Sessions during the four day meeting of the Rural Sociology Section explored 14 major areas of interest. Most of the papers presented are included in this document which serves as the proceedings of the 1979 annual meeting. The first session of the meeting was devoted to methodology; four papers were presented and three of them are included in the…

Originally presented at a symposium on cognition and written language, the 14 papers in this collection discuss research findings regarding reading and writing processes, ways that the development of effective reading and writing can be abetted by instruction, and research needs in the area of cognition and written language. The papers focus on…

This study of the federal government's evaluation of social programs indicates that it is virtually impossible to establish a bias-free, valid, and reliable system of inquiry to determine the effects of social programs. Divided into five chapters, the document examines the aspirations and limitations of evaluations, methodology, evaluation in the…

Part of the Anthropology Curriculum Project, this document presents lesson plans and a pupil activity book introducing some basic anthropological concepts to students in grades K-1. The objective is to aid teachers in helping young children acquire an understanding of the concepts anthropologists use to observe, describe, and report social…

A model for evaluating effectiveness in preschool and school social work programs is proposed. The paradigm has two major dimensions: criteria for evaluating success, and modalities for assessing whether the criteria have been met. Three criteria are suggested including improved views of significant others, and seven modalities including test…

TWO RESEARCH FRAMEWORKS, SOCIAL ACTION AND GROUP FORMATION AND MAINTENANCE, WERE CHOSEN TO ANALYZE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY EXTENSION WORKERS. IN A STUDY ON THE INTRODUCTION OF PROGRAM PLANNING INTO A COUNTY, THE FULFILLMENT OF EACH OF 34 STEPS IN THE SOCIAL ACTION PROCESS WAS ANALYZED AND FOUND TO BE ONLY SOMEWHAT…

SURVEY AND TESTING TECHNIQUES USED BY THE BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION IN THE YEARS 1952-63 TO ANSWER QUESTIONS OF INTEREST TO TELEVISION PLANNERS INDICATE METHODOLOGY FOR FUTURE PLANNING RESEARCH. TO ANSWER THE BASIC QUESTION--WHAT PEOPLE ARE AVAILABLE FOR WATCHING AND LISTENING--BBC USED THE METHOD OF HAVING 2981 MEMBERS OF A NATIONAL SAMPLE…

The first part of this report presents background and procedures of the 1968 New Orleans conference on speech-communication and lists the recommendations formally adopted by the conference concerning research priorities, graduate instruction, and issues and responsibilities in speech-communication. The major section of the publication is devoted…

REPORTED ARE THE FINDINGS OF A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF NEGRO AND WHITE DROPOUTS FROM 12 JUNIOR AND SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS IN FOUR CONNECTICUT CITIES IN WHICH 60 PERCENT OF THE NEGRO POPULATION RESIDES. DATA WERE OBTAINED FROM SCHOOL RECORDS AND HOME INTERVIEWS WITH NEGRO AND WHITE DROPOUTS AND NONDROPOUTS. IT WAS FOUND THAT IN 1956-57 14 PERCENT OF THE…

A two-phase survey was conducted by the Center for Applied Linguistics Clearinghouse for Self-Instructional Language Materials to (1) identify modern language departments of U.S. colleges and universities using programed materials, and (2) describe the extent of the departments' use and development of such materials. A brief description of the…

Investigators from seven universities and the National Training Laboratories cooperated in a research project to help 15 school systems improve their effectiveness. Utilizing questionnaire response data from approximately 5,000 adults and 6,000 fifth and 11th grade students, the project analyzed problems of planned change in schools, evaluated the…

This study investigates the feasibility of using cloze procedure test items (in which a student supplies a word, letter, or phrase to fill a gap in a continuous text) for the written College Board foreign language achievement tests. An introduction which defines the problem, traces its history, and presents the overall design of the study is…

This paper is a review of research studies on the relation of school ethnic and socioeconomic composition to the academic performance of Negro children. Pertinent findings from studies using four different types of research design are reported--(1) studies which measure the performance of a minority group under conditions of either segregation or…

The statements and notations in this report have been abstracted from 12 interdisciplinary conferences conducted on subjects related to social and environmental variables as determinants of mental health plus one conference on recreation. This summary reflects the essence of statements that may have a direct or indirect bearing on considerations…

Passage of the Education Amendments of 1974 added a new section to Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, which required the U.S. Commissioner of Education to undertake specific activities regarding evaluation of the program. Efforts made by the Office of Education to implement this law are described, including the…