hypotheses are empirical if variables involved are semantically and logically independent. Research that is not based…