Home PublicationsJRTEPast IssuesVolume 28 Number 5

Edited by Diane McGrath

Volume 28 Number 5 Summer 1996

Technology, Multimedia, and Qualitative Research in Education, References, Wolcott–Yin

Kansas State University

Publications

Harry Wolcott

Author(s): Wolcott, Harry F.
Title: Propriospect and the Acquisition of Culture.
Journal: Anthropology and Education Quarterly; v22 n3 p251 73 Sep 1991
Year: 1991
Abstract:
It is argued that the term "propriospect" is needed to define the private and subjective view of the world and its contents that each person develops through personal experience. The term can serve anthropologists for the constellation of cultural competencies a person achieves. (SLD)
Document Number: EJ433928

Author(s): Wolcott, Harry F.
Title: On Ethnographic Intent.
Journal: Educational Administration Quarterly; v21 n3 p187 203 Sum 1985
Year: 1985
Abstract:
Defines the essence of ethnographic research as describing and interpreting cultural behavior. Clarifies why some characteristics of ethnography are not defining characteristics, considers what is meant by "culture," examines the ethnographic process, and discusses the application of ethnographic methods in the educational setting. (PGD)
Document Number: EJ323602

Author(s): Wolcott, Harry F.
Title: Adequate Schools and Inadequate Education: The Life History of a Sneaky Kid.
Journal: Anthropology and Education Quarterly; v14 n1 p3 32 Spr 1983
Year: 1983
Abstract:
Through the life history of a 20-year-old dropout living on the fringes of society, this article points out the lack of systematic, educational efforts to support or influence young people once they are out of school. (GC)
Document Number: EJ282285

Author(s): Wolcott, Harry F.
Title: The Anthropology of Learning.
Journal: Anthropology and Education Quarterly; v8 n2 p83 108 Sum 1982
Year: 1982
Abstract:
Calls for anthropologists to pay more attention to the process by which individuals learn about or "acquire" culture. Suggests study of first language acquisition offers a useful model for studying ways people learn cultural and social behaviors. (Author/GC)
Document Number: EJ269370

Author(s): Wolcott, Harry F.
Title: Research on the Introduction, Use, and Impact of the "ThinkAbout" Instructional Television Series. Volume IV. A View of Viewers: Observations on the Response to and Classroom Use of "ThinkAbout."
Year: 1982
Abstract:
This report summarizes two case studies conducted in 1979-1980 in a combined fifth-sixth grade special class for talented and gifted pupils in a large Oregon school district and a sixth grade self-contained classroom in a small school district, both of which were using ThinkAbout, a series of 60 15-minute instructional television programs designed to strengthen the reasoning skills of fifth and sixth graders, and to review and reinforce language arts, mathematics, and study skills. Four questions are used as a focus for summarizing observations and reflections on teacher attitudes toward using instructional television and the effects of instructional television on children: (1) If ThinkAbout is primarily a series on problem solving, whose problems does it solve? (2) What kind of teachers use a program like ThinkAbout? (3) What are some of the old and new important lessons to be learned as a result of ThinkAbout's first year? and (4) What are some broader issues related to instructional television that have been suggested by the field study? Findings discussed indicate that some teachers seem categorically opposed to using instructional television; users range from very causal viewers to committed proponents; and reasons for using television include many factors in addition to purely instructional ones. (LMM)
Document Number: ED249952

Author(s): Wolcott, Harry F.
Title: Adequate Schools and Inadequate Education: An Anthropological Perspective.
Year: 1982
Abstract:
To illustrate his claim that schools generally do a remarkably good job of schooling while the society makes inadequate use of other means to educate young people, the author presents a case history of a young American (identified pseudonymously as "Brad") whose schooling was adequate but whose education was not. Brad, jobless and homeless, subsists on food stamps and minor theft in a cabin he built himself in the woods. His history is one of family insecurity, petty youthful wildness, and a persistent avoidance of school and routine work. Noting that Brad is at least literate despite his casual association with formal schooling, the author suggests that Brad's failure to find himself a place in mainstream society is not due to inferior schooling but to a lack of societal mechanisms providing alternative routes to socialization and enculturation for those who find the traditional forms of schooling uncomfortable or irrelevant, or even for those who can cope with schooling but not with life outside the institutional settings. (PGD)
Document Number: ED226497

