The use of controlled comparisons pervades comparative historical analysis. Heated debates have surrounded the methodological purchase of such comparisons. However, the quality and validity of the conceptual building blocks on which the comparisons are based have largely been ignored. This article discusses a particular problem pertaining to these…

The lack of a unified definition of giftedness leads researchers to use very different operationalizations when selecting a sample of gifted individuals for use in research. We found 104 empirical articles from 38 journals that differentiated between gifted and nongifted students which were analyzed to determine the most common methods of…

It is not uncommon that researchers face difficulties when performing meaningful cross-study comparisons for research. Research associated with the distance learning realm can be even more difficult to use as there are different environments with a variety of characteristics. We implemented a mixed-method analysis of research articles to find out…

Many see trust as an important social resource for the welfare of individuals as well as nations. It is therefore important to be able to identify trust and explain its sources. Cross-country survey analysis has been an important tool in this respect, and often one single variable is used to identify social trust understood as trust in strangers,…

Data analysis is critical to educational planning. Determining the number of school leavers is crucial for a school board when planning for interventions and supports. In researching the number of early school leavers in the province of Prince Edward Island, the method in which the data were reported affected the rates. Two critical considerations…

Reviews the alternative meanings of the term "poverty" implied in the various ways in which it has been measured. Conclusion is drawn that it is not safe to assume different indicators of poverty are more or less equivalent. (Author/AM)

Presents an overview of the field of comparative librarianship, i.e., systematic analysis of library development, practices, or problems as they occur under different circumstances, most usually in different countries in context of relevant background factors. Highlights include definition, purposes, research methodology, problems, and possible…

Addressing the problems of cross-research analysis, two Federal Interagency Panels have recommended that researchers: 1) use more complete definitions of the variables used in their study; 2) be more precise in their descriptions of populations; and 3) insure that their methodology and research lends itself to a comparability review. (BJG)

Discusses operational terms used to denote Hispanic American populations; presents a typology for determining the comparability of studies of different Hispanic groups (through comparison of certain group characteristics); and demonstrates the application of the typology in comparing three research studies. (MJL)

Reviews the "Journal of Curriculum and Supervision" Spring 1990 issue from a scientific viewpoint. This article found ambiguous word meanings, apparent contradictions in and among several authors' writings, an artificially dichotomous formulation of the relationship between two complementary inquiry methods and uncritically held…

The lack of consensus among researchers in defining the focal construct of rurality has led to contradictory conclusions of whether or not a rural-urban performance gap exists in higher education. Compounding this problem are the changing definitions of rural and urban, even among governmental agencies. Thus, this study used two different…

Eleven indexes of rurality and their effect on the classification of Michigan's 83 counties were investigated. The indexes were based on different concepts of rurality: (1) percent of employment in agriculture, fishing, and forestry; (2) population density and distance to urban centers; and (3) economic conditions. Index rankings were compared to…

Problems associated with the use of the Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) data to make institutional comparisons are discussed. It is noted that information collected by HEGIS includes data on enrollment, degrees, finances, employees, libraries, and physical facilities. Attention is directed to the following problems with the…

This paper reports on an interpretive review of observational research articles published in the journal "Child Development Abstracts and Bibliography" (CDAB) from 1987 to 1991 on the topic of family interaction. A total of 37 adult-child and adult-adolescent interaction studies were located and examined. A comparison of the articles…

The subject of this report is an approach to teaching that has become known in recent years as "open education." An attempt is made to answer the questions, What is a research variable? and, Can openness be a variable in educational research? Part 1 serves the purpose of a position statement. Certain principles are declared to be the…