K. Burke's (1945) pentad identifies five contributing factors in any communication event: agent, purpose, act, scene, and agency. Using the pentad as an organizational schema, this paper summarizes problems in methods used by behavioral researchers to study the deceptive communication event. The paper argues that fragmenting the communication act…

To summarize knowledge on the effects of grouping and tracking in secondary schools, this synthesis uses ethnographic research to interpret the findings of survey analyses, and uses survey studies to assess the causal implications and degree to which ethnographic findings can be generalized. Survey studies consistently report that academic-track…

This collection of abstracts, designed to assist White House Conference on Aging delegates involved with research on aging, presents information from 16 Technical Committee Reports which focus on implications of an age-integrated society, employment, support systems, health issues and services, the family, long-term care, older Americans as a…

Because the attitude research approach to determining public opinion typically yields data irrelevant to public policy formation, researchers need to consider nontraditional approaches to public opinion measures. Attitude research assumes that people actually have readily measurable opinions and that each attitude can be measured singly.…

One of the major factors for the lack of quality listening research is a lack of knowledge about the process itself. The second major factor is the lack of a reliable and valid listening test. From a review of 107 articles on listening, 38 reports of listening research, and from studies of seven examiner-developed and three commercially-developed…

Noting that social interaction theory has long been characterized by a plethora of divergent research studies in search of an organizing paradigm, and that a common failing of most social interaction research has been its focus on process or change in relationships, the first part of this paper specifies the major limiting, or boundary, conditions…

Qualitative research that takes into account children's views of themselves as well as their own assessments of their talents and capabilities in reading and other academic areas can enhance understandings already established in research and measured by standardized instruments. New avenues of qualitative research can prove amenable to assessing…

In this report, emphasis is placed on major research developments in the reproductive sciences, their impact on the health of individuals as well as on that of society, and on current trends that may provide new opportunities for future research in fertility and infertility. In the first section, major developments in the reproductive sciences are…

Recent trends in litigation involving child custody, parental rights, foster care, and child abuse draw heavily on interpretations of developmental research and theory. In a recent landmark case, a developmentalist testified on a number of issues for which scant developmental data were found. These issues included neonatal bonding and the…

An individual's socialization to occupational roles is reviewed in terms of the concepts and of the link between childhood socialization, social class, and occupation. The educational system and peer group influences are briefly reviewed. Occupational socialization is a general progression in which specific job training occurs only near the end of…

In recent years, a number of concepts have been introduced by communication researchers in an effort to transcend the limitations of the chronological age concept. Among these is the idea of contextual age, which asserts that social and environmental factors are better indicators of aging and communication behavior than is chronological age. A…

The role of library media specialists in teachers' utilization of instructional television (ITV) in Maryland schools was examined, using data from the earlier Maryland ITV study (1982), which used separate questionnaires for principals, library media specialists, and five randomly chosen teachers from each of 200 schools. The current study…

Although there is a paucity of research-based information about the literacy of the aged, educators, researchers, and authors continue to propose certain practices and advocate certain positions, often while operating under unconscious or unexamined biases against the elderly. What research has been done indicates that literacy instruction that…

This report examines the social indicators available for monitoring the situation of children and families in the United States. It assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the indicators for facilitating an informed public and private debate, and it recommends ways in which social indicators can be improved and supplemented to contribute more…

Bibliotherapy, the use of reading materials to examine one's personality, contributes to adjustment, growth, development, and remediation. Accordingly, social studies reading materials at both elementary and secondary levels have the potential for changing human behavior while transmitting knowledge, creating further interest among children in the…