These articles contain responses from several scholars on the issue of field systems analysis (FSA). The scholars offer critiques from their sport pedagogy perspectives, a reaction relating FSA to personal examinations of teaching expertise, and a discussion of how computer simulation informs the study of expert teachers. (SM)

Describes a student research project for a research methods course in which students present their work as a poster session. Explains that students are graded for visual display and oral presentation. Reports that students are more thorough in self-evaluations after their efforts at public display. (DK)

Describes a study of undergraduates in the Open University that used qualitative research methods to investigate how students learn with educational television. Results of observations, interviews, and test data are analyzed to determine which program features are important, and the methodology is contrasted with the one used in other studies of…

Study investigated the development of elementary teachers' professional knowledge while involved in a qualitative research process. Teachers took the graduate course "Trends and Issues in Education" which involved them as researchers. They kept journals and recorded class sessions and individual conferences, discovering that as…

Addresses issues related to the conducting of qualitative studies in early childhood settings. Four problems that can threaten the quality of interviews with young children are noted; these are the adult-child; right-answer; preoperational thought; and self-as-social-object problems. Presents strategies for improving interviews with young…

In the research paper considered, Stahl and Miller compare the effectiveness of whole language/language experience programs versus basal reader approaches. The article is criticized for its lack of longitudinal data, alternative interpretations, and information concerning the broad goals of whole language approaches. (TJH)

The effectiveness of whole language/language experience programs versus basal reader approaches is considered. The politicization of whole language teaching and the use of the nonbasal approaches in kindergarten versus first grade are the focal themes. (TJH)

Describes study of students in grades 8 through 12 that was conducted to determine the degree to which television messages influence a person's construction of reality (the cultivation hypothesis). Research methodology that tests the effects of television exposure is examined with emphasis on the importance of demographic control variables. (38…

Responds to Martyn Hammersley's critique of the authors' research concerning classroom participation of boys and girls. Agrees generally with Hammersley's critique. Defends the small-scale approach for its ability to examine interactive mechanisms by which inequality in participation was produced. (DB)

Asserts that the scattered rural populations of Latin America and Mexico make it difficult to offer primary education to all school-age children. Describes a project in which community classes make it possible for children to attend schools without leaving their village. (CFR)

Strengths and weaknesses of three types of semiquantitative methods used by the federal government in research impact assessment are presented, and examples of their use are reviewed. These include the classic retrospective method, another retrospective approach, and accomplishments books used by selected research-sponsoring organizations. (SLD)

This article reviews the principal methods economists and cost benefit analysts use in evaluating research. Two common approaches are surplus measures (combinations of consumer and producer surpluses) and productivity measures. Technical difficulties and political and organizational constraints are discussed for these measures. (SLD)

Contends that qualitative research is now an acceptable and respected methodology in the various fields of educational research. Concludes that considerable imagination and flexibility is necessary when evaluating research into educational issues in developing nations. (CFR)

Progress toward alternative approaches to research on teaching and teacher development is reviewed. The researcher-teacher relationship is the focus in discussing collaboration in partnership research. Organizing frameworks for the discussion are the authors' own research, a matrix of phases of research activity, and a matrix of issues in teacher…

This overview of nonexperimental causal research methods focuses on latent variable structural equation modeling using the LISREL computer program. An extended example in special education is used to present LISREL as an extension of structural equations analysis (path analysis) and as a method of reducing the effects of error in research.…