In a course entitled "Field Methods for the Study of Education," three themes dominate: professionalism, Darwinian methodology, and application. Unifying these are the notions that the proper use of theory is critical to good ethnography and the natural history/Darwinian paradigm is the central core of the anthropological, ethnological…

Describes a course in ethnographic research methods offered to selected educational researchers pursuing doctorates at the State University of New York, Albany. The course requires each student to conduct a disciplined research project and to keep a personal journal in the process. (GC)

Described are computer assisted instruction exercises designed by a college professor to help undergraduate psychology students acquire fundamental skills in data collection--recording the data, using tables and graphs, and recognizing functional relationships. (RM)

Introduces concepts and terminology of time-based research on teacher effectiveness and outlines a set of data-gathering techniques to obtain information on teacher effectiveness. Provides a theoretical and practical background (variables, basic data, predictive analyses, teaching techniques) of a large-scale study on teacher effectiveness. (EKN)

Meta-analysis of Title I program evaluations shows the norm-referenced model overestimates positive effectiveness; while the regression-discontinuity design underestimates it. Potential biases include residual regression artifacts, attrition and time-of-testing problems in the norm-referenced design, and assignment, measurement, and data…

Describes the general data management and file processing system created by the Open University to assist the tutor-counsellors in their support of students. The differences between the tutorial and the counselling functions are discussed, details are given of the type of information stored on disc. (EAO)

Proposes a behavioral assessment model which specifies three types of assessment information: direct observations, rating scale data, and interview data. Discusses characteristics of these three types of assessment information, with recommendations for their use. Suggests two psychological models to guide school psychologists through the…

The lack of baseline data depicting personal characteristics and work experiences of health education faculty hinders the charting of future directions in health education. Several studies are reviewed, and suggestions are made for the usefulness of such data. (JN)

A seven-part sequence for evaluation of a teacher center includes: (1) determining the purpose of evaluation; (2) identifying decision makers; (3) identifying areas of concern to decision makers; (4) determining what information is necessary to make decisions; (5) determining the means of collecting information; (6) organizing and using the…

Focuses on attributes of microcomputer systems which affect their usefulness in a laboratory environment. In addition to presenting general concepts, comments are made regarding the implementation of these concepts using a microprocessor-based data acquisition system developed at the University of North Carolina. (CO)

Advanced special education students rated 23 of the domains of the Adaptive Behavior Scale (ABS). Results indicated that the most important considerations for determining method of measurement for ABS were: time necessary to obtain behavioral sample and severity of behavior. Suggests the domains of ABS be rearranged and redefined. (RC)

A computerized system is discussed that was developed and implemented through the University of Nevada's Office of Student Affairs to provide nonconfidential admissions information (demographic, economic, and scholastic data) to appropriate decision-making bodies in the community. These bodies included health planning agencies and the state…

Describes a student field project which measured and interpreted ground-level aspects of the urban heat island in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. Discusses procedural steps and decisions, field procedures, data compiling, findings, evaluation, and dissemination of results. (Author/CK)

Investigates the myth of the inner-city elderly as isolated. Suggests: there are severe limitations to traditional measures of determining sociability; social network analysis can overcome many of the deficiencies of other methods; and a synthesis of the anthropological and sociological approaches to network analysis can optimize data collection.…

A system for evaluating clinical competency of residents was designed to test expert opinions as well as the skills of the practitioner. Four measures of clinical competency were included: data collection completeness; problem identification accuracy; interview skills; and patient and physician assessment. (Author/MH)