Presents a mathematical theory that can be used to define concentration places of objects within unordered classes. The application to research on the evolution of journals and subject areas is illustrated, and an online method of calculating concentration evolution is described. (1 references) (CLB)

Pratt's measure C on the class concentration of bibliometric distributions is calculated and interpreted for the laws of Zipf, Mandelbrot, and Lotka and geometric distribution, and comparisons are made of the results. An explicit mathematical formula which unifies disparate theories is derived and tested. (Author/CLB)

Measures designed to detect elder abuse lack uniformity as a result of having been designed in isolation. To develop and test a uniform index for the identification of elder abuse victims, an analysis of existing abuse identification instruments was conducted. Initially, seven elder abuse identification measures were content analyzed, resulting in…

The term measurement has been used in a number of different sub-areas of psychology without an explicit recognition of the commonalities and potential differences in measurement characteristics. Analysis of these measurement situations reveals that the one common factor is that a mechanism or discriminative process, that is a standard system of…

It is axiomatic that context influences interpersonal behaviors, yet communication researchers have had limited success in generating a set of conceptual or operational definitions for the situation variable. Two studies were conducted to examine emotion-eliciting qualities as the basis for such a typology and the relationship of situations…

This study organizes items from seven behavior rating instruments into as few behavior clusters as possible. Methods used include card sort activities and a panel of experts examining items to establish their subgroup placement. Findings indicate a method for organizing behavior descriptors into clearly defined subgroupings and unifying behavior…

Approaches to the analysis of utterance disruptions are reviewed, and a system is proposed for analyzing disruptions in spontaneous language, with four disruption categories (pauses, repetitions, revisions, and orphans). Use of the system is illustrated using language samples from 10 traumatically brain-injured and 10 normally developing speakers…

This study by two Ph.D. students in library science reviewed a systematic sample of the research literature in library and information science published in 62 core library journals in 1983 to order to identify substantive articles and compare their findings on research methodologies and trends with those reported in a similar study performed in…

Alverno College (Wisconsin), a women's liberal arts college, has developed an Alumni Career Level Classification (AACLC) scheme to measure alumna career advancement and demonstrate institutional accountability. This validation study was part of a larger longitudinal study of two entire cohorts of students entering the college in 1976 and 1977, of…

The Total Quality Management approach is used as a framework for a discussion of methodological issues related to diversity in higher education, including classification of race and ethnic information, data aggregation, and use of several key indicators (access to college, persistence, and student progress). (MSE)