Author(s): Wolcott, Harry F.
Title: Anthropology's "Spoiler Role" and "New" Multicultural Textbooks.
Journal: The Generator; v12 n2 p1 12 Win 1981
Year: 1981
Abstract:
Publishers' requests to review educators' manuscripts on the pedagogy of pluralism have prompted the author to write this paper in which he takes on the anthropological "spoiler role," contradicting generalizations in the texts by providing exceptions from ethnographic research. Admitting to some personal biases about education texts in general and multicultural texts in particular, the writer suggests that manuscripts on multiculturalism misunderstand and misuse the concept of culture and contain generalizations that do not hold up under cross-cultural examination. Expressing skepticism about the suitability of didactic instruction as an approach for achieving whatever purposes a multicultural curriculum is supposed to achieve, the author nevertheless describes some elements that he would like to see in a multicultural textbook. These include hopes that: 1) the book be anthropologically informed; 2) multiculturalism be treated as a common experience of all human beings; 3) the concept of culture be treated as a social science construct concerned with patterned regularities in human behavior; 4) attention be focused on understanding the complex nature rather than the simplicity of multiculturalism; 5) the objectives and limits of multicultural education be clear and attainable; and 6) multiculturalism address the minor differences that touch personal lives more than the great differences of unfamiliar cultures. (Author/MJL)
Document Number: ED218373

Author(s): Wolcott, Harry F.
Title: Ethnographic Approaches to Research in Education: A Bibliography on Method.
Year: 1975
Abstract:
Over 100 entries are compiled in this bibliography which identify sources helpful in contemplating or carrying out a fieldwork approach to research in formal educational settings. The bibliography emphasizes, but is not restricted to, contributions by anthropologists. Thus, there is a preference for using the terminology of that discipline, such as ethnography vs. field study. The bibliography deals with problems of educational research and how to overcome those problems. One problem is the effectiveness of the participant-observer technique in the schools. The bibliography presents a diversity of alternative research techniques that could be applied. Books and journal articles dating from the late 1960s through the 1970s comprise the bulk of citations. Entries are listed alphabetically by the author, and include the date of publication and name of the publisher. (Author/JR)
Document Number: ED111714

Author(s): Wolcott, Harry F.
Title: Social Organization and Educational Change: A Case Study.
Year: 1974
Abstract:
Efforts to analyze a case study of the implementation of Program Planning Budgeting System (PPBS) materials for a pilot study in a school district are discussed from a descriptive, ethnographic approach. Antagonism, anxiety, and accusations characterize the extreme we-they split among those interviewed. Anthropology describes such a society with two major divisions as a moiety, one of two mutually exclusive divisions of a group. The educator community studied exhibits the characteristics of a moiety form of social organization in its two divisions of teachers and technocrats, and their two totems, students and reports respectively. The moiety perspective challenges the hierarchical bureaucratic model of school organization by showing a reasonable distribution of power between moieties. Educator moieties exhibit reciprocal behaviors, such that each division is dependent on the other and cannot maintain a viable educational subculture alone. The traditional subdivision of moieties into phratries and/or clans extends the scope of the analogy, explaining, for example, most teachers seem to find more in common with teachers of the same levels as themselves. Lastly, the moiety notion suggests an equilibrium model for examining educational change and for explaining the stability of the educational subculture in general. (Author/KSM)
Document Number: ED095064

Author(s): Wolcott, Harry F.
Title: The Man in the Principal's Office: An Ethnography. Case Studies in Education and Culture.
Year: 1973
Abstract:
In this account, the author describes and analyzes a fairly typical suburban, elementary school principal. The author has studied the principal from a cultural perspective, describing his day-to-day activities both in terms of what the principal does and the time he devoted to various administrative activities. Of the many dimensions of the particular principal studied, the author devotes particular attention to the network of relationships that develop among the principal and his staff, parents, officials of the school system, and the children; and he considers the great amount of time the principal devotes to his role as mediator among these various groups. The study also deals with perceptions of the principal's behavior by various individuals and audiences as well as with the principal's own self-perception. (Author/JF)
Document Number: ED078563

