Written literature has evolved over a long period to an entity separate from oral tradition. Written literature aspired to perpetuation, to the creation of written "monuments." This aspiration caused authors to find the means of multiplying authentic versions so that they could popularize their "original" form unchanged. On the…

The Panel on Decennial Census Methodology met during the year 1984 to investigate the following technical issues related to the 1990 United States census: (1) adjustment of census counts and characteristics; (2) sampling; and (3) administrative records. A number of recommendations were made. It was suggested that a low priority be given to…

Contrary to public expectations, this study hypothesized that viewers of the television film, "The Day After," would have less intention to stop nuclear warfare after they watched it because the film would generate fear without providing a clear way for viewers to eliminate the threat of nuclear war. Questionnaires assessed whether…

The vast bulk of psychosocial research data about the family are derived from two basic sources: self-report, retrospective data obtained by questionnaires or interviews; and direct observations of behavior occurring in a laboratory or treatment setting. Despite an emerging enthusiasm for the notion of studying behavior in its natural environment…

On the premise that the variety of problems plaguing education can be clustered around central themes conducive to attack in a systematic way by educational research and development (R & D) personnel, this paper deals with the scope of management problems, requirements of an R & D management model, and a proposed R & D management system, which…

This paper discusses the problems of gathering and analyzing data on classroom behaviors. The difficulties involved in using the common pretest-posttest experimental design are described. To grapple with these problems, a study was conducted on the effect of environmental changes on student behavior, employing a time-series design and time-series…

This volume, third in a series of seven reporting the design, methodology, and findings of the 4-year National Day Care Home Study (NDCHS) presents descriptive and statistical analyses of data obtained during observations of caregivers and children in family day care homes in three geographical locations (Los Angeles, San Antonio, and…

A Title XX funded statewide training program offering 20 hours of instruction for 1,662 licensed center and home child care providers who served Title XX eligible children in Michigan was evaluated at the end of its first year of operation. The first three chapters of this evaluation report discuss (1) the history, philosophy, and goals of the…

One of a series of instructional booklets designed to introduce adult education program planners to the basic concepts integral to and alternative strategies for conducting needs assessments, this instructional booklet deals with determining where to find information for use in conducting needs assessments. Described first is the relationship of…

Topics and methodologies used by researchers of teacher development activities are examined in this paper. Selected studies in educational research are analyzed and grouped into four areas. The first research design considered is the traditional empirical-analytic, or hypothesis testing paradigm, through which studies are conducted to test the…

The original impetus for this monograph was a grant from the New Jersey Basic Skills Council of the New Jersey Department of Higher Education to evaluate two college basic skills remedial programs (one in a four-year state college, one in a two-year community college) and to produce a handbook for conducting such evaluations. This monograph is…

The following papers on research in foreign language are presented: (1) "Research and Design," by Thomas C. Cooper; (2) "Action Research versus Needed Research for the 1980s," by Gilbert A. Jarvis; and (3) "Second Language Acquisition Research: Needs and Priorities," by Stephen D. Krashen. The first paper discusses three research procedures…

Because of states' growing roles in education, the study of variation in state educational policies contributes to a better understanding of policy processes and to the prediction of possible policy outcomes. Comparing state educational policies involves choosing variables and analytical designs and defining cases, concepts, and measurement.…

Freshman botany students, graduate students, and student library assistants participated in a study to determine the effectiveness of a self-paced workbook on learning library skills in searching science literature and to determine staff and funding requirements to run larger scale instructional programs. The botany students comprised four groups.…

This study examines the background, rationale, procedures, and results of a study by the National Institute of Education (NIE) and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to determine the number of limited English proficient children living in the United States and the types of services these children receive in school. The procedure…