A useful evaluation of an education program is one that adds to the body of timely, relevant evidence to increase the likelihood that policy decisions improve program performance. This definition focuses on performance rather than change and recognizes that studies can't guarantee the use of their findings but can only increase the likelihood of…

This article looks at how the discipline of rhetoric may be helpful when thinking about methods for social justice. Specifically, it explores how rhetoric and composition can help those interested in social justice to construct knowledge that is both multidisciplinary and intercultural, to view the constructive processes of research participants,…

The quality of education is an issue of growing concern in many countries today, and there is increasing reliance on the employment of large-scale, scientific survey research techniques to study the quality issues, the monitoring and evaluation of the quality of education, and the formulation of policy interventions designed to improve quality.…

The inclusion of a representative sample of understudied populations (e.g., women, minorities, older adults, youth, and people with disabilities) in physical activity promotion studies is a public health priority. Given the limited empirical evidence of effective recruitment strategies and limitations in research methodology for both over…

Ethnography has the capacity to interrogate and unravel what Geertz called "webs of significance" in respect of difficult and perplexing cultural issues. One arena that is especially troubling at the moment lies in the need to pose questions and explore more robust explanations as to how it is that some teachers of young adolescents seem…

Students are often required to write literature reviews in advanced business communication courses, especially as part of a research project. Likewise, in the workplace, business communicators may need to review the literature in analyzing a problem or proposing a solution. However, instructors often find that even students who otherwise write…

This article develops a model for potential working-class applicants to university, using multinomial logit regression to analyse a national UK sample, drawn from lower middle and working-class adults aged 16-30. Influential factors are belief in ability, preference for university rather than earning money, qualifications and family encouragement;…

Through focused interviews with 119 elementary students, researchers examined children's understanding of vocational preparation requirements for 15 well-known jobs and participants' preferred occupations. Results indicated that, by fifth grade, children have developed the conceptual framework for understanding vocational preparation requirements…

Digital video and accompanying editing software are increasingly becoming more accessible for researchers in terms of ease of use and cost. The rich, visually appealing and seductive nature of video-based data can convey a strong sense of direct experience with the phenomena studied (Pea, 1999). However, the ease of selection and editing of…

Purpose: Residential care/assisted living describes diverse facilities providing non-nursing home care to a heterogeneous group of primarily elderly residents. This article derives typologies of assisted living based on theoretically and practically grounded evidence. Design and Methods: We obtained data from the Collaborative Studies of Long-Term…

Purpose: The purpose of the two studies described in this paper was to assess whether adults with dementia could assume an advice-giving role (Study 1) and a teacher role (Study 2) despite their cognitive impairments. So far, no research on adults with dementia has compared language production in a social conversation condition with that in an…

Assessment is the key to developing an effective program and tracking the progress of each individual student. In turn, the pillar of assessment is collecting accurate, objective data. In this article, the authors discuss the importance of collecting accurate data on student performance in order to be accountable for the instruction and learning…

The labor quality index (LQI) not only serves as an important reference for monitoring the progress of the sustainable development of a country, but it can also serve as an important parameter for economic analysis. To compile such an index for Taiwan, we conducted two large-scale surveys of 1000 major enterprises and 844 union leaders,…

This study examined preliminary effectiveness of one of the first Project Re-ED (Re-education of Emotionally Disturbed children) residential treatment centers for children. Data were collected at admission, at discharge, and up to 6 months postdischarge. Findings show substantial decreases in problem behaviors and improvements in personal…

This study examined native English speakers' reactions to nonnative primary stress in English discourse. I measured North American undergraduate students' processing, comprehension, and evaluations of three versions of an international teaching assistant's speech: with primary stress correctly placed, incorrectly placed, or missing entirely.…