This issue's scenario, To Participate or Not to Participate, describes an evaluator's shift in method from nonparticipant to participant observation. Although evaluation theorists differ on the extent to which methods decisions are ethical decisions (Morris, 1998), neither of the two commentators considers the methodological decision problematic;…

Recent studies have used pretreatment analyses, termed competing stimulus assessments, to identify items that most effectively displace the aberrant behavior of individuals with developmental disabilities. In most studies, there appeared to have been no systematic basis for selecting the sampling period (ranging from 30 s to 10 min) in which items…

Situation definition is the process and product of actors' interpretive activities toward a given situation. By reviewing a number of psychological studies conducted in experimental settings, we found that the studies have only explicated a part of the situation definition process and have neglected its dynamic aspects. We need to focus on the…

An attempt is made to put the notion of sample quartiles on a mathematical footing in the light of ranks of observations, and equisegmentation property that the quartiles divide ordered sample observations into four segments leaving the same number of observations in each if all the observations are distinct. Sample quartiles provided by the…

Rater bias has long been considered a source of error in observer ratings but has been ignored by process researchers using participant ratings. In particular, rater variance, or differences in generalized favorable or unfavorable perceptions of others, represents a neglected source of error in studies using participant ratings. The author…

We studied possible relations between seizures and problem behavior in 3 adults with developmental disabilities. Each person was observed for between 56 and 92 days to record occurrences of seizures and problem behavior. Results of our descriptive analysis indicated an association between seizures and problem behavior for each participant. For…

This single-subject action research project examines the effects of animal-assisted therapy on the self-esteem and classroom behaviors of a student with an emotional/behavioral disorder. An 18- year-old male attending a special education school in northeastern St. Paul participated in animal-assisted therapy research for four weeks. Quantitative…

This study is a qualitative analysis of data collected during a yearlong series of teacher learning community meetings and classroom observations. The participants are middle and high school mathematics teachers from 2 school districts. Teachers were introduced to the research behind formative assessment and how to apply that research to their…

Although lecture and lab courses are commonly used in higher education, there are potential problems with this format. However, technology is presenting new opportunities for teaching such a type of a course. This study explores the changes in the role of the instructors when a lecture and lab course evolved into a hybrid course, with the lecture…

We investigated empowerment in the Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (Alpha-1) community, a rare, genetic disease network in the United States. The research was motivated by nine years of observations in the community. After observing what seemed to be a heightened amount of activism among Alpha-1 community members, I had hypothesized that this…

This study investigates the cultures of the academic and student affairs divisions within one selective residential liberal arts institution. Specifically, the study investigates how faculty and student affairs personnel perceive their own and each other's roles as educators on the campus and how these perceptions influence the potential for…

The majority of FBA research has focused on identifying and developing interventions based on the function or consequences of problem behavior; however, increased attention has recently been focused on the effects of antecedent variables on problem behavior in natural settings. This study examined the functional antecedent-based process in early…

Given Russian students' general lack of group work and opportunities to develop student responsibility in their prior schooling experiences, the purpose of this study was to examine how a group of Russian high school students responds to novel demands of participation in a sport education season. Forty-two students from two ninth-grade physical…

In the inclusive/special education literature, practitioners often claim that using portfolios is excessively time-intensive, while other researchers lay claim to positive possibilities for students with disabilities/exceptionalities, such as increased self-esteem, internal locus of control, choice-making, and active participation in learning. To…

The intent of this study was to examine the development of peer interaction in low-income Mexican-heritage families in the United States. Eighty-eight children (44 girls) were observed and mothers interviewed when children were 14, 24, 36, and 54 months old. We used the Attachment Q-Set (Waters, 1990), the Peer Play Scale (Howes & Matheson, 1992),…