این پژوهش به بررسی چگونگی ارتباط توانایی مدیریت با حق‌الزحمه و تعدیل اظهارنظر حسابرسی به دلیل ابهام در تداوم فعالیت نمونه‌ای از شرکت‌های پذیرفته‌شده در بورس اوراق بهادار تهران طی سال‌های 1382 تا 1392 می‌پردازد. به‌منظور سنجش توانایی مدیریت از نمره توانایی مدیریت منتج از مدل دومرحله‌ای تحلیل پوششی داده‌های ارائه‌شده توسط دمرجیان و همکاران (2012) استفاده‌شده است. ضمن اینکه حق‌الزحمه و اظهارنظر حسابرس در مورد ابهام در تداوم فعالیت واحد تجاری به‌عنوان شاخص‌هایی از ریسک حسابرسی در نظر گرفته‌شده‌اند. نمونه مورد مطالعه این پژوهش شامل 94 شرکت و 1034 مشاهده سال‌ـ‌شرکت است. نتایج حاصل از آزمون فرضیه‌ها نشان می‌دهد که با افزایش میزان توانایی مدیران، حق‌الزحمه حسابرسی و احتمال وجود بند ابهام در تداوم فعالیت در گزارش حسابرسی واحد تجاری کاهش مییابد. به‌صورت کلی، یافته‌های تحقیق نشان می‌دهد که توانایی مدیریت، عاملی تأثیرگذار بر تصمیمات حسابرسان است. این نتایج ازآن‌رو اهمیت دارد که شواهد تجربی چندانی در خصوص رابطه بین خصوصیات مدیریت و تصمیمات حسابرسان وجود ندارد.
This paper investigates the relation of managerial ability to audit fees and going concern opinions of some firms listed in Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) from 1382 to 1392. In order to measure the managerial ability, the management scores defined by the two-stage DEA model of Demerjian et al. (2012) have been used. Moreover, audit fees and going concern opinions have been considered as audit risk. The sample consists of 1,034 firm-year observations from 94 unique firms. OLS and Logistic regressions have been used to test hypotheses. The results show that any increase in managerial ability decreases audit fees and likelihood of going concern opinion. Generally, the findings support the notion that the managerial ability is relevant to auditors' decisions. This evidence is particularly important because there is a paucity of empirical evidence on the relation between managerial characteristics and auditors' decisions.
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Carson, E., Fargher, N., geiger, M., Lennox, C., & Raghunandan, K. (2013). Audit reporting for going-concern uncertainity: A research synthesis. A Journal of Practice & Theory, 32 (August): 353-384.
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Demerjian, P., Lewis, M., & McVay, S. (2013). Managerial ability and earnings quality. The accounting Review, 88 (2): 463-498.
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Etemadi. H., Anvary Rostami. A. A. & Farajzadeh Dehkordi. H. (2009). A genetic programming model for bankruptcy prediction: Empirical evidence from Iran. Expert Systems with Applications.
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Two new government studies indicate about 1 in 100 children have autism disorders - higher than a previous U.S. estimate of 1 in 150.
Greater awareness, broader definitions and spotting autism in younger children may explain some of the increase, federal health officials said.
"The concern here is that buried in these numbers is a true increase," said Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health. "We're going to have to think very hard about what we're going to do for the 1 in 100."
Figuring out how many children have autism is extremely difficult because diagnosis is based on a child's behavior, said Dr. Susan E. Levy of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics subcommittee on autism.
"With diabetes you can get a blood test," said Levy. "As of yet, there's no consistent biologic marker we can use to make the diagnosis of autism."
The new estimate would mean about 673,000 American children have autism. Previous estimates put the number at about 560,000.
CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton reports that boys are four-times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with autism disorders.
Some experts say the term "autism" is overused, reports Ashton, but view the increased awareness as a positive.
"Maybe the label 'autistic specrum disorder' is correct, maybe it's not - however, if we identify that there is a need, that means we're going to do intervention," Dr. Max Wiznitzer told CBS News.
One of the studies stems from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health. The results were released Monday, and published in October's Pediatrics.
In that study, based on telephone surveys, parents reported about 1 in 91 children, ages 3 to 17, had autism, including milder forms such as Asperger's syndrome.
The other government estimate has not been formally released yet. But because of the new published findings, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention decided to announce Friday during an embargoed press briefing that their preliminary findings also show about 1 in 100 children have the disorders.
The CDC uses an in-depth method for its estimate, said CDC researcher Catherine Rice. An agency network reviews the education and health records of 8-year-old children in selected cities and determines whether the children meet the diagnosis. Autism experts generally consider this method more rigorous than a telephone survey.
President Obama has made autism a priority for research, Insel said. Federal stimulus money has been earmarked for autism, and a 2006 law pumped millions of dollars of new federal money into autism research, screening and treatment.
The published findings, which include state-level data, will help the government plan new services, said Michael Kogan, a researcher with the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, who led the new study, which lists authors from several government agencies, including CDC.
The findings are based on the results of a national telephone survey of more than 78,000 parents of children ages 3 to 17. The survey dealt with many health issues and included two questions on autism.
Parents were asked whether they'd ever been told by a doctor or other health care provider that their child had autism, Asperger's syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder or other autism spectrum disorder.
If the parent said yes, they were asked if their child currently has autism or an autism spectrum disorder. "Yes" to both questions was counted as a child with an autism disorder.
The survey questions were flawed, said autism researcher Irva Hertz-Picciotto of the University of California, Davis. A broad definition, read to some parents who asked for clarification, didn't include "repetitive behaviors," Hertz-Picciotto said. And parents weren't asked about a professional diagnosis in the second question.
Children with autism can have trouble communicating and interacting socially. They may have poor eye contact and engage in repetitive behavior such as rocking or hand-flapping.
"The wording and definition invited much broader interpretation," Hertz-Picciotto said, and researchers didn't check what parents said against medical records.
In another finding, nearly 40 percent of the children ever diagnosed with autism disorders didn't currently have autism, the parents reported. That rate is much higher than ever found by autism recovery researchers. Outside experts said they doubt it reflects a true rate of recoveries. Autism could have been suspected and later ruled out for some of the children, the authors wrote.
One of the new study's authors was supported in part by a grant from the advocacy group Autism Speaks. The others work for federal agencies.
"Autism is a highly prevalent disorder," said Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer of Autism Speaks. "We're looking at a major public health challenge."


