Traditional research literature distinguishes between two general types of threats to the generalizability of experimental findings: Internal validity and external validity. Relatively minor importance has been attached to external validity in educational literature. Bracht and Glass elaborate on external validity and deal with two types:…

This paper describes two experiments designed to determine whether traditional effects of adult nurturance on children's incidental imitation could be obtained using a within-subject design and a functional (rather than operational) definition of nurturance. Four preschool children served as subjects, with four others serving as cross-sex…

This paper describes a model of classroom processes that can be used in research on the nature of the relationship between school practices and student achievement. It is stated that the model specifies that criterion performance is a function of initial abilities and of the following four constructs: (1) opportunity, (2) motivators, (3)…

This paper reviews and develops summary measures of associations between multiple sets of variables through the application of canonical correlation analysis. These measures are subsequently applied to a specific research problem: a study of the determinants of housing status. Some of the data analysis situations for which canonical correlation is…

Research design is a product of the scientific method in Western Civilization whose major purposes are to eliminate the biased judgements of individual researchers and to ensure replication of the study. In general, the formal protocol of the research design includes several elements: theoretical position out of which the hypotheses to be tested…

Methods for designing and conducting research related to health education, physical education and reaction are described. The use of libraries, the selection and definition of research problems, principles of statistically sampling, and data collection devices are presented. Instructions for the construction and validation of tests as well as…

During his postdoctoral fellowship year, Dr. Morgan took formal course work in computer programing, advanced research design, projective techniques, the physiology of aging, and hypnosis. He also attended weekly seminars in the Institute of Environmental Stress and conducted an investigation entitled "The Alteration of Perceptual and Metabolic…

A randomized design with a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments was employed to investigate the role of susceptibility to persuasion, expectations for personal growth and divergent counseling treatments in the process of behavior change. The results of the investigation indicated that: (1) the divergent counseling treatment procedures…

This paper comments on Gagne's classification scheme with respect to learning outcomes, and offers a research design appropriate for instructional research studies. It challenges certain assumptions concerning correspondence between subject matter and categories, and asserts that the logic of experimental analysis should be applied to…

Two relatively new tools for analysis of data compiled in evaluation studies are presented. The National Test-Equating Study in Reading, known as the Anchor Test Study, produced tables of score-correspondence between the eight reading comprehension and vocabulary tests most widely used in the United States. Two types of tables from this report…

This paper describes administrative experimentation--a particular strategy and method of field testing or evaluation. Administrative experimentation can best be described as a specialized form of field testing, field experimentation or evaluation which emphasizes the dual role of administrator and experimenter. This method is first defined in…

This initial survey was an attempt to determine the present status of institutional research in the public community colleges. Since this was an initial survey, only the basic type of questions about the institutional research function at each community college were explored. The data gathered are presented in a series of tables with brief…

The problem of blocking on a status variable was investigated. The one-way fixed-effects analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, and generalized randomized block designs each treat the blocking problem in a different way. In order to compare these designs, it is necessary to restrict attention to experimental situations in which observations…

A theory of psychophysics is discussed that enlarges the classical theory in three general ways: (1) the multidimensional nature of perception is made explicit; (2) the transformations of the theory are interpreted geometrically; and (3) attributes are distinguished from sensations and only partially ordered. It is shown that, with the enlarged…

The discussion of applied research in the field of behavior modification as used in child treatment is based on the carefully controlled research design of the Children's Treatment Center in Madison, Wisconsin. The Center provides a total treatment program for emotionally disturbed children and their families while serving research needs and…