Author(s): Wolcott, Harry F., Comp.
Title: Field Study Methods for Educational Researchers: A Bibliography.
Year: 1972
Abstract:
This annotated bibliography of approximately 100 items, represents a continuing effort to identify statements dealing with field study methods and problems relevant for research in formal educational settings. The bibliography emphasizes, but is not limited to, contributions by anthropologists. A thoughtful perusal of this bibliography and a study of some of the resources identified here may do much to dispel the fieldwork "mystique." However, the process of transforming field notes and journals (the preferred anthropological terms) or data (the customary term among sociologists and educators) into a completed monograph remains elusive, at least to the extent that those who have completed successful field studies have been able to produce (or reveal) guidelines to assist others. (Author)
Document Number: ED089445

Author(s): Wolcott, Harry F.
Title: The Ideal World and the Real World of Reading: An Anthropological Perspective.
Year: 1972
Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to help the reading teacher identify some contrasting elements between the ideal world of reading and the actual world of reading, teacher reading, and the teaching of reading. The author explores the paradoxes in these areas by contrasting ideal reading behavior based on cultural expectations to reality, using normative reading behavior. The paper consists of three sections: reading and the cultural milieu, teachers and reading, and the reading class. The two major themes emphasized are that (1) reading is intricately involved with the culture and (2) reading is strongly associated with normative ideas of "should" and "ought." A bibliography is included. Also attached is Howard Klein's critical reaction to the paper and the author's rejoinder. (AW)
Document Number: ED060393

Author(s): Wolcott, Harry F.
Title: An Ethnographic Approach to the Study of School Administrators
Journal: Hum Organ; v29 n2 p115 22 1970
Year: 1970
Document Number: EJ023800

Author(s): Wolcott, Harry F.
Title: Kwakiutl Village and School.
Year: 1967
Abstract:
The author's one-year residency as teacher in a Kwakiutl Indian village in British Columbia forms the basis of this case study. With emphasis on the lives and families of 5 school children, the study deals with the social environment and cultural background of the village, disintegration of the Indian cluture and the transition toward the Canadian-American culture, the educational system and school-related experiences, and the role of the teacher in the community. Later progress of some of the students is noted along with an assessment of educational needs in a cross-cultural atmosphere. This book is available from Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc., New York, New York. (JEH)
Document Number: ED020820

Author(s): Foskett, John M.; Wolocott, Harry F.
Title: Self Images and Community Images of the Elementary School Principal-Findings and Implications of a Sociological Inquiry.
Year: 1966
Abstract:
The system of rules that guides the behavior of elementary school principals was investigated. This body of rules, termed "the normative structure of the community as it pertains to school adminisrators,' was studied by means of an instrument called the "role norm inventory.' Separate inventories were developed for elementary school teachers and for elementary school principals. The response patterns to the principal role norm inventory were discussed in the following order - (1) the extent of agreement among principals and among other populations regarding the role of the principal, (2) the extent of permissiveness among principals and among other populations, (3) differences in views of the role of the principal, (4) the principal's perception of the views of others, and (5) rank order agreement of items based on mean scores obtained from the various populations. Responses were scored on a scale of plus 100 percent for compledte agreement to minus 100 percent for complete disagreement. A summary of the scores revealed that the level of agreement for each segment of the community inventoried ranged from near zero percent to approximately 80 percent, the average for each group being close to 40 percent. The author reported (1) the school system that was studied appeared to be a stable, smooth running organization operationg with a minimum of stress and (2) the school system appeared able to tolerate a wide range of views. (AL)
Document Number: ED011578

Robert Yin

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.
Title: Discovering the Future of the Case Study Method in Evaluation Research.
Journal: Evaluation Practice; v15 n3 p283 90 Oct 1994
Year: 1994
Abstract:
It is assumed that evaluators of the future will still be interested in case study methodology. Scenarios that ignore a case study method, that look back to a distinctive case study method, and that see the case study method as an integrating force in the qualitative-quantitative debate are explored. (SLD)
Document Number: EJ500504

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.
Title: Advancing Rigorous Methodologies: A Review of "Towards Rigor in Reviews of Multivocal Literatures ...."
Journal: Review of Educational Research; v61 n3 p299 305 Fall 1991
Year: 1991
Abstract:
R. T. Ogawa and B. Malen's article does not meet its own recommended standards for rigorous testing and presentation of its own conclusions. Use of the exploratory case study to analyze multivocal literatures is not supported, and the claim of grounded theory to analyze multivocal literatures may be stronger. (SLD)
Document Number: EJ436837

