Quick power estimates for detecting a difference in two population proportions are expedient during early stages of research planning. Such estimates are tabled and graphed in this article. They are shown to be conservative but accurate for most research situations when proportions fall in the range of 0.25 to 0.75. (SLD)

Evaluation as a field has moved beyond debating whether certain designs are good while others are bad to begin to appreciate that each of a group of designs may have its uses. The importance of good designs that reflect real-world complexities is increasingly being recognized. (SLD)

This article presents a synopsis of each of seven presentations given at a conference on design and analysis in community trial studies. Papers identify problems with community trials and discuss strengths and weaknesses associated with design and analysis strategies. Areas of consensus are summarized. (SLD)

Discusses the issue that women of color are dealt with as anomalies in psychological research, noting that research paradigms are actually focused on White, middle-class populations. It examines the methodological and theoretical transformations that have occurred in the literature and evaluates the extent to which researchers have successfully…

An ecological perspective is used to evaluate the quality of mainstream child development research designs that include observational data collection procedures. A preliminary analysis of a case study is presented to illustrate the need for greater attention to ecological factors. (LZ)

Asserts that research in technical communication must grow in quantity, quality, and coherence. Assesses the research reports in the proceedings of the annual conferences of the Society for Technical Communication for the last 20 years. Suggests a model for future growth. (SR)

Ten evaluation models are examined in terms of their applicability to investigative, emergent design programs: Stake's portrayal, Wolf's adversary, Patton's utilization, Guba's investigative journalism, Scriven's goal-free, Scriven's modus operandi, Eisner's connoisseurial, Stufflebeam's CIPP, Tyler's objective based, and Levin's cost…

This paper argues that judgment-based assessment of data from multiply replicated single-subject or small-N studies should replace normative-based (p=less than 0.05) assessment of large-N research in the clinical sciences, and asserts that inferential statistics should be abandoned as a method of evaluating clinical research data. (Author/JDD)

Provides background on the California State Library Packet Radio project, which will use packet radios to deploy a wireless, high-speed, wide-area network of 600 nodes, including 100 libraries, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Project goals and objectives, plan of operation, equipment, and evaluation plans are summarized. (MES)

Observes that approaching school administration research from an effectiveness standpoint assumes that school effectiveness is a major concern of school administration. Suggests conceptualizing research in terms of (1) individual category strategies; (2) relationship strategies; (3) interaction strategies; and (4) global strategies. Concludes that…

Selected discourse behaviors of 10 elementary school children with specific language impairment (SLI) presenting expressive or combined expressive-receptive deficits were compared to each other and to two groups of controls. The two SLI subgroups varied from each other on specific measures of turn taking and cohesion. Research implications are…

Random samples of 50 articles each from the education and health-sciences literature are used to compare uses of quantitative evidence. Study designs and approaches in these fields are similar; thus no support is provided for the idea that educational research is less rigorous than that of the health sciences. (SLD)

A meta-analysis including 96 experimental studies considers the effects of reinforcement/reward on intrinsic motivation. Results indicate that reward does not decrease intrinsic motivation, although interaction effects must be examined. An analysis with five studies also indicates that reinforcement does not harm intrinsic motivation. (SLD)

Provides data defensibility guidance for field samplers, laboratory personnel and project managers, and a checklist for planning and verification stages of the data generation process. (MDH)

Describes research and evaluation on the Information Mapping method of structured analysis and writing of training and reference documents to illustrate how a flaw in research design can cause "little or no effect" results. Information retrieval experiments, learning experiments, and field tests are examined for problems, including size…