One means of ensuring the desired impact of educational research is continuity. This factor has several dimensions: continuity of effort, goals, funding, results, evaluation, and impact specifications. (SK)

Discusses the use of social science knowledge about environmental stressors in the making of public policy. (EF)

Reviews the kinds of discourse analyses that are currently being undertaken, summarizes research findings, and makes suggestions based on these findings for structuring texts to be used for instructional or informational purposes. (Author/MER)

Community development practitioners depend on research results as a theoretical foundation and for support in practice. To meet research needs, there must be clarification of the research concept by practitioners and social scientists. Research needs may be met in various ways including increasing communication/understanding between researchers…

The point of emphasis in classroom research is shifting away from pure educational theory and toward a descriptive investigation of teaching and learning realities. (LH)

Defines naturalistic research as research that occurs in a field setting and that emphasizes hypothesis generation rather than hypothesis testing. Discusses essential characteristics and requirements of such research, the utilization of quantitative and qualitative data, establishment of validity of research procedures and data generated, and the…

Reflections on what is and is not popular knowledge about education, including widespread misinformation about open education, testing, and nonschool influences on students. (IRT)

Reviews the history and growth of early childhood education; research that has influenced changes; the issue of which agency should sponsor preschool services; the changing preschool curriculum; and future issues such as quality and universal care. (SK)

A rigorous method is outlined for using information from a previous study and explicitly taking into account the variability of an effect size estimate when determining sample size for a chi-squared test. This approach assures that the average power of all experiments in a discipline attains the desired level. (SLD)

The University of Kassel's (Germany) postgraduate curriculum in social gerontology for practitioners focuses on integrating theoretical and practical knowledge. Program completers return to their workplaces as innovators. (SK)

Case studies of 10 publicly funded research laboratories in Italy show that integration of scientific research into the social system has only partially been achieved because of barriers in the host institutions and that there is continuing conflict between the priorities of quality and research transferability. (SK)

Investigated factors in the successful commercialization of public research from higher education and then applied the ideas gleaned from a review of several case studies to the case of a young French university. Findings show the importance of close interaction between academic research and a wealthy local economy, lacking in the case of the…

Responses from 178 of 528 pediatric nurses showed that higher education levels or courses in research design and use were associated with positive attitudes toward research. Higher education levels were associated with self-reported research use; completing research-related courses was not independently associated with higher research use.…

Interviews with 38 academic and business professionals in Mexico identified the role of translators who facilitate industry-university communication and help integrate academic knowledge with economic development. Trust was a major factor. Translators typically have experience in both worlds and cross-disciplinary skills. (Contains 17 references.)…

The ideological divide in adult education extends to the issues of knowledge production and the authority to conduct research. Action research is a collaborative method involving practitioners in knowledge production. It can demystify research and help bridge the basic-applied gap. (SK)