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.; And Others
Title: Interorganizational Partnerships in Local Job Creation and Job Training Efforts: Six Case Studies. Final Report.
Year: 1989
Abstract:
A study examined six cases where job training and economic development had been successfully linked through an interorganizational arrangement. Cases were nominated by U.S. Employment and Training Administration officials, job training and economic development experts, and published reports. The six organizations of primary focus were Pima County Community Services Department, Arizona; Susquehanna Region Private Industry Council, Inc., Maryland; Chester County Partnership for Economic Development, Pennsylvania; Northeast Florida Private Industry Council, Inc., Florida; Greater Grand Rapids Area Economic Team, Michigan; and Seattle-King County Economic Development Council, Washington. The cases covered sites with varied demographic and economic characteristics, but did not cover areas suffering from chronic economic problems or with a large proportion of minority people. Data were collected during two visits to each site in 1989. In each of the six cases, a single organization headed the interorganizational efforts, with the lead organization in three cases being a Job Training Partnership Act organization and, in the other three cases, an economic development agency. While all six arrangements had contractual agreements among participating organizations through which funds were paid for services to all six, informal networks were more important than the formal agreements. It was concluded that in these six cases, interorganizational arrangements produced close coordination of job training and economic development activities, and that these activities were plausibly linked with exemplary job training and job creation outcomes. (This document includes a list of 43 references and the six case studies.) (CML)
Document Number: ED313578

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.; White, J. Lynne
Title: Managing for Excellence in Urban High Schools: District and School Roles. Final Report.
Year: 1986
Abstract:
This 3-year study attempted to identify school and district management practices that produce exemplary urban high schools. Information was gathered from 40 high schools with the following characteristics: (1) offering a comprehensive curriculum with no examination requirements; (2) located in one of the 166 largest and densest central cities; and (3) serving at least 30 percent disadvantaged students and at least 30 percent racial or ethnic minorities. Despite an extensive screening effort, only four of the 40 schools studied were found to have scholastic achievement and attendance rates that qualified them as "exemplary." Nevertheless, a variety of instructional management, organizational management, and district-school co-management practices were identified in the remaining four schools that were were believed to produce exemplary outcomes that could be associated with school effectiveness theory, excellence theory, and collaborative efforts by districts and schools. The study concludes that all three approaches were relevant and complementary in developing a framework for improving practices in urban high schools. Recommendations for further research are suggested. Twenty-seven tables of statistical data and ten vignettes are included. A list of 143 references, field guides for conducting intensive, focused, and interview site visits, and an analysis of practices at four intensive sites are appended. (FMW)
Document Number: ED318837

Author(s): Moore, Gwendolyn B.; Yin, Robert K.
Title: Identifying Advanced Technologies for Education's Future.
Year: 1985
Abstract:
A study to determine how three advanced technologies might be applied to the needs of special education students helped inspire the development of a new method for identifying such applications. This new method, named the "Hybrid Approach," combines features of the two traditional methods: technology-push and demand-pull. Technology-push involves creating new technologies before markets are identified; demand-pull strategies focus on identifying user needs and developing technologies to meet them. The hybrid approach identifies existing applications of technology in one field and forecasts their future applicability to situations in another field. Five steps are involved: (1) defining the technology, (2) identifying current uses of the technology, (3) obtaining specialists' views of the potential applicability of the current uses to new settings, (4) rating the scenarios developed in the previous step according to their chances for success, and (5) disseminating information about the potential uses found. A modified Delphi technique was used for the hybrid approach in the study. This paper draws on one aspect of the study (concerning applications of artificial intelligence technology to special education) as an illlustration of the workings of the process. (PGD)
Document Number: ED265643

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.; And Others
Title: Excellence in Urban High Schools: An Emerging District/School Perspective.
Year: 1984
Abstract:
This report presents the preliminary findings of the District/Secondary School Study. The study had two purposes: (1) to identify ways of managing urban high schools to produce excellence, and (2) to recommend policy-relevant guidance to existing school and district administrators. The study design focused on the testing of two specific theories for managing schools: school effectiveness theory and organizational excellence theory. On the basis of preliminary results, the report tentatively concludes that schools are more amenable to management initiatives than originally thought. In addition, there are indications that the sources of managerial initiative are much more diverse and complex than the single organization implicit in the school effectiveness or managerial excellence theories, both of which tend to treat the school as the sole source of managerial control over itself. In contrast, a degree of collaboration has been found which suggests a pattern in which schools and districts "co-manage" the school in specific ways that produce desirable outcomes. (RDN)
Document Number: ED251560

