William E. Martin

Saving Water in a Desert City

Jody L. Swartz

Jody L. Swartz-Kulstad

This volume provides a thorough examination of the interplay between individuals and their environment in the development and maintenance of problem behaviors, and delineates procedures for conducting assessment, intervention, and prevention within the child's ecosystem. As individuals structure, change, and organize their environments, their environments work to do the same. Environmental or contextual and individual variables act reciprocally to shape an individual's behavior. For school-aged youth, this reality necessitates an ecological approach to assessment, intervention, and prevention. Specifically, problem behaviors are partly developed and maintained by a combination of factors present in the child's psychosocial ecosystem -- home, school, and community. Although there is an abundance of theoretical applications and research supporting this concept, the predominant trend has been to emphasize the properties of the person. As a result, one is left to assume that the genesis of difficulties in adaptation lies in internal or personal states and traits of the individual. In contrast to traditional psychology theories which focus primarily on the individual, incorporation of ecological psychology concepts allows for a more comprehensive and in-depth analysis of sources contributing to the individual's ability to adapt to their psychosocial environment. Ecological theories which drive assessment, intervention, and prevention efforts provide the necessary framework for assisting school-aged youth and their associated ecological networks to cope with and overcome the multidetermined, multifaceted concerns that arise during the school years. However, this is an often difficult and cumbersome task for educators, parents, and school systems to undertake. To this end, this volume focuses on the functional application of ecological psychology for schools within communities. Each of the 10 chapters -- written by key figures in school, family, counseling, and community psychology -- explores the use of ecological theory from a different perspective, ranging from focus on the child, the child within the classroom, the classroom teacher, and the community to considerations in working with special populations such as juvenile delinquents and in planning for developmental issues such as school-to-work-transition. The final chapter summarizes and integrates the previous chapters and provides suggestions for future directions in the field.

Assessment and Intervention

Applied Ecological Psychology for Schools Within Communities

Krista D. Bridgmon

Quantitative and Statistical Research Methods This user-friendly textbook teaches students to understand andapply procedural steps in completing quantitative studies. Itexplains statistics while progressing through the steps of thehypothesis-testing process from hypothesis to results. The researchproblems used in the book reflect statistical applications relatedto interesting and important topics. In addition, the book providesa Research Analysis and Interpretation Guide to help studentsanalyze research articles. Designed as a hands-on resource, each chapter covers a singleresearch problem and offers directions for implementing theresearch method from start to finish. Readers will learn howto: Pinpoint research questions and hypotheses Identify, classify, and operationally define the studyvariables Choose appropriate research designs Conduct power analysis Select an appropriate statistic for the problem Use a data set Conduct data screening and analyses using SPSS Interpret the statistics Write the results related to the problem Quantitative and Statistical Research Methods allows students toimmediately, independently, and successfully apply quantitativemethods to their own research projects.

William E. Martin

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