Introduces special journal issue devoted to social and cultural diversity among adults aged 85 years old and older. Notes that four articles come from San Francisco 85+ Study and briefly describes the study itself as longitudinal study of community-dwelling older adults. Discusses revisions in four assumptions in the study of the oldest-old.…

Discusses the history of business and technical writing based on a survey of over 200 articles and books grouped into 13 categories according to historical period (from ancient times through the twentieth century). Presents suggestions for further research. (NH)

Argues that there should be room for both basic research and applied research in the field of business communication. Suggests asking whether such research is significant and adds value, rather than whether it is relevant. Explains what makes theoretical or basic research significant. (SR)

Points out that good research must be applied, theoretical, rigorous, and relevant all at the same time. Argues for relevant research that develops and tests theoretical constructs that provide useful business knowledge. (SR)

Cultural differences in the form of dichotomous distinctions do not meet the challenge of globalization and its implications for a psychology of culture and self. An alternative approach that is sensitive to the process of cultural interchange, the cultural complexity of self and identity, and the experience of uncertainty is described. Contains…

Discussion of user-design as a theoretical process for creating training, software, and computer systems focuses on a case study that describes user-design methodology in home health care through the context of diffusing a new laptop patient-record-keeping system with home nurses. Research needs and implications for the design process are…

Examines the reference transaction in library and information science from the perspective of systems analysis, identifies 15 functional requirements of the process, proposes criteria to measure success, illustrates the process using four diagrams of the reference transaction, and suggests future research. (Author/LRW)

Examines student affairs research offices in the United States and provides information on how the offices are structured and what types of research activities they conduct. Results show most offices prepare formal written reports and do oral presentations on campus. (GCP)

Examines the opportunities for collaboration between student affairs and faculty on developing a research agenda and the effects of higher education graduate programs on these activities. (Author)

Advocates cooperative learning as an instructional model for use by middle and high school social studies teachers to improve students' understanding of content and encourage students to become actively and constructively involved in the learning process. Describes five cooperative learning strategies appropriate for the social studies classroom…

Discusses similarity measures that are used in information retrieval to improve precision and recall ratios and presents a combined vector-based distance and angle measure to make similarity measurement more scientific and accurate. Suggests directions for future research. (LRW)

Reviews research on distance education methodologies and discusses the need for additional research to improve the quality of distance education. Highlights include categories of learning behavior and understanding the learning process; promoting deep learning; finding out how students really learn; and information and communication technology.…

Reports results from a survey of selected theater education experts regarding their views on what are the most valuable aspects of theater education for students. Discusses their views on the most important learning outcomes of theater education and specific priorities of theater education research. (SR)

There is little uniformity in content and approach among courses and the research on entrepreneurship remains sparse. A conceptual framework for assessing entrepreneurship education should outline objectives and measures; possible contributions to the economy, business performance, and individuals, and pre- and post-program assessment measures.…

Critiques three essays published in the July 1996 issue of this journal. Argues that the identity of the field of business communication should be determined by the conceptual problematic underlying its intellectual inquiry rather than by its vocabulary or instructional practices. Argues that business communication, management communication, and…