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.; Gwaltney, Margaret K.
Title: Design Issues in Qualitative Research: The Case of Knowledge Utilization Studies.
Year: 1982
Abstract:
The purpose of this review was to examine research designs in studying knowledge utilization. The results are based on 32 studies of knowledge utilization, and the report describes the various types of research designs and their strengths and weaknesses. Survey research methods are appropriate for dealing with either of two aspects of a qualitative research topic: issues of frequency, and issues of perception and attitude. Beyond these issues, survey strategies have limited applications in qualitative research. The case study was the most common research strategy used in these 32 studies. Although multiple-case studies are able to deal with the entire knowledge utilization process in an explanatory manner, they are not good tools for establishing the frequency or extensiveness of a particular phenomenon. Mixed designs are those in which a single investigation relies on both the survey and case study strategies. In general, these designs offer advantages that neither the survey alone nor the case study alone can provide. Four types of project management issues can affect the research design: project staff skills, project organization, resources available, and reporting requirements. Potential implications of these findings are discussed. (BW)
Document Number: ED241591

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.; Gwaltney, Margaret K.
Title: Organizations Collaborating to Improve Educational Practice.
Year: 1981
Abstract:
Three case studies of interorganizational collaboration between regional education agencies (REAs) and school districts illustrate how successful knowledge utilization occurs. Researchers studied how knowledge utilization services in four areas--staff development, linking agent assistance, information retrieval, and broad organizational issues--were supplied to their school districts by the Wayne County (Michigan) Intermediate School District, the Northern Colorado Educational Board of Cooperative Services, and the Educational Improvement Center-South (New Jersey). For each case study, data were collected from REA documents, field observation, and field interviews with staffpersons from the REA, school districts, and the state education agency. Results showed that successful interorganizational collaboration could be explained by six factors: (1) services were user-oriented; (2) services were supported by external resources; (3) REA and district staffs formed active interpersonal networks; (4) the state mandated collaboration; (5) collaboration yielded mutual benefits for REAs and school districts; and (6) federal and state regulations and policies facilitated cooperation. To test these explanations, further research is needed on other types of interorganizational arrangements and on knowledge utilization itself. Appended to the report are data on all states' REAs and a copy of the field questionnaire. (Author/RW)
Document Number: ED207190

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.; And Others
Title: Case Studies of Three Interorganizational Arrangements.
Year: 1981
Abstract:
As part of their study of interorganizational collaboration, researchers present three detailed case studies of how regional education agencies (REAs) supply knowledge utilization services to the school districts they serve. The three REAs are the Wayne County (Michigan) Intermediate School District (with 36 districts), the Educational Improvement Center-South in New Jersey (144 districts), and the Northern Colorado Educational Board of Cooperative Services (six districts). Each case study describes the REA and its knowledge utilization activities, the interorganizational arrangements for knowledge utilization services, the outcomes of the services, and the reasons why the services are used. The knowledge utilization services examined fall into four areas, including information retrieval, linking agent assistance, staff development, and general organizational issues. Analysis of the services' levels of use indicates that the Michigan and New Jersey REAs are more successful that the Colorado REA. The reasons for this difference have more to do with service credibility, interpersonal ties, responsiveness to user needs, mutual exchanges, and external financial resources and less to do with compliance with state laws (except in New Jersey), formal interorganizational agreements, or conflict reduction among the participating organizations. (RW)
Document Number: ED207189

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.
Title: Lessons about Federal Implementation.
Year: 1980
Abstract:
Project Follow Through involved a diverse and major set of implementation problems: (1) The initial program mandate for an action program clashed with the later switch to an experimental focus; (2) The selection of curriculum rather than structural changes as the major intervention led to greater uncertainty regarding the practices to be installed; (3) Collaboration with local districts required compromises between local and federal priorities; and (4) The installation of new practices in specific schools and classrooms followed an unclear path. For the purpose of classifying this array of problems, the macro- and micro-implementation distinction appears inadequate as an analytical tool. A more elaborate framework seems necessary for understanding or monitoring an implementation process of the Follow Through type. A five-phase model of implementation, in which the emphasis is on variable sequences and emergent phenomena, seems advised. Such an implementation process would involve policy development, program development, project design, practice adoption, and practice implementation phases. Intensive inquiry into all five phases of this model must be conducted to fully analyze the implementation process. Further, at each phase, analytical concern must focus on four general criteria: sound management, fidelity to original intentions, elaboration of vaguely stated objectives into operational practices, and reduction of internal contradictions. While political or administrative realities may restrict changes in program implementation, monitoring should enable more accurate anticipation of likely program outcomes. (RH)
Document Number: ED244722

