A study examined costs and benefits perceived by 26 self-help group leaders who helped rural Kansas communities in extending the use, awareness, and effectiveness of self-help groups. Findings that satisfaction in helping was the major benefit and time constraints the major cost were used to tailor leadership roles. Self-help group activity…

The media has recently exposed that grade inflation is a concern for higher education in North America. Grade inflation may be due to consumerism by universities that now compete for students. Keeping students happy (and paying) may have been emphasized more than learning. We review the literature on faculty evaluation and present a model that…

In order to help parents in rearing children, a theory of parent effectiveness was developed. Based on the idea that parents should be honest with their children about the child's behavior, the theory identified ownership of problems and conflict resolution. Children's behavior was defined as being acceptable and nonacceptable to the parent,…

The study explores the interpersonal tensions that develop in an exceptionally intimate and ambiguous cross-cultural relationship--that of Alaska's urban boarding home parents and the Athabascan Indian and Eskimo adolescents placed in their homes while attending urban secondary schools. Many of the students are from remote Alaskan villages which…

Uses social exchange theory as a conceptual framework for developing the sociological imagination. Explains this counters a trend toward an emphasis on social forces as behavioral determinants and the omission of values in the classroom. States exchange theory emphasizes how individual action collectively changes the social structure. Applies…

A number of hypotheses derived from sociological theory and from previous research concerning the potential collaboration of citizens of the United States and Mexico were tested. Included in the samples were 1,528 interviews from the United States general public; 306 interviews from rural persons residing in places of 2,500 or less in Michigan;…

Hypotheses derived from social learning and exchange concepts regarding determinants of parenting practices were tested on 61 families, each with a seventh grader, using self-report measures and coders' ratings of videotaped family interaction. Findings indicated determinants of parenting differed somewhat by sex and different factors predicted…

Contends that questions about power and who has it dominated U.S. political and social discourse. Discusses five aspects of power and art: (1) three power/art relationships; (2) the struggle between individuals and systems; (3) power applications; (4) current power contexts; and (5) major futures issues. (CFR)

Designed for high school economics students as a public service project of the American Fletcher National Bank, the booklet examines the heavy burdens placed on our political-economic system and compares our economy to an overloaded electrical system about to "blow a fuse." In the last two decades, America has become a self-indulgent…

Policymaking has been studied from a variety of conceptual perspectives. The political bargaining model, used in conjunction with the broader systems framework, constitutes a familiar approach to research regarding education policymaking at the state level. This paper focuses on the conceptual implications of a study which applied that approach to…

Offering a contribution to additional clarity in the debate about the viability of "rural development" as an explanatory concept and program of action, the paper presents details of a causal model which underlies the approach to rural development taken by a W. K. Kellogg Foundation supported program in eastern Washington called "The…

This report discusses the structural conditions under which organizational development (OD), as employed in the school systems of the United States and Canada, is more or less applicable to schools. The first section (chapters 1-6) reviews papers and books, concerning either OD in general or the ways in which the ideas of OD have been used in the…

This paper focuses on investigating the purposive design of learning environments to counter the erosion of social capital in communities and schools in contemporary society. Can schools intentionally replenish stocks of social capital by creating normative systems conducive to the optimal academic and social development of students, and by…

The book contains 19 essays which provide an overview of the state of the art in various areas of anthropology, including applied anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, social anthropology, and economic anthropology. Most of the authors are professors and researchers from departments of anthropology in United States colleges, universities, and…

The book contains 20 essays which provide an overview of the state of the art in various areas of anthropology, including applied anthropology, archaeology, physical anthropology, ethnology, linguistics, and social anthropology. Most of the authors are professors and researchers from departments of anthropology or linguistics in United States…