PREFACE
In 1974, A Survey of Research in Education was published by the Centre of Advanced Study in Education, M.S. University, Baroda. The Society for Educational Research and Development, Baroda, brought out the Second Survey of Research in Education in 1979. This activity now forms a continuing programme of the NCERT which published the Third Survey in 1987, and now the Fourth Survey of Research in Education has been completed. The Fourth Survey covers researches in education completed during the period 1983 to 1988.
These surveys are not merely status surveys of educational research in India. They aim at something more than compiling an annotated bibliography of research in education. The volumes are surveys and reviews as well. Many conceive of reviewing as the summarizing of research studies in order to inform readers and keep them abreast of their field. Such an annotated bibliographic approach can have only a limited use. The larger function of this project is to analyse the studies in specific areas of education, to assess the strengths and weaknesses of research in an area, to probe the studies in the area and point the way to enlargement and improvement; only secondarily is its purpose bibliographic.
The form and content of each volume in this series have been planned more or less uniformly. In the First Survey, almost all studies beginning with the first Ph,D, research in education were covered up to 1972. The survey included 731 studies. The classification of studies included philosophy, history, sociology of education, personality, learning and motivation, guidance and counselling, tests and measurement, curriculum, programmed learning, correlates of achievement, educational evaluation and examinations, teaching and teacher behaviour, teacher education, educational administration, economics of education, social and adult education, and educational surveys. The Second Survey of Research in Education included 839 abstracts and covered the period 1972-78. Chapters on comparative education, and higher education were added. Studies on social education, adult education and non-formal education were grouped under the chapter, Nonformal Education. The chapter on educational surveys was dropped and studies under this were distributed among relevant chapters. The Third Survey was undertaken by the National Council of Educational Research and Training. It covered the period 1978-83 and included 1481 abstracts. The Third Survey added a new chapter on language education. It also surveyed research on Indian education in foreign Countries.
When the Fourth Survey was undertaken, the Editorial Board decided to add chapters on creativity, social science education, mathematics education, science education, early childhood education, elementary education, vocational and technical education, special education, higher education, women's education and education of the disadvantaged. The
x
studies on adult education and non-formal education were grouped under two separate chapters. The Fourth Survey has a new dimension. There is a chapter on review of research at the M.Phil level in Indian universities. The review is based on an analytical study of the titles of M. Phil. dissertations. A complete bibliography of M.Phil. dissertations is also appended to the chapter.
When this project was launched in the early seventies, the purpose was to conduct a disciplined inquiry in education through critical and synthesizing trend reports. To help the authors of the reports, it was arranged to procure abstracts of studies on educational problems from universities and research institutes. Only Ph.D. theses in education, Ph.D. theses on educational problems from allied disciplines and institutional and sponsored studies were included. Area collaborators collected these data. They were requested to include in the abstracts, the major objectives of the study, hypotheses examined, research methods used, sampling procedures adopted, tools for data collection used, research design, findings and implications, if discussed by the authors. A more or less similar procedure was followed in the Fourth Survey also.
While the area collaborators did an excellent job of abstracting theses, quite a few research reports presented problems. In such cases, detailed summaries were procured. The research covered included Ph.D. theses in education, Ph.D. theses on education problems from other departments like psychology, sociology, economics, history, management, etc., research projects financed by agencies like the UGC, ICSSR, NCERT, state level agencies and universities, and institutional projects of research institutes like the IIE, ISEC, CASE, NCERT, NIEPA and SCERTs.
The authors of trend reports have analysed the researches in their area, critically probed into their methodology, sampling procedures, tools for data collection, etc. They have tried to identify research trends, research gaps and the priorities of research in their area. The authors, while focusing their attention on studies procured during 1983-88, also kept in mind researches completed earlier. Some of the abstracts were received late and could not be considered while writing the trend reports. These have been marked with an asterisk(*) and included in relevant chapters. Some abstracts were received after the manuscript of the book was finalised. These abstracts are placed in the appendix after "References".
For the current survey, a new system of classification of studies has been adopted. Research problems in education do not have clear boundaries. A problem may simultaneously belong to curriculum, language education, educational technology and elementary education. It may belong to more than one area. It was therefore decided to adopt a multiple-classification system. The abstracts have been put into that category to which they belong in terms of major objectives, but the titles are also cited under the heading `Also See' at the end of the abstracts. This system will help users to get a complete list of studies in their area of interest. This arrangement was made possible as a data base of research titles with other details and a good retrieval programme was developed by the Society for Educational Research and Development, Baroda.
The references are divided into two parts. Part I gives those references which the authors have used in their trend reports and for which there are no abstracts. Part II is a complete list of researches at Ph.D. level and also project reports for which abstracts are available in the four surveys. A number (1, 2, 3, or 4) at the end of each entry in Part II
xi
indicates whether the abstract of the research is located in the First, Second, Third or Fourth Survey.
