This article discusses critical issues related to conducting high-quality intervention research using experimental and quasi-experimental group designs. The importance of defining the nature of the independent variable, the value of measuring implementation, and the improvement of the quality of quasi-experiments are among the controversial topics…

Summarizes a presentation by Richard Colwell to the Ohio Graduate Music Education Forum in February, 1996. Colwell argued that music-education research is not focused or organized enough to be answering questions that are truly helpful to practitioners in the field, and he suggested ways to improve music education research. (DSK)

Discusses several designs used in research, specifically in language treatment research. Randomized clinical trials are highlighted because of their designation as the gold standard for determining treatment efficacy in the medical community. A brief discussion of the Communication Sciences and Disorders Clinical Trials Research Group is…

The interplay between agency and structure explains a scientist's readiness to disclose information about research efforts. In a survey of 628 Israeli researchers, personal strategies pursuing collegial appreciation were influenced by conflicting value guidelines at different time-space frameworks. A balanced impact of communality and universalism…

Outlines a class project in which students explore characteristics of paper towels and paper towel advertising. Students design a variety of experiments related to paper towels and their claims. Provides four activities. (DDR)

Argues that, when teachers begin to answer their own questions through research, and as they encourage their students to do the same, both groups benefit. Outlines issues involved, such as reading, experimental designs, sharing ideas with colleagues, qualitative research, action research, quantitative research, collaborating, and the research…

Discussion of gifted education at the beginning of the 21st century focuses on trends and possibilities in teacher training (awareness training, leadership and model teaching, flexible programming), research approaches (identifying gaps in the knowledge base, broader emphases, and alternative research methodologies), and evaluation and…

Presents an authentic semi-guided student research project. Studies the impact of a regional invasion of non-indigenous worm species on decomposition in forest soils. Describes the experimental design, data analysis, and interpretation of the data. (Contains 16 references.) (YDS)

The experiences of a group of evaluators evaluating a multisite integrated human service delivery system illustrate many design and measurement considerations in the preimplementation and implementation phases of evaluation. The reemergence of human service integration approaches will make such evaluation issues increasingly common. (SLD)

The evaluation of the preschool program conducted by the High/Scope Educational Research foundation is an example of a program evaluation that employed a randomized design and also examined long-term outcomes. The study, which employed a 22-year follow-up study, is important for its findings and its methodology. (SLD)

This article addresses issues in successful classroom research, especially single-subject research, including selecting the research topic, choosing a research design, maintaining a sufficient number of participants, management and logistical problems, creating classroom conditions favorable to research, and scheduling time for research. (DB)

Presents a series of arguments that emphasize the importance of comparatively evaluating psychotherapies with appropriate pharmacotherapy and pill placebo. The lack of a pill-placebo arm has rendered moot those studies that compared pharmacotherapy directly with psychotherapy because of the lack of an internal sample defining calibration with…

Provides step-by-step guidance on planning and implementing effective, site-based intensive family preservation program research and evaluations. Discusses research processes and describes appropriate research designs and methodologies. Considers issues in collaborating with university researchers and other stakeholders in the process. (JPB)

This article critiques the research methodology used by Mudford, Hogg, and Roberts (1999) that resulted in a failure to achieve inter-observer agreement on adults with mental retardation when using an experimental, 13-category behavior state code. Arguments are provided on why their videotape study does not meet requirements of acceptable…

This commentary on the previous article on an interpretive research approach discusses the journey of a researcher from radical behaviorism, to interpretive social science, to an emerging viewpoint in which art more than science is used as a way of seeing issues related to disability, education, and change. (Contains 10 references.) (CR)