Over the past few years, the focus group method has assumed a very important role as a method for collecting qualitative data in social and behavioural science research. This article elucidates theoretical and practical problems and prospects associated with the use of focus groups as a qualitative research method in social and behavioural science…

This paper outlines the theoretical foundations of Soviet psychology, analyzes major themes based on these foundations, and identifies relevance of Soviet psychological research for American investigators. Basic social and political factors that influence Soviet research include centralization of all scientific and academic endeavors and…

Argues that the two most common interpretations of the Meadian "I" in George Herbert Mead's theory of social self have failed to place the concept within the context of Mead's philosophy of social behaviorism. Stresses also that Mead's theory of social behaviorist interpretation is applicable to sociological inquiry when it is properly…

This monograph is one of a continuing series initiated to provide materials for teachers, parents, school administrators, and governmental decision-makers that might encourage reexamination of a range of evaluation issues and perspectives about schools and schooling. This monograph is a description and analysis of two contrasting paradigms: one…

Assesses systematically the opinions of indigenous people about the writings of social scientists in an effort to change their negative opinions of requests made by social scientists conducting research studies in their cultures. Available from: International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Transaction Periodicals Consortium, Rutgers-The State…

The difficulties of operationalizing race in research and practice for social, behavioral, and genetic researchers and practitioners are neither new nor related to recent genetic knowledge. For geneticists, the bases for understanding groups are clines, observed traits that gradually change in frequency between geographic regions without distinct…

The main question explored in this article is whether behavior analysts are more interested in examining the variables of which socially important behaviors are a function, or in improving those behaviors. It is concluded that improvement is currently more important to researchers than analysis. (Author/AM)

Methodologies for life course analyses must explain complex biological, psychosocial, and social factors which result in various patterns of life trajectories. Four problems are characteristic of current research: a seemingly endless list of potentially significant variables; a dearth of life course theory beyond childhood to assist in targeting…

Examines secular trends in research on Afro-American children appearing in CHILD DEVELOPMENT between 1936 and 1980. A statistical analysis revealed dramatic changes in the frequency and type of research on this population, and identified some of the changing social issues and perspectives that are reflected in the research. (Author/BB)

It appears that relatively little thought has been given to the methods for reviewing, synthesizing, and reporting the results of a set of empirical studies on a given substantive topic. The question is raised as to whether the studies that have been reviewed constitute a population or a sample, and if a sample, whether they are representative or…

Speculation about the state of research if metanalysis is pushed to its logical extreme (if at least 1 metanalysis had been conducted on every independent, dependent, and mediating variable for which at least 2 independent effect sizes could be computed) yields 10 effects that could be expected. (SLD)

Robert M. W. Travers's 1980 essay is the focal point of this paper. He argues that evaluation research requires a scientific taxonomy of human behavior and learning. Such a taxonomy must be experimentally based, mathematically expressed, theoretically sound, and predictive. He bases such criteria on the development of scientifically successful…

This is one of a series in the Survey of the Behavioral and Social Sciences (BASS) conducted between 1967 and 1969. Three chapters of a general nature discuss the concerns of economists, professional organization, and research procedures (simulation, modeling, data needs, survey research, behavioral research, operations research), and the…

A joint effort of two committees of the National Academy of Sciences and the Social Science Research Council produced this report on the state of the behavioral science disciplines. The emphasis is on outlining what has developed in the social sciences since World War II, what the likely trends will be in the future, and in making some…

Some health researchers have used the concept of acculturation to explain health behaviors or illnesses prevalent among Hispanic people. This paper reviews studies in health, educational, and social science research among Hispanics and argues that acculturation studies are seriously limited by several basic conceptual and methodological problems.…