The "Educational Researcher" is a forum for extended conversation among researchers about their common endeavors. Articles are models for reasoning about educational issues as well as arguments for particular conclusions. A call is issued for articles that present diverse perspectives and challenging critiques of topics of interest. (SLD)

A strategy is described for dealing with measurement situations in which certain categories of responses are null, that is, persons do not respond in certain categories to certain items. The method is described for the partial credit model while maintaining the integrity of the original response framework. (SLD)

A study with follow-up interviews of services for homeless and mentally ill persons (original sample of 163) had a very high success rate of over 70% in tracking this difficult to locate population. Techniques for locating clients are presented, as identified by a focus group of five researchers. (SLD)

Techniques for adjusting census figures are discussed, with a focus on sampling error, uncertainty of estimates resulting from the luck of sample choice. Computer simulations illustrate the ways in which the smoothing algorithm may make adjustments less, rather than more, accurate. (SLD)

Methods used to evaluate a curriculum of nine medical departmental clerkships are described, and insights about the value of these methods in studying complex learning environments are discussed. Combining data on the 22 subjects obtained by 5 distinct methods allows examination of the big picture and specific details. (SLD)

This article proposes that university department prestige can be measured by ability to place its doctoral recipients, as illustrated by analysis of accounting student placements. Resulting rankings of departments were evaluated for stability over time and against other program characteristics to illustrate the validity and uniqueness of the…

College and university marketing departments should use the technique of positioning to increase enrollments. The triangular approach to positioning uses close scrutiny of the student profile, the benefits marketing courses offer, and the competition the department faces within and outside the business school. The technique can also be used by…

This review of research related to teacher retention and attrition in special education organizes research findings around a conceptual model of teachers' career decisions that includes three major factors: external, employment, and personal. The review also considers major findings from general education retention studies, and conceptual and…

This study investigated factors associated with the acquisition of second-language pronunciation and methodological problems associated with the study of foreign accents. Thirty-six native speakers of Russian fluent in English read specifically constructed English sentences and a prose passage, and talked spontaneously about their daily routine.…

Explores the use of verbal report data in describing second-language learning and production strategies, noting controversies regarding the validity of verbal report data, and describing a study that pointed out the limited nature of learners' repertoire for handling such feedback. (76 references) (Author/CB)

Provides example of use of exploratory growth modeling to examine changes over time in functioning of 172 families who underwent treatment in Project Good Start prevention program. Addresses within-family and between-family research questions. Results highlight heterogeneity across families in direction and rate of family function change and its…

Reviews psychological and pharmacological comparative outcome studies, typically using examples of cognitive-behavioral interventions from among psychological therapies and of depression from among disorders. Considers methodological concerns such as selecting outcome measures, calibrating quality of therapy, and investigating client and therapist…

Departing from J. Dewey's vision of communication, a gap between the language of researchers and the language of lay people and policymakers is identified. Ways of bridging the gap are defined, and the communications task of the educational researcher is reviewed. (SLD)

Ethnographic methods were integrated with survey procedures in an experimental daytime count of homeless persons in a major city. Ethnographic data proved valuable for choosing sites, designing questionnaires, developing new interview approaches, and interpreting test results. Recommends a wider use of ethnographic insights in developing surveys,…

Discusses the need for a revitalization of a scientific agenda for clinical supervision. Reviews philosophy of science and scientific methods and attempts to disentangle common misconceptions about a scientific agenda as applied to supervision. Exhorts supervisors to be critical consumers of research and theory and to pursue programmatic and…