Compared direction and purpose of touch, type, body area touched, and responses to touch for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers observed in early childhood classrooms. Found that infants received more touch than older children. Touch involving "vulnerable body parts" and negative responses occurred more often among toddlers than…

Used naturalistic observation method to study interaction of children and their male and female adult caretakers in public places in San Diego, California (N=2,050), and Lincoln, Nebraska (N=450). Found male involvement rate higher for boys, older children, recreational settings, mixed-sex dyads, and Caucasion caretakers as compared to Asian…

Argues that valid evaluation of reference services should involve triangulation, that is, the systematic use of a variety of carefully chosen research methods. The use of triangulation in conjunction with several qualitative research methods is described and guidelines to the implementation of a qualitative research project are provided. (27…

Many different methods are termed qualitative research. A continuum of research methods avoids the need to classify research as either scientific or naturalistic. Each method may be assessed in terms of degree of constraints on possible outputs and degree of constraints on antecedent variables. (SK)

Suggests that the practice of ethnography in the spirit of Clifford Geertz's "thick description," and the thinking that this practice demands, can give college students both a tool for inquiry and a sense of their positions as authorities in the writing process. Defines thick description and discusses how ethnography works in a…

Systematic naturalistic observations of imitation, theory of mind, play, and social contact were conducted with children with autism, adults with autism, children with learning disabilities, and normally developing young children. Although little imitation was observed in any but the normal young children, the autistic subjects showed less…

Research assessed 44 students' levels of self-esteem and then measured their actual levels of intoxication with a breathalyzer as they were leaving a fraternity party. Participants with lower levels of self-esteem exited the party with a mean Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of .126, while those with higher levels of self-esteem exited with a…

It has been said that children are smarter than we sometimes acknowledge them to be. Knowledge can be, at times, hidden from view. It is a teacher's job to get to know his or her students very well and find ways to make sure they give them due credit for what they know. But can one know one's students solely upon the grades given on quizzes,…

Although lecture and lab courses are commonly used in higher education, there are potential problems with this format. However, technology is presenting new opportunities for teaching such a type of a course. This study explores the changes in the role of the instructors when a lecture and lab course evolved into a hybrid course, with the lecture…

This study investigated the effects of collaborative group work skills training on pupil attainment in science. Twenty-four experimental classes were drawn from schools in rural and urban settings. Pupils in experimental classrooms engaged in general group work skills training and two structured group work activities in science. Attainment was…

This article reports findings from a case study of district leadership for school, family and community partnerships in a suburban district in the mid-Atlantic region of the USA. Analyses suggest that the case district's family and community involvement specialist has been successful in using different kinds of data to achieve a variety of goals…

The research design for this study focuses on examining the core issues and challenges when video games are used in the classroom. For this purpose three naturalistic contexts in Turkey were examined in which educational video games were used as the basis for teaching units on world continents and countries, first aid, and basic computer hardware…

This study explored the relationship between academic orientation, academic achievement, and interest in night-sky watching (noctcaelador). Participants included 117 students enrolled in undergraduate psychology classes who completed the Survey of Academic Orientations (SAO; Davidson, Beck, & Silver, 1999), Noctcaelador Inventory (NI; Kelly,…

Relations between preservice teachers' guided field observations of primary literacy instruction and knowledge about effective beginning reading practices were explored. Preservice teachers (n = 48) participated in a Directed Field Experience course including instruction on and observations of exemplary teaching practices promoting student…

Previous research in laboratory settings has found that preschool girls show more interest in babies than do preschool boys. To validate these findings in natural settings, 71 children at 3 and 5 years of age were observed by their parents as the children interacted with babies in their daily lives. Each child was observed with three different…