Bourdieu's social theory offers a way of understanding some of the most important features of the field of educational research, while also providing educational researchers with a rich conceptual apparatus for their practice. This article addresses both of these methodological themes and the connections between them. We begin by outlining some…

The concept of habitus lies at the heart of Bourdieu's theoretical framework. It is a complex concept that takes many shapes and forms in Bourdieu's own writing, even more so in the wider sociological work of other academics. In the first part of this paper I develop an understanding of habitus, based on Bourdieu's many writings on the concept,…

Offers characterization of sign-transmission which is more general than conventional signal-transmission theory. Concepts and terminology, formal description of individual communications process, reconciliation with classical signal-detection theory, applications of sign-detection formalism to information retrieval on MEDLINE database, and a…

Review of recent developments in statistical theories for social sciences highlights Haitun's statistical distributions, Laplace's "Law of Succession" and distribution, Laplace and Bradford analysis of book-index data, inefficiency of frequency distribution analysis, Laws of Bradford and Zipf, natural categorization, and Bradford Law and…

Examines the following theories proposed by social psychologists to explain popular resistance to affirmative action strategies: (1) the naivete explanation; (2) the symbolic racism theory; and (3) the "realistic" group-conflict theory. Argues that social psychology ignores the public's perception of Blacks as members of a social underclass. (FMW)

Explores potential of mathematical theory of communication for information science and examines question of how to encode a message at time it is encountered for subsequent recall. Examples of problem, a prototype computer program and experiment, coding as embedding in associational nets, and nature of information are discussed. (Nine references.)…

After criticising the prevalent assumption of organizational theory that organizational behavior is based on common typological forms, this paper proposes a political analysis of schools as organizations as a practical theory general enough to be useful to practitioners. The first section reviews the basic elements of comparative structural…

Describes the social role of cognitive growth throughout the lifetime. Includes mediation, self-regulation, metacognition, the zone of proximal development, and critical and creative thinking. Discusses resources, methodology, and goals of education in a democratic society. Emphasizes the value of independent, self-monitoring individuals who…

The 53 papers in these proceedings focus on the use of computer-based learning. Individual papers are organized by special interest group and presented under 12 headings: (1) Computer-Based Training (11 entries); (2) Elementary, Secondary, Junior College (1 entry); (3) Educators of the Handicapped (3 entries); (4) Health Education (6 entries); (5)…

Rasch methodology facilitates effective achievement comparisons to meet evaluation needs at the district, school, classroom, and individual levels. The five-year District Gains Graph developed by the Portland (Oregon) Public Schools charts fall-to-spring achievement gains in basic skills for Grades 3-8, as measured by the Portland Achievement…

To generate a theoretical model for future interpretation, this study analyzed the 1985 Indiana Legislature concerning educational policymaking in public school funding. Previous research indicates that the classical rational actor model of policymaking inadequately addresses multidimensional pressures at work in state legislatures. A model is…