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ANALYSIS OF EDUCATIONAL CONTENT IN PERIODICALS, 1930-1979
Abstract
Educational content in periodicals written for general public and professional educator audiences for the fifty-year period, 1930 through 1979, was analyzed. Content analysis as a research method and its practical use was reported. Education throughout the history of America was summarized and analyzed to determine educational issues. Eight issues identified were about instruction, teachers, finance, purposes of education, curriculum, students, educational governance, and parents. The study sought answers to questions about what the issues of education were, whether education was treated favorably or unfavorably, what the authors' intentions were for writing the articles, and what the topics of educational articles were. In addition data from the five decades were examined for forecasting patterns. Four categories and forty-eight subcategories were defined and were coded and counted from 1101 periodical articles sampled. Periodicals used were: Time, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, Atlantic Monthly, Harper's Magazine, Harvard Education Review, Phi Delta Kappan, Educational Leadership, Today's Education, and School Board Journal. Of the eight educational issues identified, issues concerning instruction, teachers, and finance were most common and most important. Education was treated either favorably or neutrally in the majority of articles. Authors wrote articles with the intent to inform people. The majority of educational topics were about the content of subjects taught, teaching methods, teacher qualifications and duties, instructional organization, taxes, students who have special needs, reporting pupil progress, and school facilities. Primary differences in the content of general public and professional educator periodical articles were found in educational issues concerning purpose and student; educational topics regarding taxes, facilities, and student behavior; and article direction which treated education unfavorably. Conclusions drawn were: (1) the nature and treatment of educational content in periodicals studied are similar, (2) authors write to inform, (3) the public is concerned with educational results and costs; educators are concerned with purpose and instructional activities design, and (4) the nature of schooling is determined by social and economic conditions.
Subject Area
Education history
Recommended Citation
MERRITT, JAMES GORDON, "ANALYSIS OF EDUCATIONAL CONTENT IN PERIODICALS, 1930-1979" (1983). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8412313.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8412313