Why do people enter academic life? What are their expectations? How can they maximize their experience and achievements, both short- and long-term? How much should they move towards commercialization? What can they do to improve their career? How much autonomy can they reasonably expect? What are the key issues for academics and aspiring academics…

The purpose of this literature review was to inform researchers of those predictive factors of job satisfaction previously identified for part-time faculty in higher education. They used the information gathered to help develop a survey instrument that was administered to 700 part-time faculty at their own institution. The results of the study,…

Explores the evolution of the relationship between researcher and participants in longitudinal, constructivist studies. Issues inherent in this evolving relationship are examined and the authors illustrate how the resolution of these issues influences the researcher. Asserts that the lessons learned can be applied to practice and advocate using a…

Identified 9,000 major contributors and classic contributions to the vocational literature appearing before 1958 and emerging major contributors and classic contributions to the vocational literature appearing after 1957. The Journal of Vocational Behavior and Vocational Guidance Quarterly served as the major resources. (Author/BL)

A discussion of the work of Ferdinand de Saussure focuses on the influence of Emile Durkheim, particularly his study of suicide; language as state or process; the influence of William Dwight Whitney; the goals of linguistics; the state of language; the linguistic sign; and linguistic value. (CB)

The age is here of distance learning and new forms of e-learning. The rate at which a variety of institutions are entering the distance learning arena is increasing rapidly. In spite of the increased popularity and presence of online learning opportunities, however, many researchers and practitioners are decrying the lack of a research-validated…

During the past 20 years, a significant body of literature has emerged focusing on the application of Dabrowski's theory of positive disintegration (TPD) to the study of gifted individuals. Although much of this literature is prescriptive, some research reports spanning this time period are available. A perusal of research on TPD's applicability…

Years ago strongly influential research by Wortman and Silver called into question many scholarly assumptions about bereavement. Re-examination of the evidence indicates that bereavement scholars have aimed to honestly explore the phenomena of bereavement, rather than creating unsubstantiated myths, and their views deserve renewed examination. (CC)

Evaluation of programs for families continues to grow in importance. The best evaluation studies involve collaborations between evaluation researchers and practitioners, but the two groups represent different cultures. This article provides eight suggested steps to improve collaboration through the determination of shared goals, clarification of…

All social science serves some agenda: social science research is a value-bound, value-determined, context-situated, and ideologically loaded enterprise. Each researcher makes choices in the following areas, whether tacitly, implicitly, or deliberately: (1) a paradigm choice, either conventional (rationalistic) or emerging (naturalistic); (2) the…

The good news is Strange's propositions offer a sharper focus to researchers of student development. The bad news is that the propositions imply a need to reconsider the ways researchers regard student change and the designs adopted to study it. Revisions in each area will challenge researchers' conceptual and methodological predictors. (BF)

Addresses problems of ethnographic educational research that lead to theoretical and linguistic difficulties often unresolved in research reports, such as the veneration of research participant/informants. Related concerns include researcher's position in the study, ethnography as a product of research, ethnography as textual practice, researcher…

Recent child language intervention literature was analyzed to determine the content and consistency of subject descriptions. The amount and type of descriptive information varied widely both within and among journals. Suggestions were developed to describe language-disabled children in intervention studies. (Author/CL)

Much of the ongoing discussion about the scientific value of narrative research and the criteria for narrative research comes down to conceptions of the aims of educational research and what this means for an interest in the "truth." The growing number of publications about narrative research has resulted in warnings and criticism. One…

Examines some of the assumptions made and stereotypes held about women involved in the discipline of psychology. Cites theory and research findings (many as yet unpublished) that investigate impressionistic beliefs in the psychology of women. (Author/GC)