Social statistics may exaggerate the degree of hardship caused by labor market problems. Yet, in many ways social statistics underestimate the degree of hardship caused by extended unemployment, underemployment, and low wages. Therefore, new measures are needed to reassess long-term and cyclical labor market developments, the changing status of…

Because of various flaws in their design, most research studies that have up to now examined the transition of youth to the work setting have failed to pinpoint ways of improving existing programs. Many of these design flaws (including lack of a uniform set of outcome measures, failure to routinely incorporate control groups, and failure to design…

Science plays an extremely important role in predicting the future of social phenomena, including pedagogy and andragogy. Research in these areas must be based on an interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, systemic, and structural approach that is based on the assumption that upbringing and education are specific phenomena in which human…

These proceedings contain the texts of 29 papers presented at the ninth Annual Agricultural Education Research Meeting. During the five sessions of the conference, various areas of agricultural education were addressed, such as inservice education, job satisfaction and morale, teacher concerns, national issues, program improvement, preservice…

These proceedings of a conference on research in the field of adult education contain the texts of 40 conference papers and 4 symposia. Included among the areas examined in the individual reports are the following: education participation scale factor structure and correlates for 12,000 learners, a comparative analysis of adult education research…

Possible ways of conducting research examining the changing context of workplace basic skills policy in the United Kingdom were explored. First, workplace literacy was examined from the perspective of its role in the U.K. government's lifelong learning agenda, and existing research in workplace literacy policy and related studies were reviewed.…

A review of current and completed research relating to youth aged 14-17 with special educational needs (with special emphasis on research relevant to the British educational context) reveals that, to date, most research has examined the needs of young people with special conditions rather than focusing on a broader cross-section of all young…

The human resource development (HRD) profession needs to continue to develop its core theories and to integrate new theories into the body of knowledge. Creating new knowledge is of essential importance to both HRD practitioners and researchers. As an emerging field, HRD is in the process of defining itself as a discipline. Currently, there are…

This report contains the strategic vision for the Department of Labor (DOL)/Employment and Training Administration's research efforts for the next five years. Section I discusses the scope of the research plan and the development process. Section II is a review of literature concerning functioning of the labor market and identification of areas…

This document presents the national plan for research and development (R&D) in adult education and literacy that was developed by the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL). The document begins by explaining the process used to develop the plan, which included conducting a literature review, obtaining input from a national steering group, and…

Canadian population trends were examined from a life course perspective to identify needed social policy changes. First, the following principles underpinning the life course perspective were discussed: (1) aging involves biological, psychological, and social processes; (2) human development and aging are lifelong processes; (3) individuals' and…

Racial and cultural diversity issues have been a source of some interest amongst outdoor and environmental educators. Early research was framed in terms of the "under-participation" of people of colour, which led to the development of ethnocentric and methodologically problematical "marginality" and "ethnicity"…

Australian education and training and vocational education and training (VET) research are in a state of crisis. Both the higher education and VET sectors are now squeezed and subject to contradictory objectives, multiple accountabilities, heightened expectations, and diminished resources in an environment of uncertainty and frustration. The…

A study examined vocational education research and development (R&D) during the period from 1963 to 1983. Individually funded and government-funded R&D efforts in the following 15 categories were compared: career development and guidance, special populations, students, personnel, instructional techniques, curriculum development, demography,…

This document contains three papers on key skills and competencies and human resource development (HRD). "Career Related Competencies" (Marinka A.C.T. Kuijpers) reports findings from surveys completed by Dutch employees who identified these issues: self-reflection is more important than career control; age and gender influence attitude…