The evolution of the definition of scientific misconduct in two federal agencies, the Public Health Service/National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, is examined, and the resulting regulatory definitions are contrasted. Further change is anticipated as the definitions are criticized and challenged. (MSE)

A follow-up to a 1980 study investigated field instruction needs and research priorities in social work education, as perceived by 12 national experts. Participants saw the Delphi technique as useful in reaching consensus. Research priorities include empirical analysis of field experience outcomes, quality assurance, and processes to help field…

A study compared the accuracy of first-year college students' self-reported information about financial aid awards with actual data on the types and amounts of the awards. Students' reports of specific aid awards and amounts were often inaccurate, suggesting aid administrators could come to different conclusions when relying on different sources.…

Explains that this special issue profiles the characteristics of children in kindergarten through grade six. The research on which the profiles were developed was comprised of questionnaires sent to 75 teachers and follow-up interviews with 10 teachers in each of the 7 grades. Reviews the four stages delineated in Piaget's theory of child…

Examines how writing produced within school-based practitioner research functions in framing and guiding classroom practice and research processes, outlining a model from Saussurian linguistics and from hermeneutical theory. An analogy is drawn with practitioner research, which is characterized as the generation and analysis of a sequence of…

Maintains that many valuable research opportunities (for students, teachers, and the educational community) are lost due to lack of research by elementary and secondary teachers. Argues that these teachers are in a unique position to implement and assess research projects. Includes a list of suggested topics and some case studies. (MJP)

Examined factors associated with research attrition in a long-term follow-up study (48 months). Researchers attempted to contact all randomized participants, not just those who completed treatment. The analyses deal primarily with refusal, the main reason for attrition. Short-term outcome did not predict refusal. The findings, if generalizable,…

Discusses a research seminar for senior history majors that uses three documents: a written text, a photograph, and a material object. Focuses on how the object, a 19th-century curling iron, is used to elucidate discussion not only of the object, but hypotheses about individuals and society, and about historical research. (DSK)

Discusses methodological difficulties in assessing resilience in maltreated children, including distinguishing between resilience and factors promoting or reducing resilience, choosing sources of measures, determining how many measures to use, selecting scoring criteria, determining when to measure resilience, and examining the stability of…

Five criteria are proposed for evaluating performance in research studies: the directness of sampling, the responsiveness of the target, the reliability of the observers, the frequent assessment of the target during the intervention period, and the critical nature of the target. A case study illustrates effectiveness of the criteria. (Author/CR)

A survey of graduate students indicated that respondents have not retained information searching skills. Undergraduate research assignments are examined in order to identify what college students need to know. School library media programs should create opportunities for learners to go beyond the mechanics of searching and reporting to practice…

Explored applicability of the Loevinger conception of ego development for early adolescence and developed a measure of earliest ego levels: Sentence Completion Test for Children and Youth. Found oral administration of test did not yield essentially different responses or significantly differing ego-level scores from the written version, regardless…

Presents strategies for researching topics on the Web that are controversial or current in nature. Discusses topic selection and overviews, including the use of online encyclopedias; search engines; finding laws and pending legislation; advocacy groups; proprietary databases; Web site evaluation; and the continuing usefulness of print materials.…

Describes as example a parents' center in London to examine impact of evaluation exercises on people and services being evaluated. Questions whether evaluators are measuring the right things, whether evidence is valid, and what effects an evaluation may have on services. Identifies features of research and evaluation that are most likely to…

Explores how inscriptions are used to create argumentative positions in two classroom episodes. Finds that the classroom activities resembled those of scientific communities in several ways: (1) Real-world, dilemma-driven problems were presented; (2) students evaluated the inscriptions offered in terms of their adequacy for advancing particular…