Fry's Readability Graph was used to determine the readability levels of the 1981 Scott, Foresman and Co. basal textbook series for grades one through six. The readability levels were then compared to those established for the 1978 edition. In the 1981 edition, all stories were handscored. Poems, skill lessons, and plays were not examined in order…

This study examined two career orientation textbooks to determine the level of sexism, as represented by the Double Standard of Mental Health, in them. The findings indicate tokenism in terms of representing males and females equally in careers. (EJT)

The de facto signature style of the Modern Language Association's "PMLA" magazine not only bores many readers (contributing to the decline in MLA membership), but mandates rejection of any papers stylistically distinct from previous "PMLA" articles. In addition, to judge from several rejection letters, "PMLA" subject…

The 66th and 67th Texas legislatures mandated that an economics course with an emphasis on the free enterprise system and its benefits be a required course for all students graduating from Texas high schools. This paper presents an analysis of the 1982-1988 textbooks adopted for that course. The key concepts evaluated were: definition of…

This study identifies philosophical and instructional values implicit in the educational thought of Maria Montessori and compares those values with Shapiro's (1986, 1987) set of humanistic value principles. Shapiro's 16 value principles, which are derived from an analysis of 100 works of 89 well-known writers who have been publicly associated with…

Although some researchers have argued against use of the term "content validity," the ability of a test item to adequately represent the domain of knowledge tested continues to be an issue of paramount importance in test construction. The present paper reviews previous analyses of test content and proposes a new empirical method for…

Summarizing approximately 800 reports of reading research identified between July 1, 1988 and June 30, 1989, this book categorizes the research studies into six major areas, five of which have been further subcategorized, with the majority of studies classified into the physiology and psychology of reading area. The major areas are as follows: (1)…

Data from 83 Minnesota newspapers support the hypothesis that as communities become more pluralistic, their newspapers will report more conflict. Between 1965 and 1979, Minnesota saw an increase in population and proportionate increases in income from manufacturing and agriculture. During this period of growing pluralism, the amount of newspaper…

The role of temporality as a cognitive and cultural factor in communication processes has been largely neglected in communication research. However, it is possible to examine the representation of time on three levels: allocation of events or actions to categories (as in sacred time versus profane time), temporal orientation, and the content of…

A study explored the relationship between personal narratives and their contexts by developing an analytical framework and applying it to the personal narratives told by guests on "The Tonight Show" and "Late Night with David Letterman." Three episodes of each program, containing a total of 22 personal narratives, were…

Focusing on the nature of revision in lyric poetry, a study investigated poets' writing processes. Primary data sources included poets' commentary, letters, recorded conversations, interviews, and essays. Two case studies were also conducted--an evaluation of two poets at work (one a novice and one an experienced poet) and a textual analysis of…

A study examined the effects of treatment (guided vs. nonguided prewriting assignments) on the quality of college freshmen's interpretation of the character/setting relationships in two short stories. Subjects, 52 students in two college freshman composition classes, were randomly assigned to an experimental group (required to make inferences…

A study examined the composing processes of eight college freshman writers and the contexts for their writing when they composed in natural settings without narrow time constraints. Subjects, both traditional freshmen and adult learners with varying degrees of writing skill, were assigned two research tasks during which they kept tape-recordings…

To examine the change in the communication literature in the past five years, a content analysis was made of the 1985 edition of the Social Sciences Citation Index's Journal Citation Reports, which reports the 1984 survey of more than 3,000 journals and provides answers to the following types of questions: How often has a particular journal been…

As part of an effort to discover what was being done with comprehension instruction in classrooms, basal reader manuals, and reading methodology textbooks, an analysis was made of the content of eight reading methods textbooks that had copyright dates at least as recent as 1983 and that were the most frequently used texts. All the pages in the…