Researchers review the theoretical and empirical literature to investigate how models of organizational effectiveness can be applied to the study of school effectiveness in public elementary and secondary education. The authors consider nine models grouped into two sets: goal-centered models and systems-oriented models. The goal-centered group…

The author conducted a cross national analysis of sociological research reported in leading journals at two points in time over a ten year period to determine if sociologists' ability to produce valid social generalizations had improved significantly over the recent past. The official journals of the United States (American Sociological Review),…

By using small-scale artificially created archaeologic sites, a teacher can provide students with a time-efficient approach in which to master some basic archaeological techniques. In an artificially created setting, the students can become familiar with conditions they might meet in the field. In a short period of time, students may be exposed to…

The similarities between television viewing and fantasy activity (daydreaming, reverie, mind-wandering, internal dialogue) more than warrant the building of a theoretical construct, especially in the context of recent empirical research on television viewing consequences. A construct of the television viewing process, based on cognitive theories…

Scholars studying organizational communication tend to feel that all organizational problems are rooted in communication, but it is difficult to diagnose the particular problems of an organization without an explicit model of what constitutes a healthy organization. Organizational effectiveness is goal-related, multidimensional, perceived…

This publication is a collection of commentaries on a published monograph entitled "Teacher Competence and Teacher Effectiveness: A Review of Process-Product Research" by Donald M. Medley (1977). Medley's stated purpose was to provide teacher educators with access to the meaningful findings of research in teacher effectiveness. The papers here…

Guttman's facet theory is described as a method for quantifying information concerning attitudes. It is stated that attitude items are not negatively correlated for usual populations. An attitude is defined as a delimited totality of behavior with respect to something and its components are elements of a set. The first step in facet research…

Evaluation is viewed as essential to decision making and social policy development. Since conventional methods have been disappointing or inadequate, naturalistic inquiry (N/I) differs from conventional science in minimizing constraints on antecedent conditions (controls) and on output (dependent variables). N/I is phenomenological rather than…

Three procedures used to control Type I error rate in stepwise regression analysis are forward selection, backward elimination, and true stepwise. In the forward selection method, a model of the dependent variable is formed by choosing the single best predictor; then the second predictor which makes the strongest contribution to the prediction of…

Arguments have recently been put forth that standard textbook procedures for determining the sample size necessary to achieve a certain level of power in a completely randomized design are incorrect when the dependent variable is fallible because they ignore measurement error. In fact, however, there are several correct procedures, one of which is…

This paper presents a paradigm for designing evaluation research studies that permits examination of the effects of curriculum, instruction, and instructional materials on the learning environment as the determinants function independently, as they relate to one another, and as they interact in complex ways in the naturalistic setting. The…

The point of view is presented that evaluation projects can be enriched by not using either an exclusively quantitative model or an exclusively qualitative model but by combining both models in one project. The concept of metaphor is used to clarify the usefulness of the combination. Iconic or holistic metaphors describe an object or event as…

Knowledge of the magnitude of effect(s) of an experimental study in science education should be of utmost concern to researchers in the field, but is often not reported. This document describes the concept of "explained variance" in analysis of variance designs and then explains how it can be calculated and reported. Reporting the magnitude of…

To illustrate the types of factors that must be considered in evaluating public documents, this paper analyzes a number of possible outcomes resulting from one type of document, the patient package insert (PPI) designed to provide consumers of prescription drugs with information about the drugs. It first outlines the intended sequence for a PPI:…

Empathic distress refers to the empathic response to another's pain, anxiety, or sadness. Empathic distress must be viewed as only one component of a person's response when observing someone in distress. Studies of empathy should be designed to rule out or control the non-empathic components insofar as possible. The importance of perception and…