This paper suggests ways of structuring the content of feedback experimentally to test hypotheses of interest. Use of the feedback process in this manner suggests a variety of research and intervention tactics, many of them unexplored and some of them implying ethically questionable conduct. Consideration of this question also helps illuminate the…

The evaluator as purveyor of truth may be seen as one more lobbyist competing for politicians' attention. This article explains how evaluators can present their results forcefully in the political arena. Available from: Evaluation, 501 South Park Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415. (CP)

Evaluators often assume that outcome studies assessing agency effectiveness should provide the most relevant data for decision makers who must form judgments about treatment in order to make policy, program, and clinical decisions. Yet evaluators have found that decision makers often fail to use results of evaluation studies. (Author/CTM)

A study was conducted to identify uses of data from the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) of the National Center for Education Statistics and to determine the extent and variety of such use. In addition, the study attempted to determine research topics that have been studied through the SASS. Information was collected for the use categories of:…

To better understand policy formation, evaluators should be aware of the perspectives from which legislators view evaluators. Illustrations of the impact of evaluation and research projects on policy are provided. (Available from: Jossey-Bass, Inc., 433 California St., San Francisco, CA 94104, single issue, $6.95.) (Author/GDC)

Purposes of and audiences for special education research information are reviewed, and dissemination strategies are discussed in terms of the seven factors identified by R. Havelock that account for most of the spread and utilization of knowledge: linkage, proximity, structure, synergy, openness to change, capacity, and reward. (Author/JDD)

This report examines the role of implementation centers as a vehicle for speeding the use of solar energy and energy conservation. It covers a study of previous building industry innovations; a brief review of the diffusion of innovation literature, including several case studies; identification of the solar thermal application process and…

The study of knowledge production and utilization deals with the problems of how to translate theoretical concepts and knowledge into practical solutions to people's problems. Many criticisms have been leveled at aspects of previous information system models, including their linearity, one-way communication paths, overdependence on scientific…

A dissemination conference on occupational research in Texas focused on research completed during the past two years, research in progress, and newly funded research projects for fiscal year 1980. Among the presenters were L. Millard Collins, who spoke on the importance of research and communication problems; Alton Ice, who spoke on the need to…

The nature of the relationship between communication behavior and research productivity is examined in this report. The purpose of the study was to attempt to explain variance in scientists' and scholars' research productivity using a variety of predictors. Data for the study were collected on questionnaires sent to 662 persons selected from…

This bibliography is a compilation of literature existing in both the government and public sectors and concerning Cost/Benefits of Technical information Services and Technology Transfer. Not only was the cost-benefit to the user reflected, but consideration was given to the initial cost of information collections, the cost of processing the…

The authors offer some practical guidelines in four areas of rehabilitation research information dissemination: (1) filing and retrieval problems; (2) level and styles of writing, listing, abstracting, summarizing, and reconceptualizing; (3) profiling the average practitioner-consumers; and (4) leveling attitudinal barriers. Filing and retrieval…

To be effective, information on early childhood education should (1) be directed towards the appropriate audience, (2) be written so that it is understandable to that audience, and (3) provide data to help the user make meaningful judgements. The wide range of educational and occupational levels of people working in the field of early childhood…

Although social scientists are often adjured to become more "scientific," they might well remember a phenomenon described by Arthur Lovejoy as "metaphysical pathos" or the set of sentiments with which every theory is associated and which are congruent with the mood or deep lying sentiment of its adherents. Examples from the past include the Social…

A summary of the discussions held at the National Institute of Education (NIE) conference on information dissemination and utilization is presented. Four major questions relating to NIE information dissemination activities are raised, followed by a description of some major features of the incentive structure of information utilization. Five…