An exploratory study of child advocacy cases as conducted and reported by social agency workers is presented in this report. Most of the data were collected with the use of a critical incident technique, by which case workers from eight agencies reported selected child advocacy cases in which they had participated over a 4-month period.…

Studies have not made clear what specific teacher competencies are important for teachers of health occupations in secondary schools or vocational centers. This study, therefore, used Flanagan's Critical Incident Technique to collect reports of observed teacher behaviors which students perceived as being especially effective or ineffective for…

Using the critical incident technique, this study assessed the consistency between actual on the job behaviors of Cooperative Extension agents and their expected or inferred tasks as portrayed in a county agent role model encompassing 31 tasks and seven phases, and three broad categories of activity. Interviews were held with 204 Extension agents,…

As part of a larger study examining the impact of the "get tough" policy on juvenile crime, we studied the effects of efforts to "get tough" on juvenile participation in diversion programs in Hillsborough County, Florida. Florida legislature budget cuts in 2000 eliminated a primary community service program (JASP), replacing it…

Drug treatment is one of the critical components of drug court programming, yet it has not been thoroughly studied in the drug court literature. Very little is understood about the nature of drug treatment services provided in the drug court setting. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of selected treatment variables on drug court…

The boot camp model became a correctional panacea for juvenile offenders during the early 1990s, promising the best of both worlds--less recidivism and lower operating costs. Although there have been numerous studies of boot camp programs since that time, most have relied on nonrandomized comparison groups. The California Youth Authority's (CYA's)…

This document contains five papers from a symposium on advances in qualitative research in human resource development (HRD). "Case Study and Its Virtuoso Possibilities" (Verna J. Willis) asserts that the case study method is particularly well suited for research in HRD because its creative and investigative possibilities have not yet…

Emphasizing critical thinking as the source of renewal and survival of organizations, this document begins by analyzing the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the destruction of the space shuttle Challenger as examples of inadequate critical thinking. The role of management education in promoting critical thinking is explored as well as the need for a…

This study explored adult students' conceptions of good college teaching, with a particular aim to identify characteristics distinguishing their conceptions from those of traditional age undergraduate students. Responses to an open-ended questionnaire were received from 181 respondents whose ages ranged from 25 to 57. Results revealed a relative…

Simulation is the duplication of the essential characteristics of a task or situation. It represents three elements of the teaching-learning process: (1) stimulus situation; (2) response; and (3) feedback. The uses of simulation may fall into one of three general categories: research--the generation of information about an operational or proposed…

Dialogues or "scenarios" are presented of the interviews conducted with enlisted men, personnelmen (PNs), and officers to gather data for the study of face to face interactions between PNs and the men they serve. Enlisted men and PNs from a wide variety of settings were asked to relate favorable and unfavorable situations that involved their…

Using the critical incident method, this study sought to describe job requirements perceived as critical by Michigan Cooperative Extension agents, identify training needs, and determine possible differences in training needs and job requirements according to employment position and tenure. The research involved collecting 444 written descriptions…

This study involved all distributive education state supervisory and teacher education personnel in the United States, 48 distributive education teacher coordinators, and 400 distributive workers at the entry, supervisory, and management level. This document, Volume II, includes the critical tasks, competencies needed to perform the tasks, and a…

To prove or disprove the hypothesis that automation and technological change impose increased skill demands on manufacturing and service industries, case studies were made of a bank and a steel and air products company, and of two oil companies, airlines, and electric power companies. The basic conceptual tool used to measure skill demands was the…

The Universities of Tennessee and Georgia, as one of four regional data collection teams, cooperated in defining a comprehensive set of behavioral objectives for business and office education, derived from analysis of task performance requirements and of social roles in office occupations. A pilot study developed and tested instrumentation and…