Self-Paced Economics Instruction: A Large-Scale Disaggregated Evaluation

There is a growing interest in various schemes for individualizing instruction in economics, and at least 50 studies have been made of some aspect of this approach. Soper and Thornton report on a study that constitutes a valuable addition to the literature in this subject. Perhaps more important than the results of their experiment, however, is the experimental design they used. Their model is one that should be examined carefully by everyone interested in research in economic education.     

Special Section: A Debate on Research Techniques in Economic Education

This Special Section represents a “first” for the JEE. In previous issues the “Communications” section has often included comments and criticisms of previously published articles, and authors of the original pieces have sometimes replied to these criticisms. Initially, the intention was to treat Becker's comment on Soper's article “Programmed Instruction in Large-Lecture Courses” (JEE, Spring 1973) in the conventional way. It was finally decided, however, that the exchange between Becker and Soper, and Highsmith's reaction to both papers, was important enough to merit special treatment. The research techniques discussed in the three papers should be of great interest to all who are involved in economic education research and, indeed, to all who read the reports of such research.     

DEEP Revisited: Another Reply

Based on an independent analysis of the data used to evaluate the Developmental Economic Education Program of the Joint Council on Economic Education, Luker raises questions about the statistical methodology and the conclusions reached by Walstad and Soper in an article published in the Journal in the Winter 1982 issue. A defense of the original study is presented in the two replies.     

Grade Dropping: An Empirical Analysis

The Test of Economic Literacy (TEL), revised in 1985, is a nationally normed instrument for measuring economic understanding of senior high school students. Walstad and Soper trace its development, validation, and norming and present the findings from the pretest analysis.     

Notes on the structure of production: Market oriented and Soviet-type economies

Zusammenfassung Bemerkungen zur Produktionsstruktur: Marktorientierte Volkswirtschaften und solche sowjetischen Typs. — Der Aufsatz berichtet über einen Vergleich der Produktionsstruktur von 21 entwickelten L?ndern, von denen einige marktwirtschaftlich orientiert und andere vom sowjetischen Typ sind. Die Autoren lehnen das Verfahren, mittels der Triangulation einer Matrix die intersektoralen Abh?ngigkeiten zu studieren, ab und verwenden statt dessen Rasmussens Analyse mit Hilfe von ?Schlüssel?- Sektoren. Sie erarbeiten einen Gesamtindex der strukturellen Interdependenz, der ihnen eine direkte und konsistente Rangordnung der Industrien unter den untersuchten Volkswirtschaften erlaubt. Von den verschiedenen L?ndern sind die Vereinigten Staaten am st?rksten integriert, w?hrend die sowjetische Volkswirtschaft am wenigsten integriert ist. Au\erdem weisen die überwiegend marktwirtschaftlich orientierten Volkswirtschaften einen h?heren Interdependenzgrad als die sozialistischen Volkswirtschaften auf. Unabh?ngig vom Typ der Volkswirtschaft sind Landwirtschaft, Nahrungsmittelindustrie und Maschinenbau in fast allen L?ndern die führenden Sektoren. Die Autoren finden keine Unterstützung für Colin Clarks Klassifikation der Industrien.

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Résumé Notes sur la structure de production: Economies orientées au marché et de type soviétiques. — Le papier reporte une comparaison de la structure de production sur vingt et un pays développés, quelques orientés au marché et quelques de type soviétique. L’auteur rejete la triangulation de l’approche de matrice à l’étude de l’interdépendance intersectorielle en faveur de l’analyse de Rasmussen par des secteurs de ?clé?. Les auteurs présentent un indice global de l’interdépendance structurale qui les permet de classer les industries parmi les économies analysées directement et consistantement. Parmi les pays différents l’économie des Etats Unis est laquelle qui est la plus intégrée, et l’économie soviétique est laquelle qui est la moins intégrée. Aussi les prédominantement économies de marché ont un degré plus haut de l’interdépendance en comparaison avec les économies socialistes. Mais indépendamment du type de l’économie, l’agriculture, la préparation alimentaire et la manufacture des machines sont les secteurs dominants dans presque tous les pays. Les auteurs ne trouvent pas un support pour la classification des industrie de Colin Clark.

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Resumen Notas sobre la estructura de la producción. Economías de tipo soviético y de orientación de mercado. — En el artfculo se hace un reportaje sobre la comparación de la estructura de producción a través de 21 países desarrollados, algunos de orientación de mercado y otros de tipo soviético. Los autores rechazan la triangularización del acercamiento matricial para el estudio de la interdependencia interseccional en favor del análisis de Rasmussen a traves de sectores ?claves?. Los autores proveen un index general de la interdependencia estructural que les permite confeccionar un ordenamiento de industrias entre las economías analizadas. De los distintos países, los EEUU constituyen la economía más integrada y la economía soviética, la menos integrada. También las economías predominantemente de mercado muestran un mayor grado de interdependencia comparadas con las economías socialistas. Pero irrespectivamente del tipo de la economía, la agricultura, el procesamiento de alimentos y la construcción de maquinaria son los sectores lídres en casi todos los países. Los autores no encuentran sustento para la clasificación de industrias de Colin Clark.

     

Practice papers: The evolution of segmentation methods in financial services: Where next?

Over the last few years, the financial services market has seen a proliferation of new players and new channels. Customers have increased expectations of being offered the right products, at the right time and for the right reasons. Demographics and affluence have always been the backbone of segmentation tools, but is this still sufficient to meet the challenges that today's marketers face? This paper is a review of how customer segmentation has evolved within the financial services market and the corresponding demand for consumer information. It assesses whether today's segmentation tools remain sufficiently innovative to provide marketers with the information they require in order to maintain competitive advantage in a highly competitive marketplace.     

On Measuring Economic Attitudes

The authors examine two affective-domain instruments: one designed to measure the attitudes of students toward economics, and the other, their relative economic attitude sophistication. The development of these measurement tools was commissioned by the Joint Council on Economic Education in 1979. The result is the nationally normed and externally validated, 28-item, two-part Survey on Economic Attitudes reproduced in the appendix of this article. For the first time, the profession has available, for research purposes, an acceptable instrument for measuring changes in student attitudes and opinions as one of the outputs of the instructional process.     

A Note on Economic Content and Test Validity

This note offers some practical, easily used tips on how teachers can determine whether tests under consideration for classroom use are “valid,” that is, whether they measure what they are supposed to measure.     

Conceptualizing needs in the context of consumer politics

The main aim of this paper is clarification of the concept of need in the context of current thinking on consumption and development, the links between the provision for basic needs, and the observance of human rights. It offers philosophical analysis of the concept of basic needs in relation to others more prominent in consumption theory such as desires, wants, preferences, relating its discussion to controversies between universalist and relativist positions in the theory of need. Drawing on a distinction between basic needs and the culturally specific modes in which these are gratified, it proceeds to offer some critical reflections on the intersection between human rights and market rights and on the global interconnections between more or less affluent forms of basic need satisfaction. It argues overall that basic need satisfaction for all, now and in the future, requires a new politics of consumption in the wealthier nations.