Each chapter consists of a trend report followed by abstracts in the area. The abstracts are numbered serially across all chapters for ease of locating a study. After the abstracts, a further list of studies is given under the heading, `Also See'.
The present survey covers 1652 research studies. To accommodate these studies in one volume would make it unmanageable to handle for the users. It has, therefore, been divided into two volumes. Volume I contains first eighteen chapters-the remaining chapters, the references and the index forming Volume II.
The experience of working on four educational research surveys generates mixed reactions. There is the joy of achievement when one finds young researchers working on complex educational problems. Depression sets in when it is realized that senior academicians discourage the youth and create hurdles in their selfless work for research review. One finds apathy to meaningful research which would influence the educational system. This apathy is everywhere-in government offices, universities, education colleges and schools' The same attitude prevails towards teachers. The research institutes, the university departments of education and other national-level research bodies have never considered the school teacher as their accomplice in the common endeavour for improving education. As a result, a careful reading of teachers' general opinions on research shows some degree of animosity towards researches. This is not unexpected, but there is no reason to regard this situation as unalterable. If one comes across some degree of indifference to or cynicism about the value of research among teachers and administrators, academicians should undertake some introspection on their own, personal attitude to teachers. Administrators too, while looking upon teacher-researchers,, derisively regard teachers as a liability. Both researchers and administrators should look upon teachers as assets.
With such a change in attitude, administrators and researchers would get the cooperation of an army of teachers, facilitating experiment-based research which would be action oriented and focused on problems related to the renewal of the educational system with a view to making it relevant and efficient. When this happens, research would show more productivity, in the sense it would start influencing everything that goes on within schools as far as teachers are involved. This study of more than 4700 researches clearly points to the urgent need to change our modality of organizing research, to bring it down to earth and make it really effective.
The Fourth Survey of Research in Education was completed at a time when research activity in education has really grown exponentially. During the last three years, 1985-88, the volume of research has grown at an unprecedented rate. Practically one research report in education is coming out on every working day. By 1974, when the First Survey was published, there were 731 research studies in education completed in about thirty years. By 1988, the total number of studies covered in four surveys is 4703. There might be about 250 studies which have not been traced and therefore not- included. In view of this, the existing modality of documentation and review appears quite outdated and inadequate for the task.
An attempt was made to use a modem information storage and retrieval system by developing a computerized data base of educational research. This pilot exercise has
xii
proven its feasibility and utility. Research reports need to be procured regularly and stored in computers in regional centres. The storage capacity and service facilities of university-based computers need to be harnessed for this project. While storage and retrieval are no doubt needed, what is more important is to procure the data- abstracts of research reports and unabridged reports themselves. A network of professionals for the work of abstracting researches needs to be created. The universities have to devise procedures which would yield an automatic supply of approved theses on educational problems to the National Documentation Centre at New Delhi. It is only through such machinery that the burgeoning research could be properly stored and effectively retrieved for users' benefit. It is only then that the objective of this survey cum review would be fully achieved.
The publication of Surveys of Research in their present form needs fresh thinking. It required about four years to put the Third Survey of Research in Education in the. hands of users. The studies of 1978 were documented only by 1987. This time lag needs to be drastically cut. The survey should be so organized that researchers get abstracts within six months or so. Reviews and trend reports may be undertaken every five years.
The impact of a review publication is difficult. perhaps impossible, to assess. If it has a very limited impact on research and practice, there is little point in its publication. If this exercise is to have impact, it must view educational research as an enterprise devoted to understanding educational programmes; part of its main thrust must be to analyse deficiencies and to point out obstacles in the way of such understanding. Researchers need such reviews. The anxious inquiries from academics and young scholars about this survey, their requests to have access to the manuscripts, the speed with which the earlier, volumes have been sold out and NCERT's decision to reprint the first and, the second volumes-all go to show that researchers need, these surveys for facilitating the research process. If research is to influence the educational process, research-good, bad, whatever it is-must be made available to decision-makers. This endeavour has its clearly visible impact.
It is not possible to acknowledge all the help extended by a large number of professional friends in completing this volume. The chief editor received extensive academic support from the members of the editorial board whose suggestions were responsible for giving a new shape to the Fourth Survey of Research in Education. Their close interest in this academic venture and well-thought-out interventions helped the editor immensely in successfully completing the project.
The chief editor is specially grateful to the Director and the Joint Director of the NCERT for taking quick decisions every time he approached them for one.
With the educational ferment following the adoption of the National Policy on Education, 1986, and the Programme of Action, the authors of the trend reports were under heavy pressure. The total volume of research had also increased. The new classification of researches also created problems for the authors of the trend reports. The office infrastructure could not meet their requirements. In spite of these barriers, the authors rose to the occasion; for them this was a professional calling and they completed their assignment in a truly professional manner. I extend my gratitude to these learned authors.
