Off the top of my head, Rosenthal & Rosnow, Essentials of Behavioral Research: Methods and Data Analysis, does a nice job of stressing the importance of descriptive research. Second edition came out in '91. I can give you a complete reference if you're interested. Just to give you a flavor (I quite like the book as an advanced research methods text) they discuss in the first chapter a study done on WWII intelligence officers by the OSS (precursor to the CIA I think) that was critical in establishing what type of people should be assigned to what type of intelligence gathering tasks. Subsequent chapters further discuss descriptive research's importance with examples.
Patrick ********************* Patrick O. Dolan Assistant Professor Department of Psychology Drew University Madison, NJ 07940 973-408-3558 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ********************* ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Epstein" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 3:35 PM Subject: in defense of descriptive data? > I'm revising an invited commentary that I cowrote for a psychopharm > journal, and I've made what I think is a self-evident point: that an > animal model of a clinical phenomenon requires good descriptive data > about the phenomenon itself. So I've got a passage that states: > > "From both ends--preclinical and clinical--the homology between > drug-seeking behavior in rodents and humans will need continued > elucidation. One obstacle to that elucidation is the point of view > wherein terms such as _descriptive_ are used pejoratively. We > believe that science begins with good descriptions, and for relapse > [to drug addiction], there is a great deal more describing to be > done." [I go on to suggest real-time prospective assessment of the > precipitants and process of relapse, as Saul Shiffman has done > with tobacco addicts.] > > Can the TIPS collective brain point me toward a source that might > supplement my simple declaration that "We believe"? Searches of > Medline, PsycInfo, and google haven't turned up anything obvious. > > thanks, > David Epstein > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
