A study examined conflict resolution strategies employed by a kindergarten teacher with her class of 22 students. Naturalistic observation was used to investigate the strategies in instances of four specific behaviors: being aggressive, blaming, bossing, and tattling. The investigation revealed that, after repeated exposure to and numerous…

Some aspects of fourth generation evaluation procedures that have been advocated by E. G. Guba and Y. S. Lincoln were examined empirically, with emphasis on areas where there have been discrepancies between theory and field-based experience. In fourth generation evaluation, the product of an evaluation is not a set of conclusions, recommendations,…

Qualitative research is a model for systematic, data-based inquiry. It has been used widely in the social sciences, and it has a growing acceptance in educational research. Its purpose is to describe and understand a particular, bounded social setting. The differences between quantitative and qualitative research involve the methods employed at…

This paper reviews the empirical research on short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (STDP). It begins with a brief history of STDP, identifying current developers and researchers of STDP and listing commonalities among various short-term dynamic psychotherapies. In this review, research is grouped broadly into two categories: controlled…

An interpretive and ethnographic approach to human communication study, using naturalistic or participant observer techniques, is particularly useful in intercultural contexts. The basic ideas undergirding this approach are (1) that the researcher is the instrument of inquiry, (2) that humane considerations are more important than investigating…

This paper argues that a human science approach should be included in the American Psychological Association's (APA) pending reconsideration of accreditation specifications. Psychology's curriculum will remain incomplete and sterile until it assimilates this approach. Some of the key procedures of human science research methodology are outlined,…

This 3-month investigation of changes in teaching and learning behaviors as microcomputers and computer literacy are integrated into the curriculum involved nine primary teachers (Mahopac Central School District, New York) in grades 1 to 3, who had received training in the use of microcomputers and in Logo. Each teacher implemented the same…

This naturalistic study of teacher educators explored the differences between the attitudes of methods teachers and instructional development (ID) teachers toward ID and teacher education. Three faculty members were interviewed in depth, and brief questionnaires were sent to seven faculty members in each of the two fields; responses were received…

Observing the composing processes of students working over real time in naturalistic settings, two exploratory studies asked: (1) What skills and assumptions do freshman and advanced writers invoke when they are searching for information to be used in writing? (2) What strategies and goals do students bring to a typical writing-from-sources task…

In a study of children's moral development, four toddlers and their mothers were observed at home approximately every three weeks when toddlers were 13-23 months of age. Six behavioral signs of children's awareness of standards were coded: (1) proud looks, achievement smiles, statements of accomplishment; (2) awareness of, interest in, and…

Observations in a neighborhood day care center revealed that teachers, when they handed out a "paint shirt" without fastening it, set up a situation in which children helped one another. With modifications, this naturally occurring situation was used in order to increase the incidence of peer helping behavior so that it could be studied…

The impact of the educational programs of zoos on the recreational visitor is addressed in this report. Unobtrusive or nonreactive research methods were employed as primary evaluative techniques by graduate social science students conducting six research projects at the Los Angeles Zoo. These studies were designed and implemented to examine: (1)…

An instrument for naturalistic observation in the childbirth environment is presented. Observable features of the parturient woman's physical state, stimulus contact she experiences, and themes of conversations with the woman are recorded using a system of categories to time-sample in cycles of 30 seconds for observing followed by 30 seconds for…

This 9-month naturalistic study investigated maternal influence on the responses of 1 1/2- to 2-year-old infants to emotional distress events occurring in the family environment. Mothers were trained to report details of distress incidents, of the child's reactions to the person in distress, and of the mother's own response to the child and to the…

The article describes the three-year Education Development Center/Technical Education Research Center Middle School Technology Integration Project which is investigating how technology is integrated into language arts and mathematics curricula, and its impact on mainstreamed mildly handicapped students. The evolution of computer use at four…