The impact of various definitions of the term "policy" on the nature and outcomes of policy analysis is illustrated by noting a variety of definitions which are implied in the literature. These definitions are applied to exemplar policy arenas to note their differential effect. The policy arenas discussed include the community…

The article discusses the: 1) research problems involved in researching American Indian treaties and 2) contents of the volumes on Northwest and Southwest treaties and agreements. (Author/NQ)

Data from Terman's "Genetic Studies of Genius" (1925-1959) relating to sample size, mean IQ, and variance of IQ scores were analyzed in terms of their conformation to the theoretically projected statistics derived from a consideration of the normal curve. (Author/RC)

The second installment of a series discusses some of the research that has dealt with the variables of class size and educational process. (Author/MLF)

Provides an orientation to the special journal issue on research methods in science education and lists four questions to which the contributing authors were asked to respond. (PEB)

Many studies measure developmental continuity in terms of an individual's maintenance of position on a given variable relative to the group studied. Such a measure is external to the individual and without reference to the function of the behavior for the individual. Research also tends to deal with variables rather than persons as the entities of…

Although analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) is used fairly infrequently in published research, the method is used much more frequently in dissertations and in evaluation research. This paper reviews the assumptions that must be met for ANCOVA to yield useful results, and argues that ANCOVA will yield distorted and inaccurate results when these…

The primary objective of this paper is to encourage survey researchers not to become overly reliant on the literature for generic solutions to non-response bias problems. In addition, the paper recounts an example of how a non-traditional approach was used to maximize the usefulness of data collected under unusual constraints and with an a priori…

Canonical correlation analysis is illustrated and three common fallacious interpretation practices are described. Simply, canonical correlation is an example of the bivariate case. Like all parametric methods, it involves the creation of synthetic scores for each person. It presumes at least two predictor variables and at least two criterion…

This paper describes issues in early childhood education that were most pressing 5, 10, 15, and 20 years ago, indicates whether these have been resolved, and outlines issues now considered urgent. In 1967, the most salient issues were the following: How important is early childhood for education? When should early education begin? Can early…

Following a summary and critique of the research on the use of computers in education to develop higher-order thinking skills, this paper advances eight hypotheses regarding the failure of research to confirm expected positive effects, and makes two major claims. The hypotheses are as follows: (1) a cognitive chain of consequences of programming…

During the last 15 years, there has been a steady increase in the popularity and sophistication of the confirmatory factor analysis approach to multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) data. However, important problems exist, the most serious being the ill-defined solutions that plague MTMM studies and the assumption that so-called method factors primarily…

Although research on argumentativeness appears to confirm the centuries-old "commonsense knowledge" that successful arguers enjoy arguing and are adept at remaining "cool and rational" during an argument, the empirical research itself is based on normative assumptions that underlie this Cartesian "commonsense…

The current prevailing professional opinion is that the prevalence rates of alcohol abuse among the elderly are low compared to the general population. The prevalence of alcohol abuse among the elderly was examined through a review of the empirical research. This review revealed a number of serious methodological problems. The most important of…