As part of a plan to raise the educational achievement level of Hawaiian children, a pre-kindergarten educational program will be implemented to serve preschool-age children who have the greatest risk of academic failure. The selection of sites for the program is to be determined by a systematic assessment of needs which will (1) analyze…

This chapter presents Hutchinson's Metamethodology, which is a methodology for building methodologies. The methodology is composed of a set of rules and procedures that, when followed and applied to any problem area, will result in a systematic set of procedures for dealing with that problem area. The following major processes of the methodology…

Research on children and media has generally focused on the negative impact of media on developing minds. However, a theoretical framework is proposed for thinking about the role of television for American children from a developmental perspective. Instead of focusing on television's effects, television viewing can be examined as is any other…

The definition of differential item performance (DIP), often referred to as item bias, is discussed. DIP is suggested as a comprehensive term to encompass item bias (item invalidity which is unfair to certain population subgroups) and instructional bias (a valid reflection of group differences in instruction or background). This study investigated…

Although previous conceptualizations have made distinctions among two types of research, this paper suggests conceptual distinctions among three types of research: basic, applied, and evaluation. In an evolving field, distinctions are based on recent writings and the elaboration of evaluation research as different in emphasis from basic and…

Past research on the effectiveness of laboratory training (the use of small group methods of experienced-based learning to produce personal change in attitudes and behaviors) has been deficient both in experimental design and in the concept of change. College students (N=128) participated in a study which used a series of 11 measurements to assess…

Intended to develop new approaches to Follow Through services, the research plan described in this document is the first step in a collaborative effort of the National Institute of Education (NIE) and the Follow Through Division of the Department of Education. Prior to the delineation of the preliminary research strategy, background information…

Focusing on issues involved in improving the education of low-income children, this paper identifies two categories of questions: (1) programmatic questions, which concern what and how to teach; and (2) procedural questions, which concern how best to insure implementation of instructional approaches. The discussion also provides a summary of what…

Histories of media research commonly assume that models of mass media effects have progressed from direct or hypodermic effect models to indirect or multi-step models. Recently, however, B. Reeves and E. Wartella have objected to this assumption. To evaluate their alternative hypotheses, 163 studies from over 88 sources, representing nearly a…

Although the ideas of Jean Piaget still dominate the field of science education, the range and severity of criticisms has increased progressively. In recent years, the emergence of a different theory of cognitive development has begun. This paper tentatively outlines a Lakatosian Research Programme for the alternative conceptions field. The…

Application of a common framework in studies of the development of social cognition can reduce conceptual and methodological ambiguities and enable clearer study of core issues. This paper describes the core issues and their attendant problems, outlines a model of information integration that addresses the issues, and describes some illustrative…

Mothers' behavioral intentions about using physical punishment were examined to reveal influences on their selection of responses to child misbehaviors. Participants were 55 middle-class, mostly college-educated mothers of 3-to-4-year-old children. A total of 31 children were girls. Mothers operated a computer program which presented, in a random…

This paper identifies typical sampling problems, including improper application of the Central Limit Theorem, that are associated with the probability-based sampling procedures currently used in clinical psychology research. It then presents two alternative research designs, the theory validation model and the extended case study model, which…

The process described in this manual is designed to help small academic libraries systematically study the use of their circulating book collections. Originally developed in 1980, the manual has been used successfully in several small college libraries, both with and without assistance from outside consultants. In most cases, the study can be…

A meta-analysis was conducted on 44 educational studies that used either a (labelled) Hawthorne control group, a manipulation of Hawthorne effects, or a group designed to control for the Hawthorne effect. The sample included published journal articles, ERIC documents or unpublished papers, and dissertations. The studies were coded on 20 variables,…