Ringelmann's classic finding - that the addition of co-workers in a rope-pulling task leads to a linear decrement in the individual group member's average performance - was re-examined experimentally. (Editor)

The main features of a general-purpose experimental language are described, followed by an account of its implementation. (Author)

Tips on constructing survey instruments and examples of alternative formats for questionnaire items are provided in this paper. The 18 tips cover such areas as instructions for respondents, wording of questionnaire items, grouping of items, handling of difficult or sensitive questions, fixed-response items, open-ended questions, and questionnaire…

This report makes available in condensed form the methods for performing longitudinal studies of attitude change and the issues associated with these methods. It represents a state-of-the-art review of such methods, and the material covered spans the disciplines of psychology, sociology, and statistics. It is meant to provide a brief description…

Covers research areas that do not look promising, and research areas and methodologies that should receive future emphasis. (Author/ND)

This study deals with the problem of relating externally developed assessment procedures to the requirements to one company. (Author)

This paper argues that communication researchers could benefit from incorporating a rules approach as a supplement to more traditional methods of organizational analysis. Two major flaws in the methodology of traditional organizational analysis are noted: failing to account for actor or participant meanings--how the actor interprets relationships,…

This paper presents a coherent account of affect based on the functional properties of the nervous system. The paper begins with a brief discussion of the nature of a structural theory and contrasts it with a functional view. Then the functional view is discussed in more detail. The following two assumptions of the functional view are described:…

The purpose of this paper is threefold: to describe grounded theory research strategies, to present a summary of several studies in education that have followed this approach, and to explore the potential uses of the grounded theory techniques in curriculum theory generation. The paper is arranged into six parts. In the first and second parts of…

This paper is based on the premise that relatively little is known about how to improve validity in qualitative research and less is known about how to estimate validity in studies conducted by others. The purpose of the study was to describe the conceptualization of validity in qualitative inquiry to determine how it was used by the author of a…

Qualitative research procedures may be characterized by the practice of empiricism that is sensitive to individual perspectives of reality. The many techniques that may be used are malleable and situation-specific in their design--contingent on those aspects of social phenomena that are chosen to be studied. Practical curriculum design for…

Whereas rigorous quantitative methods (in experimental methods, data interpretation, concept formation, hypothesis construction) and formal style and format are essential in theory verification research, their applicability centers on the fact that in theory verification research, it is necessary to determine whether the strategies used for…

A series of papers was developed by the authors as part of their deliberations as members of the National Research Council's Committee of Program Evaluation in Education. The papers provide a broad range of present evaluative thinking. The conflict between preferences in evaluation methodology comes through in these papers. The selections include:…