This chapter discusses current methods of formative evaluation and suggests that these methods themselves need to be subjected to more critical research and evaluation in order to provide them with a more scientific base. Topics addressed include problems and methods associated with data gathering, evaluation designs, number of subjects available,…

The purposes of this paper are to consider how the prototypical research design of day care studies may unjustifiably emphasize day care as the effective factor or "treatment" in children's development, and to describe processes by which the family or some interaction between the family and day care may also affect preschoolers'…

"Child as cultural apprentice" is a developmental psychologist's heuristic metaphor which is embedded in an individual-socioecological frame of reference. A basic theoretic feature of this metaphor is the explicit recognition of the interdependence of the process of child development and the socially provided resources for that…

Some 1000 questions in education journals were analyzed for aspects of usage and content, linguistic structure, cognitive process, and logical operation. Only half of the studies examined were found to use questions, and only a third of the questions addressed teaching and learning, curriculum and milieu. The great majority of questions entailed a…

This book was written to help educators plan and conduct an assessment of students' educational needs. Chapters regarding information on planning, implementing, analyzing and reporting the results, and making decisions based on the results are included. Political implications for both education and community groups are discussed. Practical,…

Two specific methods of analysis in large-scale evaluations are considered: structural equation modeling and selection modeling/analysis of non-equivalent control group designs. Their utility in large-scale educational program evaluation is discussed. The examination of these methodological developments indicates how people (evaluators,…

Designed to identify sources for planning longitudinal evaluation strategies, this paper provides an overview and bibliography of resources regarding vocational follow-up and presents a conceptual model for longitudinal program assessment. Introductory material highlights major works in the area of vocational program assessment and summarizes the…

Alternative designs for educational research are explored to improve the external validity of educational research and broaden its scope to include not only the systematic experiments that identify psychological mechanisms but also representative designs that match the complexity of learning behavior in school. (JH)

Portions of Inequality: A Reassessment of the Effects of Family and Schooling in America (Jencks et al 1972) are reviewed. For related articles see TM 501 196-200. (MLP)

This report analyzes the articles published in "Research in the Teaching of English" during the first ten years of publication, a period that represents the influence of two editors. Among the findings were that studies related to composition have been most numerous, followed by studies related to language. Studies related to literature have been…

The use of computer simulations as teaching devices in two psychology courses (statistics and research design and physiological psychology) is discussed. In the statistics and design course the primary purpose of simulation activities was to provide a problem and data set which could be used to practice skills acquired through a traditional…

This paper presents a general model for conceptualizing and testing the interactions of individual differences and subject-matter characteristics with instructional methods. The model postulates certain ways of classifying the variables of interest in such investigations and of conceptualizing the cause-and-effect relationships among those classes…

The range of methodological choices appropriate to adult education research is surveyed in this study. The most central consideration is the conflict between emphases on quantitative techniques and various approaches to researchable areas which are not grounded in positivistic/empirical designs. Skills, talents, defects, and ideologies reflected…

Article addressed itself to the question of relationships between the cognitive styles of subjects and their use of certain solution strategies on a concept attainment task in mathematics. (Author/RK)