In this commentary, we argue that literacy research would be more productive if researchers had a clearer, more nuanced understanding of theory. Specifically, we argue that theory in a practice-oriented field is most fundamentally productive when it provides instrumental guidance for literacy beyond academic understanding about literacy. Premises…

In this article, author John Baldacchino presents twenty reflections on art, doubt, and error. In the first five reflections, he produces a discussion of a number of unmediated narratives that tend to aggregate and span across the plural horizon of arts practice. In terms of the arts "as well as" education, these questions are approached…

This article is based on the premise that there is inadequate attention to the link between theory and applied research in social gerontology. The article contends that applied research studies do not often or effectively employ a theoretical framework and that theory-based articles, including theory-based research, are not often focused on…

The need to articulate and validate creative practice has been made more urgent by the inclusion of the creative arts in the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) process. The proof of research quality is tied to government funding and universities have strategically sought to increase their share of funding by targeting their own research…

Applied research and development activities at regional state colleges and universities bolster their primary mission of undergraduate education as well as contribute to local and statewide economic growth. As states boost efforts to fund and stimulate research as part of an integrated economic development strategy, they should seek to fully…

Some of the presumed advantages that research centers and institutes have over the individual investigator are: (1) the ability to study large and/or long-range problems; (2) increased interaction with multidisciplinary colleagues; (3) the development of new and improved instrumentation; (4) their potential role in communications and…

This paper describes the process by which priority decisions are made in federal research and development with a particular focus on executive and congressional roles in program coordination. Included is information on how the nongovernment scientific community, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy…

Four individuals comment on a previous article (SE 539 642) which dealt with a national research strategy. These individuals are: (1) Harold T. Shapiro; (2) John Diebold; (3) Slade Gorton; and (4) Walter E. Massey. (JN)

Discusses the importance of the scholarship of application, incentives for such scholarship (e.g., readiness of funding for directly applicable research), ways to evaluate such scholarship (create a more expansive peer-review process), ways to reward such scholarship, and ways to nurture such scholarship (rigorous training in methodology and…

Based on the assumption that basic science is the crucial building block for technological and biomedical progress, this paper examines the relevance for public policy of basic demographic and behavioral sciences research on children and families. The characteristics of basic research as they apply to policy making are explored. First, basic…

Discusses the problem of communicating the implications of research findings to the public without distorting, diluting, or sensationalizing. Suggests approaches researchers can take when dealing with the popular media. (MS)

The performance management and reward system within a research and development operation are seen as tied to a firm's planning structure and an integral part of the management process. Corporate goals must be established and strategic and business objectives elucidated. (MLW)

This article examines possible changes to provide increased federal funding for university-based research facilities. The difficulties of converting between depreciation and use allowances are discussed, as is the possibility of using current market value versus acquisition cost as a basis for costing calculations and splitting the indirect cost…

Higher education can act as a focal point of economic development. The most widely recognized type of economic development entails an association between a university, its research facilities, and private industry. An example of this partnership is the one between Stanford University and the industries in the "Silicon Valley." (MLW)

Research that occurs in universities under conditions of patronage is distinguished from research that occurs under less distorted market conditions. It is claimed that academic research is shifting from an area of patronage consumption to one of economic development investment. In addition to considering the markets for academic research and…