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.
Title: Federal Support for Research on the Family: An American Political Quandary. Draft.
Year: 1980
Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to indicate how the ambivalent posture of the government toward families has affected federal support of research on the family and studies of the family as educator. After an introductory section providing background information about American public policy, families, and education, the discussion centers on the fragmentation of support for family research. Specific topics discussed include patterns of support among federal agencies and diversity in support for research related to families and education. Subsequent discussion explores the uncertain path between knowledge and practice in terms of the federal emphasis on research utilization and the use of family research in education. The concluding section focuses on program priorities at the National Institute of Education. Current efforts of the Institute concerning families and education and the continuing dilemma for agencies attempting to support family research are discussed. Appended materials provide a partial list of family research supported by federal agencies and an organizational chart of federal interagency panels. (RH)
Document Number: ED242435

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.; Heinsohn, Ingrid
Title: The Uses of Research Sponsored by the Administration on Aging (AoA). Case Study No. 2. Older Americans Resources and Services (OARS). Executive Summary.
Year: 1980
Abstract:
This case study, one in a series of research efforts designed to examine the utilization of the Administration on Aging's research, discusses reasons for the wide utilization of the Older Americans Resources and Services (OARS) research. (The OARS methodology assesses the levels of functioning of individual elderly persons. The resulting information may be used to determine the types of services needed by the person.) OARS is first defined, and its three characteristics--an assessment instrument, a resource allocation model, and an organizational resource at Duke University--are briefly described. The OARS research project is then summarized. Illustrative vignettes describe three types of applications of the OARS methodology: estimation of potential needs for services to elderly populations across the country, community planning, and an intake instrument to assess levels of functioning of individuals entering a specific clinic or facility. Three propositions for improving utilization are suggested: extensive social networking, interventions to boost utilization, and vigorous information dissemination. These propositions are then discussed as policy implications. (YLB)
Document Number: ED228430

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.; Heinsohn, Ingrid
Title: The Uses of Research Sponsored by the Administration on Aging (AoA). Case Study No. 1. Transportation Services for the Elderly. Executive Summary.
Year: 1980
Abstract:
This case study, one in a series of research efforts designed to examine the utilization of the Administration on Aging's research, describes the different types of uses of materials produced by a research project on improvement of transportation services for the elderly. (The materials are a state-of-the-art report, planning handbook, and site-assistance kit.) Illustrative vignettes describe how three user groups--policy makers, planners, and service operators--used the research results. In general, these uses are defined: (1) federal policymakers integrated information from the transportation program into new programs and plans; (2) state and area planners used the planning handbook to facilitate provision of training and technical assistance to local service operators and dissemination of documents and information in response to individual inquiries; and, (3) service operators used the handbook to design and run new "demand-responsive" transportation services in rural and urban communities. Five propositions regarding conditions necessary for research utilization are suggested: extensive social networking, interventions to boost utilization, vigorous information dissemination, synthesis of previous findings into the research, and emphasis on development rather than on research. (YLB)
Document Number: ED228429

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.
Title: Decentralization of Government Agencies: What Does It Accomplish?
Journal: American Behavioral Scientist; v22 n5 p525 36 May Jun 1979
Year: 1979
Abstract:
Focuses on the decentralization of governmental agencies from the perspective of both municipal and federal experiences. The article first discusses the main lessons from municipal decentralization, then outlines the characteristics of recent federal initiatives, and concludes with comments on the likely effects of decentralization. (Author)
Document Number: EJ203852

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.; And Others
Title: Changing Urban Bureaucracies: How New Practices Become Routinized. Appendixes.
Year: 1978
Abstract:
In these appendices different aspects of the case study approach to organizational change are covered. A comparison is made between on-site interviews and telephone interviews as methods of data collection. It is concluded that in spite of the great disparity in costs, the use of personal interviews is a necessary method for data collection. Methods used in previous studies of agency innovations confirm this need. Copies of the data collection instruments used in the study, including the guidelines for face-to-face interviewing as well as the instruments for telephone interviews, are provided. Eight studies of innovation developed as a result of fieldwork are presented. For each study the background and nature of the innovation, the current status of routinization, and a review of the possible reasons for routinization status are described. A detailed analysis of responses to telephone interviews for these case studies is provided. Also, four traditional approaches to studying bureaucratic innovation are reviewed. (Author/MC)
Document Number: ED171873

