Four problems are identified concerning politics and power as they relate to public schooling. The first problem is the definition of basic terms and the development of a vocabulary common to researchers investigating the field. Second is the problem of collecting information on and evidence of the political process. This problem is complicated by…

Purposes and alternative forms of mass communications research are explored in this four-part presentation. Part One examines the origins of, and the differences between, two conflicting types of research: administrative research, in which the mass media are perceived as neutral tools, capable of serving a wide range of purposes; and critical…

There is a growing need for program evaluation in the human services field. Along with this is a need to assess environments in order to plan effective programs. Graduate programs are doing little to prepare students for this task. Instead of training students how to do evaluation, graduate programs stubbornly adhere to the experimental…

The methodological difficulty of evaluating alternative programs in specific, measurable terms is described. Based on an alternative program at Talawanda High School in Oxford, Ohio, the writer attempted to develop a model for evaluating an alternative program. The following evaluation procedures were selected: (1) attendance and grades prior to…

Model identification of time-series data is essential to valid statistical tests of intervention effects. Model identification is, at best, inexact in the social and behavioral sciences where one is often confronted with small numbers of observations. These problems are discussed, and the results of independent identifications of 130 social and…

This report is a followup of an earlier study which attempted to assess the effectiveness of a Montessori program for preschool inner-city children. Data collected from the children over a 3-year followup period is analyzed, and the children's performance is compared with that of various control groups. There was some evidence that children in the…

Since problems associated with the statistical methodology of educational research are becoming increasingly important, this paper examines a subset of problems associated with the analysis and interpretation of aggregated data. Two major questions arise: (1) if a researcher knows the level (e.g., individual, teacher/classroom, school, school…

One reason the field of education research is so vague is that there is no specific methodology that belongs to such research. Policy makers and people who appropriate funds would get a clearer idea of what research can contribute to an understanding of schools, colleges, students, and teachers if the research community were clearer about what it…

The present paper contributes to research methodology as practiced in the field by providing practitioners with a concise statement of the problems in analyzing unbalanced designs, and by clarifying the conditions under which the analysis alternatives are most appropriate. The purposes of the present paper are: (1) to examine the analysis…

In an effort to identify distinguishing characteristics of the increasing numbers of women entering engineering programs, a survey was made of 1,680 selected engineering freshmen at 42 schools. The 230-question survey required male and female students to respond to multiple-choice items covering their family and educational background, study…

This chapter presents a number of problems related to designing local-level summative evaluation studies and suggests solutions to these problems. Three general areas are covered. First, many of the motivational, organizational, and attitudinal constraints likely to face the local-level evaluator are discussed. Second, various threats to the…

The art of relating educational research to public policy is still primitive. Educational policy is formed mainly by tradition and the political pressure of interest groups, while educational researchers study questions determined by the scientific community. Educational research has not noticeably influenced policy because trained researchers…

Questionnaires submitted to 454 Pennsylvania teachers indicated that only a small percentage utilize teaching ideas gained directly from reading research. Poor communication between researchers and teachers can be attributed to the underlying purposes for research and the methods through which it is disseminated. The undertaking of research…

The selection of nonprint software media for library media center agencies, as reported by the literature of library service, instructional technology, and education was investigated. Eleven textbooks and eight research studies were selected for review. The books were analyzed for their contributions to a theory of media selection, while the…

Eleven indexes of rurality and their effect on the classification of Michigan's 83 counties were investigated. The indexes were based on different concepts of rurality: (1) percent of employment in agriculture, fishing, and forestry; (2) population density and distance to urban centers; and (3) economic conditions. Index rankings were compared to…