The principles of ethnography are explained and placed within the domain of social research. Qualitative research in communication is evaluated in terms of the role of interpretation in science, the balance of subjectivity and objectivity in social research, and beliefs about science in American culture. (Author/JDD)

The holistic approach to curriculum has four essential characteristics: (1) integrating questions about means and ends; (2) using many specific inquiry modes; (3) emphasizing conceptual questions; and (4) generating certain methodological and practical needs a holistic vision to make sense. Includes seven references. (MLH)

Considered are two commonly used techniques, the interview and word association techniques. Highlighted is a third technique called the repertory grid. This third technique can be used to interpret students' knowledge based on an explicit, psychological theory of human behavior. (Author/CW)

Critiques Erving Goffman's research on the experience of radio frames by providing the results of a complete empirical phenomenological analysis of Goffman's report on data. (RAE)

Field experiences with external (qualitative) evaluation audits based on the work of E. G. Guba and Y. S. Lincoln (1981, 1985) are detailed, including evaluation contexts and purposes, procedures, and findings. Such audits represent a viable meta-evaluative tool for assessing the quality of naturalistic evaluation results. (SLD)

Argues that an adolescent's bedroom is an important site for the everyday work of creating identities and that what the authors have come to call "room culture" is both a theoretical perspective and a valuable research strategy. Describes research carried out over the past five years in which the authors have pursued this line of…

It is argued that a clear vision of the role of qualitative methods in educational research is needed. A series of six guidelines to chart that vision is presented, and the notion of research genres within a postmodern framework is used to reconcile the differences between qualitative and quantitative research. (SLD)

Analyzes women (n=6) whose husbands reside in nursing homes, determining the extent to which these women perceive themselves as married. Some women perceive no existing couplehood with their institutionalized husbands, while others perceive low to high couplehood. Offers implications of such a typology for researchers, clinicians, and…

Uses qualitative content analysis to discuss current perspectives in technical communication pedagogy. Examines the 1990-94 issues of 5 major scholarly journals--totaling 563 articles--to identify 98 articles mentioning teaching in undergraduate technical communication courses. Classifies the articles into four pedagogical perspectives: (1)…

Twenty heterosexual married female and male feminists were interviewed and asked to describe the influence of feminism on their marriage. Couples reported practicing vigilance, which entails a critique of gender injustices, public acts of equality, support of wives' activities, reflective assessment, and emotional involvement. (JPS)

The definition, importance, conceptual basis, and functional nature of content validity are explored, with an emphasis on psychological assessment in clinical situations. Conditional and dynamic aspects and multiple elements of content validity are discussed, and quantitative and qualitative methods of content validation are reviewed. (SLD)

A life history approach can give better understanding of adult motivation to participate in education than quantitative surveys can. Interviews with 30 adults entering higher education illustrate the technique but also raise methodological questions about this form of research. (SK)

Challenges many of the specific ideas and actions discussed in J. Myers's "The Social Contexts of School and Personal Literacy," published in this journal (volume 27, pages 297-333). Argues that the investigator appeared to be the sole source through all analyses, many assumptions were either internally of externally inconsistent, and the effects…

Responds to T. Anderson and C. West's article in the same issue (which criticized the methodological foundations of an earlier article by the current author). Discusses epistemological assumptions of the Anderson and West article. Addresses the nature of meaning and interpretation. Discusses Anderson and West's deterministic assumptions. (RS)

Describes a citation analysis that was performed to explore the extent and nature of the contributions of linguistic theory to information science research from 1950 to 1984. Quantitative and qualitative assessments are discussed, hypotheses tested are described, and recent developments in linguistic theory are addressed. (38 references) (LRW)