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.; And Others
Title: Changing Urban Bureaucracies: How New Practices Become Routinized.
Year: 1978
Abstract:
The goal of this report is to describe the process by which new service practices in urban bureaucracies become routinized. The routinization process is studied by examining the life histories of six types of innovations: computer-assisted instruction; police computer systems; mobile intensive care units; closed circuit television systems; breath tests for driver safety; and jet-axes (explosive devices used by fire departments). From this study, it is concluded that routinization of innovations occurs in a series of stages: the improvisation stage; the expansion stage; and the disappearance stage. Effective strategies for promoting routinization are outlined. Findings are also analyzed in relation to specific factors which may facilitate routinization. Implications of the study for further public policy research are discussed. (Author/MC)
Document Number: ED171827

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.; Heald, Karen A.
Title: Using the Case Survey Method To Analyze Policy Studies
Journal: Administrative Science Quarterly; v20 n3 p371 81
Year: 1975
Abstract:
Describes a case study survey method that allows an analyst to aggregate (by means of a closed-ended questionnaire) the case study experiences and to assess the quality of each case study in a reliable and replicable manner. (Author/IRT)
Document Number: EJ122540

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.; Yates, Douglas
Title: Street-Level Governments: Assessing Decentralization and Urban Services (Executive Summary).
Year: 1974
Abstract:
The purpose of the study reported here was to assess the various decentralization efforts as they occurred in different services and in different cities. The study reviewed decentralization's record in terms of five outcomes: (1) Increases in the flow of information between servers and served; (2) Improvements in service officials attitudes; (3) Improvements in client attitudes; (4) Improvements in services delivered; (5) Increases in client control. The study was based on an assessment of 215 previously written case studies of decentralization, collected from published sources as well as from federal agency records. The case studies covered such innovations as police-community relations programs, team policing, neighborhood health centers, new neighborhood multiservice facilities, little city halls, ombudsmen and complaint procedures and district control of schools. The Community Action and Model Cities programs prepared the groundwork for urban decentralization. However, each of these federal programs emphasized only one of the two dimensions of decentralization. The first dimension of decentralization, coming mainly from the Community Act Program, involves a client imperative. A second, equally important dimension coming more from the Model Cities experience invokes a territorial imperative. (Author/JM)
Document Number: ED105026

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.; Yates, Douglas
Title: Street-Level Governments: Assessing Decentralization and Urban Services (An Evaluation of Policy Related Research).
Year: 1974
Abstract:
Urban decentralization is an attempt to reorganize local services through some combination of: (1) giving service recipients or clients greater responsibility over service policies (the client dimension) and (2) increasing service resources at the level of specific, geographically defined neighborhoods (the territorial dimension). The reorganization can stem from one or more of seven possible strategies; community relations, physical redeployment, administrative decentralization, grievance mechanism, employment of neighborhood residents, new neighborhood institutions, and/or political decentralization. These seven strategies fall into three groups that reflect the degree of intended decentralization along either the client or territorial dimension. The first four are weak strategies, the next two are moderate strategies, and the last may be considered a strong strategy. The present study is a summary assessment of 269 case studies of urban decentralization, dealing with three major questions: What have been the outcomes of the decentralization innovations, as reported by the case studies? What is the relationship between these outcomes and the attempt to implement weak, moderate and strong decentralization strategies? What is the relationship between these outcomes and various other factors? (Author/JM)
Document Number: ED105025

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.; And Others
Title: Neighborhood Communications Centers: Planning Information and Referral Services in The Urban Library.
Year: 1974
Abstract:
The potential development of information and referral (I&R) services in branch libraries was explored by examining five cases where such services have been initiated. The extent to which the public library system is appropriate for information and referral services was carefully examined in the light of its ability to carry on seven functions: (1) needs assessment, (2) development of the directory used to make referrals, (3) staffing, (4) publicity, (5) accessibility to users, (6) recordkeeping and follow-up, (7) relationship with other agencies. Five I&R services operating in five cities in the United States were chosen for the study. To a varying degree, each of four was library-affiliated; the fifth was not. Library sponsorship of I&R services was an asset from the standpoint of staffing, accessibility to users, and cooperative relationship with other agencies. It was neutral in terms of needs assessment, directory development, publicity, and record keeping. I&R services will necessitate extensive telephone use for referrals. It is anticipated that libraries will be able to make the adjustment. The study concludes with a discussion of possible roles of federal and state governments in developing I&R services in other cities. (Author/KC)
Document Number: ED101735

