Political and social changes that have increased the public's interest in educational vouchers are summarized in three categories. The first category, new support for the arguments made by voucher advocates, includes Milton Friedman's suggestion of a free and competitive market for education, and John E. Coons and Stephen D. Sugarman's…

In order to determine West German rural youths' involvement in and availability to the mechanism of social change, surveys of youth aged 17-28 in towns of less than 5,000 people were made in 1955, 1968, and 1980. Between 1955 and 1980 the social structure of rural youth changed dramatically, especially in employment. In 1955, 55% of rural youth…

The development of national communications systems, particularly radio and television, and the impact of this technology on the largely traditional society of Indonesia was the focus of this two-year repeated survey sponsored by UNESCO. The sociocultural effects of radio and television communications on Indonesian national integrity, language use,…

Numerous advocacy groups concerned with "death with dignity" have formed in response to medical advances which extend the process of dying. Natural death legislation and the Living Will are but two examples of suicide advocacy for the terminally ill. These groups are emerging world-wide and range from conservative insistence on passive…

This paper reviews the work of Ira Gordon in parent education from 1966 to 1978, presenting societal trends and the ways in which these trends were reflected in both his research and in his parent education programs. Gordon's work in the area of child and family services is traced through six programs in terms of societal perceptions of families…

This annotated bibliography presents 126 selected references on the topic of cults. Focusing mainly on religious cults, including the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church and the Hare Krishna groups, the entries examine allegations of mind control tactics over converts, issues raised by the allegations, and controversial methods used by…

Recent directions in ethnographic study of classroom interaction are surveyed for the help they can give to an analysis of classroom language and conversation. Many studies emphasize that children's responses to school tasks are directly influenced by values learned at home and that these factors add to the complexity of communication in the…

This paper considers a distinction frequently used in sociolinguistics and ethnography of speaking to describe speech events: their formality or informality. Three principle meanings of "formality" found in the literature concern whether the formality relates to properties of a communicative code, properties of the social setting in…

The problem of language in Quebec today is not unique. All over the world, the problem of language comes up as a result of the organization of life in society. It is useful, therefore, to examine the role language has played in the evolution of societies from tribes to nations. In this way, the similarities and differences between the situation in…

A comparative case study of education and work programs was conducted from an anthropological frame of reference to determine how each sets up a program culture for learners to achieve program goals. Three variables structured into the original research design of the project were (1) the length of the program; (2) the type of community served, and…

USING NEW MEXICO AS A BASIS TO TRACE THE SPANISH-AMERICAN AND MEXICAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE, THE AUTHOR STATES THAT ANY STIGMA PLACED ON THE LATTER GROUP IS ONE OF CLASS DISTINCTION. THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT ACCULTURATION AND ASSIMILATION OF BOTH GROUPS INTO THE ANGLO-AMERICAN SOCIETY IS PROCEEDING STEADILY, AND THAT THE WORLD WARS AND THE KOREAN…

OVER THE ONE THOUSAND YEARS OF ITS HISTORY, THE YIDDISH LANGUAGE HAS BEEN AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE HISTORY, CULTURE, AND SOCIAL LIFE OF ASHKENAZIC JEWRY. DURING PERIODS OF ASCENDANCY IT WAS THE SPOKEN VERNACULAR, THE IDIOM OF ENTERTAINMENT LITERATURE, AND THE LANGUAGE OF POPULAR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. THE PERIOD 1861-1914 SAW THE DEVELOPMENT IN…

Beginning with an overview of the Spanish conquest and resulting rule, this handbook chronicles the history of Puerto Rico with specific attention devoted to the social and economic influences of contact with both Spain and the United States. Topics of particular relevance include a geographical overview of the land and its influence on the Puerto…

A study was conducted to compare the validity of two theories of interpersonal communication: (1) uncertainty reduction theory, based on the assumption that communication consists of attempts to reach a cognitive state of balance, and (2) coordinated management of meaning theory (CMM), based on the assumption that persons attempt to create a…

Reports are made of a meeting of ten Asian representatives to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the Regional Office for Education in Asia and Oceania, in Bangkok in the fall of 1978. It was the responsibility of this group to explore the following topics: (1) To study and analyze the experiences of…