 Palmer and his team used concepts from the field of formative research , which consisted of in @-@ house , laboratory @-@ oriented research , to guide production and to determine whether the show held children 's attention . Palmer , described by Cooney as " a founder of CTW and founder of its research function " , was one of the few late @-@ 1960s academics studying children 's television and its effects on learning . He was responsible for designing and executing CTW 's formative research , and for working with ETS , which handled the Workshop 's summative research . Palmer 's work was so crucial to Sesame Street that author Malcolm Gladwell asserted , " Without Ed Palmer , the show would have never lasted through the first season " . 
