An Examination of the Research Objectives of Recent Citation Analysis Studies

This work attempts to assess the variations and similarities in the stated research objectives of recent citation analysis studies. Eighty-eight citation studies published between January 1995 and March 2008 were categorized and selected examples of specific types were reviewed.     

Using Structural Equation Modeling to Examine Group Differences in Assessment Booklet Designs with Sparse Data

The current research demonstrates the effectiveness of using structural equation modeling (SEM) for the investigation of subgroup differences with sparse data designs where not every student takes every item. Simulations were conducted that reflected missing data structures like those encountered in large survey assessment programs (e.g., National Assessment of Educational Progress). A maximum likelihood method of estimation was implemented that allowed all data to be used without performing any imputation. A multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) model was used to examine group differences. There was no detriment to the estimation of the MIMIC model parameters under sparse data design conditions when compared to the design without missing data. The overall size of samples had more influence on the variability of estimates than did the data design.     

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

Abstract This article examines the historic character and mission of the REA with a view toward the role of this journal in the life of the Association. Early social influences are explored in relation to the Association's unfolding vision of “a democracy of God” in which religion would be a central enterprise of an educated citizenry. George Albert Coe, Harrison Elliott, Herman Wornom, and Randolph C. Miller are discussed as primary shapers of the REA and the field through the mid-twentieth century. The author concludes with challenges to rediscover or renegotiate the relevance of the REA's historic mission in the midst of contemporary opportunities and pressures of economic globalization, geo-political turmoil, and religious and cultural diversity.     

TRAINING CHURCH YOUNG PEOPLE FOR LAY SERVICE

In this article, the emerging field of youth ministry research is presented and interpreted through the lens of practical theology. International developments are described and compared as local responses to the ongoing global dynamics of youth culture. After an overview of four different contexts in which youth ministry research can be situated, the article discusses four thematic dimensions of this research: globalization, vulnerability, politics, and interreligious encounter. In the third part of the article these dimensions are theologically reflected in order to unravel four chances and challenges for future practical theological research.     

Integrative Anthropological Method in History of Culture and Education

This is the story of three professors who found collective success in certain old-time approaches to teaching. Using three different first-person perspectives from Professors Burg, Piedmont, and Kamke, we examine some of the key components of such teaching orientation that may be helpful for professors navigating increased enrollments, while trying to engage students to learn not only the subject matter, but also, perhaps more importantly, about themselves as human beings.

The relevance of this classic approach is reflected in the fact that all of us, typically unawares, continue to apply, and expand on, the way of education to which we were introduced a long time ago. In essence, that old-time teaching showed us how to be, in the words of Angyal, simultaneously autonomous (i.e., being oneself, standing alone) and homonomous (belonging/surrendering to something greater than oneself).