In British social science degree programmes, methods courses have a bad press, and statistics courses in particular are not well-liked by most students. A nationally-coordinated, strategic investment in quantitative skills training, Q-Step, is an attempt to address the issues affecting the shortage of quantitatively trained humanities and social…

Although student involvement in research and inquiry can advance undergraduate learning, there are limited opportunities for undergraduate students to be directly involved in social science research. Social science faculty members typically work outside of laboratory settings, with the limited research assistance work being completed by graduate…

This article offers an evaluation of the implementation of the American Sociological Association's Integrating Data Analysis Project in a large introductory sociology course. This project was designed following an examination of the curricula of 13 disciplines that revealed that sociology failed to integrate empirical, quantitative literacy…

Discusses a study in which attitudes and value orientations of 162 black college students were assessed to determine their individual achievement and occupational goals. (Author/DB)

A research study asked suburban middle school students what they would do if they and their brothers were fighting on opposing sides of a war battle. More than 75 percent chose non-aggressive responses. Significant differences were found between boys and girls, and between fifth and sixth graders versus seventh and eighth graders. (AV)

Obtained 460 college students' perceptions of mother's employment-child rearing patterns and employment motives. Results show that continuously employed mothers (CEMs) were perceived as less communal and less were positively evaluated. CEMs were also seen as less communal if their employment was for fulfillment rather than financial necessity.…

This paper describes the application of correspondence analysis to transcripts gathered from focussed interviews about teaching and learning held with a small sample of child-care students, medical students and the students' teachers. Seven dimensions emerged from the analysis, suggesting that the knowledge that underlies students' learning…

A study is described which examined the relationships between law-related knowledge, attitudes, and demographic characteristics of high school students. Participants were 457 students in grades nine through 12 from four high schools near Phoenix, Arizona. Three questionnaires were administered: (1) a 65-item social attitude questionnaire on…

The paper reports on a research study investigating the attitudinal and content retention effects of a proposed values/moral education model. The research focuses on four components: 1) appropriate research designs consistent with the model used, 2) appropriate, reliable, and valid posttest attitude tests consistent with the expressed goals and…

Describes the use of a student-designed questionnaire to generate data for teaching statistical procedures and concepts. Maintains that students learn firsthand that data analysis is an integral part of the research process. Concludes that students find real data more interesting. (CFR)

A study is described which used student compositions in grades 1-12 to examine expressed values over a 10-year period in the James A. Garfield School District in Garrettsville, Ohio. In four sample years, 1,500 students were assigned open-ended essay topics without knowing the writing was part of a research study. Results were analyzed to…

The research investigated political and psychological reactance among adolescents. Political reactance is interpreted to include feelings of political alienation and distrust. Psychological reactance is defined as behavior by an individual in response to reduction or threatened reduction of freedom. A model was created which expanded existing…