Data Collection
The research journals selected are from two different fields--education and
medicine. There are two reasons for the choice of disciplines represented in this
study. First, these two disciplines are among the fields the researcher is most familiar
with. Second, an investigation of every sub-field would have been an extremely timeconsuming
effort beyond the scope of this study. In the education journals, the
particular fields of interest are curriculum and instruction and evaluation. The
research article introductions in the area of curriculum and instruction are taken from
The Journal of Education (translated from Thai). Since many local institutes of
higher education in Thailand have published journals under this title, two journals of
education are used; one was published by Khonkaen University and the other by
Naraesuan University. These university journals were chosen because they