Professor C.H.K. Misra was highly professional when he steered the proposal for the Fourth Survey in appropriate bodies of the NCERT and the first meeting of the editorial
xiii
board. Professor M.K. Raina, Secretary of ERIC, and other officers of the Department of Policy Research, Planning and Programming were always ready to help the project. Professor Ranu Vanikar of M.S. University of Baroda, Dr. V. Veeraraghavan of JNU and Dr. A.S. Pillai of Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan helped in editing and reviewing some of the chapters. Dr. D.N. Sansanwal of DAVV, Indore and Dr. P.K.Ganguli of NEHU were helpful in obtaining research abstracts from non-responding institutions. I acknowledge with thanks the help extended by all these friends. Dr. S.P. Malhotra, K.U. Kurukshetra, extended his academic support in editing and compiling the press copy of the manuscripts purely as a professional gesture in the course of three years of the Fourth Survey, devoting more than three months of his vacation to the project. I acknowledge his academic support with a deep sense of gratitude. I also extend my thanks to Ms.Nirmal Malhotra of NIEPA for extending her professional support at various stages of the project and for preparing the Subject Index and Author Index for this publication.
Finally, my thanks are extended to all area collaborators in the country who painfully located the theses and project reports and prepared abstracts, showing a high sense of commitment in the discharge of their assignments. Young researchers in the field of education participated in this national project by giving suggestions, reactions and taking up any odd assignment given to them. The chief editor is grateful to all of them.
46, Harinagar M.B.BUCH
Gotri Road
Baroda-390 007
Area Collaborators
Balsubramaniam, P.S.
Bhalwankar, A.G.
Bhatnagar, R.P.
Bhattacharya, S.P.
Bisht, Abha Rani
Buch, Piloo M.
Chitriv, U.G.
Chopra, S.L.
Dave, J.P.
Deshpande, S.
Deva, R.C.
Dutt, Narayan
Ganguli, M.P.
Ganguli, P.K.
Gogate, S.B.
Grewal, J.S.
Imrapur, G.H.
Jain, K.C.
Jarial, G.S.
Joshi, A.N.
Khajapeer, M.
Koul, Lokesh
Kumar, S.
Malhotra, S.P.
Mathew, Rama
Miyan, Md.
Pal, s.k.
Pandit, K.L.
Passi, S.
Patel, B.V.
Patted, G.M.
Pillay, G.S.
Raghavkumari, A.S.
Rai, Kamala
Rajagopalan, S.
Rajput, J.S.
Ramachandrachar, K.
Ramkumar, V.
Rao, A.R.
Rao, S.R.
Rao, T.S.
Rasool, G.
Rather, A.R.
Sahoo, P.K.
Sansanwal, D.N.
Sarangi, H.
Sarma, S.C.
Sayed, Nurjehan
Sen, A.
Seetharamu, A.S.
Shah, Bina
Shah, J.H.
Shah, S.G.
Sharma, A.R.
Sharma, Aparajita
Shukla, R.S.
Singh, Tribhuvan
Soman, K.
Srivastava, K.M.
Srivastava, S.S.
Tripathi, M.K.
Uchat, D.A.
Upadhyay, U.
Vedanayagam, E.G.
Contributors
C.L.Anand
Vice-Chancellor
Arunachal University
Itanagar
Aparna Basu
Professor of History
Delhi University
Delhi
Mehroo Bengalee
Vice-Chancellor
University of Bombay
Bombay
S.C.Bhatia
Director
Department of Adult Continuing
Education and Extension
University of Delhi
Delhi
Piloo Buch
Faculty of Education and
Psychology
M.S.University of Baroda
Baroda
M.B.Buch
Chairman
Society for Educational Research
and Development
Baroda
Karuna Chanana
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
J.P.Dave
New Delhi
P.N.Dave
Former Professor of Education
National Council of Educational
Research and Training
New Delhi
Neera Desai
Former Professor of Sociology
S.N.D.T. Women's University
Bombay
B.Ganguli
Professor
Science Education
National Council of Educational
Research and Training
New Delhi
R.Govinda
Senior Fellow
National institute of Educational
Planning and Administration
New Delhi
J.S.Grewal
Professor of Education
Regional College of Education
Bhopal
I.D.Gupta
Reader
Regional College of Education
Bhopal
N.K.Jangira
Professor of Education
National Council of Educational
Research and Training
New Delhi
M. Kandan
Former Project Assistant
National Institute of Education
Planning and Administration
New Delhi
Lokesh Koul
Professor of Education
H.P.University
Simla
Kuldip Kumar
Professor
National Council of Educational
Research and Training
New Delhi
S.P.Malhotra
Department of Education
Kurukshetra University
Kurukshetra
Prerana Mohite
Department of Child Development
M.S.University of Baroda.
Baroda
Mohammad Miyan
Professor of Education
Jamia Millia Islamia
New Delhi
M.Mukhopadhyay
Senior Fellow
National Institute of Educational
Planning and Administration
New Delhi
S. Mukhopadhyay
Department of Education
Arunachal University
Itanagar
C.R.K.Murthy
Former Project Associate
National Institute of Educational
Planning and Administration
New Delhi