Social context, reinforcement patterns, and cue salience are examined in field dependent and field independent learners to provide an overview of learner analysis research dealing with cognitive styles. Instructional designers are asked to investigate equivalent alternate forms of instruction for these two polar groups. Nine references are listed.…

The archaeology of mathematics is discussed by tracing a portion of the research of Otto Neugebauer and Abraham Sacks. Patterns found on an ancient cuneiform tablet are explored. (MK)

This article is a brief survey of alchemy since the chemical revolution. It shows that the reasonable expectation that alchemy could not survive the new chemistry is wrong, through a description of the work and beliefs of several prominent alchemists. (Author/DS)

Suggests a method for introducing university students to the notion that apparently straight-forward scientific research may contain ideological flaws. Explores researchers who have undertaken debates in their literature and classifies their ideologies as either aware or unaware. (Author/KC)

The history of institutional research is discussed; present and future professional development needs are examined. It is suggested that future professional development activities help institutional researchers cope with an expanded, politicized, and decreasingly technical role. (Author/SF)

Discusses the problems of developing research in educational administration from the perspective of the independent researcher. Raises questions about the development of educational research and about the sponsorship and funding of research in the United Kingdom. (Author/IRT)

Ethnography has raised various issues for the educational research manager (the person responsible for directing a large-scale research and/or evaluation project). These include selection and management of ethnographers, negotiation of ethnographers' onsite roles, communication and coordination of ethnographers, and ethnographic data processing…

A search strategy for research in physical education based on a system developed by MacGregor and McInnis is suggested for teaching to physical education students. The strategy involves the use of encyclopedias, dictionaries, yearbooks, reviews of research, abstracts, citation indexes, periodical indexes, bibliographies, government documents, and…

Summarizes the development of conditions for scholarly publishing in Canada from 1976 to the present. Discussed are the need for constant communication among scholars, concerns of publishing companies, performance standards, and economics, as well as national studies undertaken to determine the extent and effectiveness of scholarly publishing. (SW)

Details the crucial analytic distinctions to be drawn when assessing the kind of data one must deal with in ethnographic studies. Includes the necessity of separating first- and second-order concepts, a separation based primarily on whether the point of view reported is that of the informant or the researcher. (Author/IRT)

Etzioni, one of the most visible of the new genre of policy researchers, is a sociologist at Columbia University who founded the Center for Policy Research in 1968 with a federal grant. He feels that policy research that does not result in policy change can never be accounted wholly successful. (LBH)

This article reviews the various neurolinguistic explanations and models put forth for alexia. (Text is in French.) (CLK)

Data from a national survey with 3,963 respondents indicate that genuine research assistantship experience is positively related to subsequent research involvement and productivity. Variables identifying productive and nonproductive respondents are reported, and recommendations are offered for training educational researchers. (Author/LBH)

Provides a framework for analyzing the utility, usability, and likeability of Internet and World Wide Web services, and illustrates applications to scholarly communities. Highlights include human factors; measuring Internet utility through growth of utilization; utility of the Web; a layered-protocol model of discourse through the Internet;…

This section's thematic heading includes "University Continuing Education Units' Commitment to Research: Program Development as Scholarly Work" (Blaney); "An Invitation to the Dance: The Importance of Practitioners Undertaking Research in Adult and Continuing Education" (Thompson); and "Research in University Continuing…