This paper provides an overview and discussion of a study of young children's knowledge and understanding of the management of waste materials. It describes a semistructured interview and discussion methodology used to ascertain details of children's knowledge and misconceptions about this key environmental issue. (LZ/Author)

Discusses challenges to conducting research on effectiveness of community service systems that are family-based and school-centered: underidentification of children with emotional or behavioral disorders, lack of concordance between diagnostic criteria used in school versus mental health systems, problems of comorbidity, analysis of data from…

Strategies are presented for analyzing longitudinal research designs with many waves of data using hierarchical linear modeling. The approach defines well-focused parameters that yield meaningful effect size estimates and significance tests. It is illustrated with data from the Boys Town Follow-Up Study. (SLD)

Some specific opportunities and techniques are described for combining and integrating qualitative and quantitative methods from the design stage of a substance abuse program evaluation through implementation and reporting. The multiple problems and requirements of such an evaluation make integrated methods essential. (SLD)

An outreach and linkage program for the homeless mentally ill documented successful outcomes in terms of housing but not in terms of functioning for the 163 participants. Recruitment source, client functioning cluster type, and hours of service received were predictors of the four-month residential setting. (SLD)

Evaluates empirical studies on child development. Suggests that most such research consists of studies of a priori, nonempirical, logical relations between concepts, whose definitions guarantee the relationship studied. Argues that hypotheses are empirical if variables involved are semantically and logically independent. Research that is not based…

Analyzes the political, educational, and technical factors that strongly influenced the Ramirez study of bilingual programs. Enumerates strengths and weaknesses of the study's research methodology, along with implications for decision making in language-minority education. Summarizes defensible conclusions of the study that have not yet been…

Examines historical roots of the link between statistics and psychology, exploring the way in which the conceptual framework for the application of probability in psychological research was created by experimental design. In the social sciences, statistics creates and defines objects of study more directly than in the physical sciences. (SLD)

A discussion of classroom research to promote instructional improvement at the college level looks at how it can be effective in faculty development and describes several research projects. Issues in research promotion, design, and methodology and the feasibility of such projects in instructional development units are considered. (Author/MSE)

A method is presented for determining the optimal number of conditions to use in multivariate-multifacet generalizability designs when resource constraints are imposed. A decision maker can determine the number of observations needed to obtain the largest possible generalizability coefficient. The procedure easily applies to the univariate case.…

The background essay introducing this special issue on leadership describes potential initiatives aimed at educational leadership research and development. The research supporting the invited journal articles was conducted at two national education leadership research centers. (MLF)

A method is proposed for calculating the sample size needed to achieve acceptable statistical power with a given test. The minimally important difference significant (MIDS) criterion for sample size is explained and supported with recommendations for determining sample size. The MIDS criterion is computationally simple and easy to explain. (SLD)

Describes characteristics of second-generation research in early intervention, that is, greater specificity, the use of more rigorous scientific standards, and an increased understanding of biosocial relationships than in initial investigations. Examines studies conducted by Utah State University's Early Intervention Research Institute in the…

Examines Richard Clark's analysis of the role of media (IR 529 139) from the perspective of an instructional designer. Clark's statements about interchangeability of media attributes, research evidence, and the influence of learner preconceptions are challenged. Suggestions for future research are provided. (Contains six references.) (KRN)

Offers a rebuttal to Giyoo Hatano's commentary on a study on sociomoral development in the kindergarten classroom. It is suggested that the danger in restricting evaluation to stated goals is that unintended negative effects will not be recognized. (LB)