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.
Title: The Workshop and the World: Toward an Assessment of the Children's Television Workshop.
Year: 1973
Abstract:
The potential social impact of the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), originator of Sesame Street, the Electric Company, and other innovative educational ventures, and the fact that it is supported largely by public monies are strong reasons for examining the full implications of the workshop's achievements. This study was designed to identify the issues and potential measures for assessing the overall impact of the CTW, by determining whether CTW's impact can be caputured within a comprehensive framework despite the diversity of the workshop's activities; the usefulness of existing data for such an assessment was examined. The study found that although each impact may be measurable, no acceptable method currently exists for uniting these separate impacts and thereby reaching a single statement of CTW's total impact. Thus, the study concluded that a comprehensive assessment of CTW would probably be a fruitless endeavor. The study recommended several independent analyses, including a national survey, a multi-year field study, a special investigation of the effects of Sesame street and other CTW productions, an institutional study, a school-based field study, and a comparative study. Although the information obtained from such studies would not be agreeable into a single statement of CTW's effect, such a new array of evidence would substantially broaden the present understanding of CTW's accomplishments. (NE)
Document Number: ED086722

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.
Title: Cable Television: Citizen Participation in Planning.
Year: 1973
Abstract:
The historical background of citizen participation in local affairs and its relevance at the onset of community concern about cable television are briefly discussed in this report. The participation of citizens, municipal officials, and cable operators in laying the groundwork for a cable system as well as the pros and cons of cable television as advanced by each position are reviewed. Historical lessons from contemporary American urban politics are brought forth in an effort to show where cable advocates will meet the most opposition and delay in trying to implement a publicly responsive cable system. Specifically discussed in the report are the considerations that must be made by the community in regard to cable ownership, cable system geography, cable subscription fees, cable service, and the monitoring of cable operations. (MC)
Document Number: ED074781

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.
Title: Racial and Ethnic Identities in American Society.
Year: 1972
Abstract:
The investigation of race relations, of social problems related to race and ethnicity, and of different racial and social groups, all presume prior information about the definition of racial or ethnic group identity, about the formation, maintenance, and dissolution of such identities, and about the importance of such identities in American societies. Put simply, we need to know what constitutes racial and ethnic differences, and why such differences are important. As in the study of the individual in society, there are two basic components in analyzing race and ethnic group identity: the characteristics of the identities themselves and the societal context within which the identities are important. These two components are only distinguishable in an analytic sense. The most important characteristic of these identities is that they are group identities. The distinction between group and individual identity leads to the observation that the assimilation process may be different for groups than it is for individuals. American society has continually defined basic human rights and economic and social opportunities according to racial and ethnic identities. Racial conflict has persisted throughout American history, marked by lynchings, urban riots, and other forms of violent confrontation. There has also been a revived awareness of other racial and ethnic identities; a consciousness of differences among white ethnic groups has, for example, resurfaced. (Author
Document Number: ED081861

Author(s): Yin, Robert K.
Title: Participant-Observation and the Development of Urban Neighborhood Policy.
Year: 1972
Abstract:
The urban neighborhood, long of interest to city planners and sociologists, has in recent years become of increasing concern to public policy-makers. This new concern has called attention to a large gap in the municipal policy-maker's information resources. Social scientists have employed a field method, participant-observation, that can potentially provide some of the types of information sought by the policy-maker. Four modifications of this method, intended to make this method more applicable to the needs of the policy-maker, are tested in this study: (1) several neighborhoods have to be studied simultaneously, using the same general research procedures; (2) more than one investigator should study the same area; an economic approach is to have a field worker operating primarily in one area, and secondarily in another; (3) the participant-observer's work can be designed to emphasize the quantification of observable events; and, (4) small-area data, whether available through the census, special surveys, or municipal records, can be used in close conjunction with the field work. To test these four modifications, a field study of seven New York City neighborhoods was designed, with seven participant-observers working in these neighborhoods for a three-month period (the summer of 1970). (Author/JM)
Document Number: ED068597

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