The investigator analyzed all research papers and classified them according to predetermined criteria. Findings indicate that 355 papers of nine different types of research were presented by 347 different individuals including faculty from 83 postsecondary institutions in the U.S. Over half, 55 percent, of the papers were based on descriptive…

Consulting editors (N=101) of the Journal of Counseling Psychology and the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology evaluated three versions, differing only with regard to level of statistical significance, of a research manuscript. Statistically nonsignificant and approach significance versions were more likely to be recommended for…

Reviews the major articles on experiential learning published in business periodicals during the last several years and raises questions of their validity. Problems inherent in assessing learning experiences are addressed by a sequential research design, and a tentative theoretical model for assessing experiential learning is proposed. Twenty-four…

Post-hoc blocking and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) both employ a concomitant variable to increase statistical power relative to the completely randomized design. It is argued that the advantages attributed to the block design are not always valid and that there are circumstances when the ANCOVA would be preferred to post-hoc blocking.…

Formulas for estimating the population measure of effect strength are based on the assumption that sample sizes are proportional to the sizes of their respective treatment populations. Because this assumption is frequently violated, a general method of estimating effect strength for the one-factor, fixed-effects design is presented. (Author/BW)

Browne's definitive but complex formulas for the cross-validational accuracy of an OSL-estimated regression equation in the random-effects sampling model are here reworked to achieve greater perspicuity and extended to include the fixed-effects sampling model. (Author)

Points out the problems in designing and evaluating research on writing courses. (JL)

Professional evaluators are often called upon to analyze data produced by a catastrophically inadequate evaluation design. A remedial strategy involving diagnosis of error, application of a corrective procedure and sensitization of program personnel of the need for a more sophisticated stance, is proposed and illustrated with a case study.…

Develops a way to conceptualize the complementarity of quantitative and qualitative research in science education, demonstrating through analysis of examples that qualitative and quantitative research reports follow the same pattern of argument, although the metaphysical roots behind their methodologies are obviously different. (Author/SK)

Manipulated two aspects of the general empathy training situation in an attempt to produce higher levels of "empathic responding" following a brief training program. Results showed the experimental manipulations increased more empathic responses in the group asked to display competence than in the group asked to learn "empathic responding."…

The influence of maternal stimulation on infant exploratory behavior was examined in both a cross-sectional/ correlational study and an experimental study, in order to overcome the limitations on making causal claims that attend most research into maternal influence on infant development. (Author/DB)

Suggests that the principal conclusions in the earlier report regarding the relative effects and sex restrictiveness of norm-scored instruments and raw-scored instruments are not warranted by the study design. Alternative approaches and additional research are presented. (Author)

Schools are social systems, not factories. Trying to develop a model of education accommodating this fact led John Goodlad to undertake a seven-year national study that he believes will give impetus to humanistic approaches to research while generating hypotheses that can be tested using traditionally objective research methods. (Author/PGD)

The effect size was calculated for 104 dependent variables studied in 23 experimental or quasi-experimental evaluations of patient education programs. The mean effect size for all 23 studies indicated that the average taught patient moved from the 50th to the 77th percentile, relative to the control group. (GDC)

Discusses the purposes and benefits of data synthesis, explaining the major techniques of extracting information from related studies and using it to explain conflicting outcomes. Stresses the importance of the analyst's attention to detailed features of each study and describes the steps of a systematic approach to synthesis. (SK)