Gerontocratic is a term that is applied to societies that are governed by older men. This document reports the findings of an ethnographic study that investigated the experience of aging women in a traditional gerontocratic society in Kenya. Tribal women's roles and status were the central themes examined in light of dominant characteristics of…

This survey of North Carolina farmers focuses on the impact of important social changes and their interplay with ongoing changes in agriculture. It provides information for policymakers and education researchers to prepare for possible changes in the rural education system. State farmers were interviewed in 1987 and again in 1988. Of 883 people…

In the traditional African society (TAS), the child is allowed to interact with learning materials and situations. Consequently, learning becomes relevant, meaningful, and purposeful in relation to the individual and the society. In the modern African society (MAS), education has been at best an experiment that is marked with inconsistencies in…

The two papers in this report focus on some of the social, demographic, and economic consequences of the increasing entry of women into the workforce. Arthur Norton and Louisa Miller in "The Family Life Cycle: 1985" show trends in the frequency and timing of marriage, divorce, remarriage, and fertility across several generations of…

A study explored, from a sociolinguistic perspective, the phenomenon of indoubill, patterns and usage of a special variety of Lingala, among a group of delinquent urban youth in Kinshasa (Zaire). It is proposed that: (1) at a particular moment in its social history, the community experienced sociocultural change that brought with it a special…

An examination of language use in 19th century Brussels seeks to explain how and why a link between language and social class came into operation. Hypotheses relating the social characteristics (material circumstances and consciousness) of social classes and segments of social classes to various resulting language patterns are proposed. This…

An overview is provided of the future impacts on the the postsecondary educational delivery system triggered by projected changes in demographics, technology, the economy, and lifestyles. To help institutions prepare for and adapt to future changes, the paper presents the following projections: (1) postsecondary education will be evaluated more…

The importance of understanding and responding to cultural differences in the college classroom is discussed after acknowledging diversity in the types of institutions and missions in U.S. higher education. It is noted that the issues have moved beyond concern for equal educational opportunity to adequacy of educational attainment of entrants.…

By 1985, fertility rates in Europe were below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman in all but Albania, Ireland, Malta, Poland, and Turkey, following a steady decline from a 1965 postwar peak well above 2.5 in Northern, Western, and Southern Europe and an erratic trend from a lower level in Eastern Europe. Natural decrease (fewer births…

This document contains four papers, discussing medical and sociocultural aspects of disability, presented at a national conference on the nonwhite disabled. In "Some Observations on Blacks and Physical Disability," Thornhill and Torres note the higher prevalence of physical disability among blacks and cite the example of more frequent lower…

Indian languages seem to have emerged from a phase of total dependence on English for new input. Several Indian languages have now evolved vocabularies and structural nuances to handle several new registers and styles necessary for modern society. Some of the change has occurred through conscious language policy encouraging multilingualism and the…

The belief that fathers are becoming more involved in family life has filtered into psychological accounts of child and adult development. The "emergent" view recognizes the social changes which men are undergoing and claims that men are becoming more involved domestically. Yesterday's absentee father is being replaced by a man involved…

References and scenes from literature that portray objectively the social elements and patterns of a culture are recommended to teach readers about typical situations and modes of behavior. This is a way of introducing the reader not only to common sociocultural patterns, but also to the cultural traits peculiar to situations that are…

This booklet presents some of the administrative considerations and activities associated with the initiation of an extended day care program for parochial elementary school students. Introductory sections describe a typical extended school day and discuss the social need for extended school day programs because of the increased number of working…

Ways in which computers and audio tape recorder techniques were used to record, index, and present data collected during two summers of field work in a rural area of Mexico are described. The research goal was to study the Otomi Indian shamans. Two computers were used: the Honeywell 6800 DPS-2 and the Osborne-1 microcomputer. The database system…