We propose a graph mining methodology to analyze the relationships among academic programs from the point of view of cooperative education. The input consists of student - job interview pairs, with each student labelled with his or her academic program. From this input, we build a weighted directed graph, which we refer to as a program graph, in…

Introduction: This paper reports on an extensive research project which aimed at exploring information sharing activities in a scholarly context. The paper presents and synthesises findings from a literature review and three qualitative case studies. The empirical setting is a geographically distributed Nordic network of design scholars. Method:…

As lines between research paradigms continue to blur with the ever-increasing popularity of mixed methods research, there are useful, and occasionally oxymoronic, opportunities for educational researchers to juxtapose tools from opposing methods. The gold standard is just not possible in so much of what we do with small-scale research, nor is it…

The Total Survey Error (TSE) paradigm provides a framework that supports the effective planning of research, guides decision making about data collection and contextualises the interpretation and dissemination of findings. TSE also allows researchers to systematically evaluate and improve the design and execution of ongoing survey programs and…

Pragmatics is included in one of four communicative competences (Canale, 1980). It is necessary and important to teach pragmatics at school in our globalized world in order to avoid as much as misunderstanding, which is likely to stem from cultural difference. As a result, greater importance should be attached to diverse customs and pragmatics.…

This paper outlines a qualitative research tool designed to explore personal identity formation as described by Erik Erikson and offers self-reflective and anonymous evaluative comments made by college students after completing this task. Subjects compiled a list of 200 myths, customs, fables, rituals, and beliefs from their family of origin and…

Students in an introductory educational psychology course used two WebCT communication tools (synchronous chat and asynchronous discussion) to discuss four case studies. In response to the item, "I learned the case studies best when using," 39 students selected synchronous chat and 51 students selected asynchronous discussion. Students who…

The naturalistic research perspective assumes that reality is multiplistic, phenomenological, and context-dependent. This perspective legitimizes the subjective insights of the investigator by acknowledging the interdependence of facts and values as well as of the investigator and the object of investigation. Although discrepancies between…

This paper contains a description of the cross-over type of experimental design as well as a case study of its use in field testing audiovisual materials related to teaching handicapped children. Increased efficiency is an advantage of the cross-over design, while difficulty in selecting similar format audiovisual materials for field testing is a…

Advertisers have leaned heavily upon researchers to answer the question of what the advertisers get for the money they spend. Researchers have used a wide variety of methods, including a split cable simulated test market. Wilder Penfield's 1950s research may help other researchers better understand what goes on in the mind of consumers as a result…

The rush to do qualitative enquiry in education in the past decade has spawned a variety of methodologies and non-methodologies. The desire for absolute rules and lawlike procedures lingers and the current search is for certain rather than good judgments about educational phenomena. A methodology described as "quasi-historical" is…

The use of hypothetical case studies in research on decision-making is examined with particular concern for validity and reliability issues. A validation procedure is suggested and the procedure is used to demonstrate that the proposed protocols yield acceptable measurement characteristics for use in decision-making research in education.…

Content analysis is a systematic and objective technique which reduces into smaller sub-parts existing communications. It is the analytical reduction of a text to a standard set of statistically manipulatable symbols representing the presence, intensity, or frequency of characteristics. A case study of the use of content analysis is the U.S.…

Randomization tests have been suggested as a method for analyzing the data from single-case designs. This paper explores three concerns which have arisen: the nonresponsive nature of randomization tests, the appropriateness of specific test statistics and the power of these tests. An example is given to illustrate how partial control can be given…

Because proven systematic methods of description and analysis are not universally available for the case study methodology in development communication situations, 12 development communication case studies were examined to uncover their organizational schema. Findings were pooled to develop a suggested framework or model for the design of future…