-> You have no idea what methods were used in any of the studies since
-> you did no investigating.  It is unreasonable for you to say that the
-> arguments I have put forth here are unconvincing because the research
-> I cite is worthless.  Please give me some examples, and be specific.
-> Don't you really mean that you have no confidence in any of
-> information I have shared here regarding Whole Language and
-> approximated spellings and this "no confidence" is based on what you
-> have read and heard from others?
Dan,
You yourself have downplayed the importance of the scientific method and
control groups, etc... in research and even wrote in some message that
you weren't personally aware that studies of that type had been
conducted on the subjects that we were discussing, and that you felt
they probably weren't necessary. You suggested that the wealth of
qualitative studies was sufficient to, I guess, convince anyone of these
positions?
I don't know about Charles, but my skepticism with the references you
have presented does not come from what I have heard and read from
others, but from your own admission a few weeks back in this echo that
you are not aware of any scientifically conducted studies on these
topics. I guess that AFT's report that they could find no
'well-conducted' research also adds to my skepticism. Admittedly, I
haven not looked into the research you presented myself. But there is no
way that I have time to do so, and I assumed that you were at least
somewhat familiar with the references you were citing, and your own
admission that you were unaware of quantitatively conducted studies
seemed sufficient reason to me to doubt the veracity of the references.
Sheila King
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