This theoretical analysis of historical data collected from oral accounts points out factors (memory, recall, sampling, interview structure, personal interpretation) which make it difficult for the historian to generalize from individual interviews. (AM)

Studies social personality types and assesses the relationship of Holland's secondary construct of consistency to persistence in college and academic achievement. Results indicated that, for both persisters and nonpersisters in college, subjects with higher levels of consistency achieve higher college grade point averages than subjects with lower…

Four journalism teachers provide information on the use of tape recordings and written transcripts to illustrate the importance of factual accuracy, voluntary participation in a special advertising class, a method of teaching the history of public relations, and the importance of drill work to improve journalists' spelling abilities. (RL)

Problems in improving the reliability of essay marks are examined in this Australian study that considers the markings of 338 essays, each marked by one of 13 graders. It is concluded that improvement is needed but the changes necessary for the improvement are not feasible. (LC)

The arbitrariness and logical inconsistency of the educational expense deductions allowed under Section 162 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 are illustrated in a series of contrasting holdings. Professional education, professional development, employee-paid education, and career change education are considered. (MSE)

School counselors need to understand survey methodology even if they do not use it as research practitioners. Counselors can be better consumers of survey research by noting response rates, sampling techniques, reliability and validity in research articles. (JAC)

Enactment of PL 94-142 requires that outcomes of special education programs and related service programs be determined on a regular basis. The problem of aggregation of criterion-referenced test data for special service program outcome evaluation and the strengths and weaknesses of several alternative solutions are examined. (Author)

Describes a process for training ethnographers to participate in classroom field research. Discusses four principal objectives: (1) to facilitate an understanding of the research's conceptual focus; (2) to establish the technique and intellectual orientation for a common ethnographic approach; (3) to instruct ethnographers in ethnographic…

To examine factors that might bias student ratings of instruction, a study investigated sex bias by determining whether male or female students give higher ratings to the same male or female instructors. Data suggest that biasing sex interactions do not typically occur but may occur in particular situations. (Editor/JT)

Six dimensions of curriculum profiles are identified: (1) function-purpose; (2) curriculum coverage; (3) criterion referencing; (4) validity-reliability; (5) manageability; and (6) interpretability. Each dimension in Australian National Profiles, the Victoria (Australia) Profiles, and the National Curriculum Assessment in England and Wales is…

Using M. R. Weisbord's model of organizational diagnosis, researchers developed the Student Organization Environment Scales to measure students' perceptions of the psychosocial environment or climate of college student organizations. Development of the instrument is described and estimates of its reliability and validity are reported. Describes…

Primary among the issues in research on school-age children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) is the prediction and control of aggressive behavior. This paper examines issues in the direct measurement of classroom aggression including low base rates, interactional sequences, and reliability. (Author/DB)

Discusses the quality of school-level data collected as part of state accountability systems, including the reliability and validity of school-level test scores as a measure of the value added by schools to student learning, outlining ways that these data can be usefully analyzed; illustrating challenges inherent in doing so; and discussing…

Provides information about informal reading inventories (IRI), an early reading assessment. Explains what IRIs are; who should administer an IRI; when and how to administer an IRI; the reliability of data from IRIs; and the limitations of IRIs. (PM)

Developed a counseling self-efficacy instrument in order to examine change in counselors across a broad range of training and experience. Self-efficacy theory and models of counselor development make similar predictions about increases in counseling self-efficacy due to clinical training and experience. Results showed strong reliability and…