text:
Suomi NPP satellite find Typhoon Shanshan near Japan's coast
by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
On Aug. 8 at 0318 UTC (Aug. 7 at 11:18 p.m. EDT) the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite captured a visible image of Typhoon Shanshan near Japan. Credit: NOAA/NASA/NRL
NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite caught up with Typhoon Shanahan and provided forecasters with a visible picture of the storm on Aug. 8. The satellite image revealed the storm still maintained an eye, although now cloud-filled.
On August 8 at 0318 UTC (Aug. 7 at 11:18 p.m. EDT) the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite captured visible image of Shanshan nearing Tokyo, Japan. The VIIRS image showed that Shanshan had powerful thunderstorms surrounding the center of circulation and in a large band of thunderstorms wrapping around the storm.
On August 8 at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC), the Joint Typhoon Warning Center or JTWC noted that Typhoon Shanshan was located near 34.5 degrees north latitude and 141.3 degrees east longitude, about 92 nautical miles east-southeast of Yokosuka, Japan. Shanshan had maintained maximum sustained winds near 70 knots (80.5 mph/129.6 kph) but is on a weakening trend.
The JTWC expect Shanshan's western quadrant to affect Tokyo while the center of circulation stays off-shore. Then Shanshan is forecast to curve northeast and move away from the Big Island.
Typhoon Shanshan caught by NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite
Provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Citation: Suomi NPP satellite find Typhoon Shanshan near Japan's coast (2018, August 8) retrieved 19 July 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2018-08-suomi-npp-satellite-typhoon-shanshan.html
NASA finds Prapiroon strengthen into a typhoon
NASA finds power in Tropical Storm Shanshan's center
NASA satellite finds Jongdari a Tropical Depression
NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite catches Tropical Depression Ampil over Eastern China
NASA examines brightness temperatures of Tropical Cyclone 15W
Correcting historic sea surface temperature measurements
West Antarctic ice collapse may be prevented by snowing ocean water onto it

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


As was stressed in Chapter One, self-direction in learning is not a new idea. Yet, while self-direction or self-education has been held as an ideal for adult education by various authors over the past several decades (e.g., Lindeman, 1926; Bryson, 1936; Snedden, 1930), only since the early 1970s have adult education researchers actively and systematically directed their efforts toward this area. This may be due, in part, to the relative newness of adult education as a field of study in North America. While some authors (e.g., Boshier & Pickard, 1979; Boyd & Apps, 1980) have described adult education as a "discipline," the idea of adult education as an area of academic inquiry is nonetheless quite recent. In fact, much of the seminal thinking about the study of the adult education field can be traced to the publication of Adult Education: Outlines of an Emerging Field of University Study (Jensen, Liveright, & Hallenbeck, 1964). Further, a content analysis of Adult Education (Dickinson & Rusnell, 1971) revealed that during the mid-to-late 1960s, the number of descriptive/opinion-oriented articles declined while the number of original research articles increased. We suggest that self-direction in learning, therefore, has actually been one of the first major areas within the field to undergo systematic and sustained inquiry. Indeed, Beder (1985) supported this view by suggesting that, along with the area of participation, self-direction has been the only other research area to be extensively examined within adult education.
strategies for answering questions about the frequency and nature of self-directed learning.
While efforts to study self-direction in learning have escalated since the early 1970s, one individual who seems to have played a key role in laying the groundwork for this research as far back as the early 1960s is Cyril Houle. In addition to serving as major professor for Malcolm Knowles and Allen Tough, two of the seminal contributors to current thought on self-direction in learning, Houle is author of The Inquiring Mind, published in 1961. For this study, sometimes credited with sparking the current interest in self-direction, Houle interviewed 22 adult learning participants in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during 1960. Using an informal interview schedule, he concluded that these individuals fell within three subgroups with regard to their reasons for engaging in a continuing education activity. The first group, which Houle called goal-oriented, consisted of individuals who viewed their participation as a means to some other end, such as career advancement or change. A second group, the activity-oriented, chose to participate in continuing education primarily for fellowship, or the opportunity to meet new people. Finally, a group that Houle referred to as the learning-oriented, was comprised of individuals who participated for the sake of personal enjoyment; these individuals viewed learning as an end in and of itself. As will be discussed later in the chapter, it is this latter orientation that led Tough to pursue an interest in what he initially referred to as "adult self-teachers."
The focus of this and the following two chapters will be a review and critical analysis of existing research related to self-direction in learning. In this chapter, we will introduce what we believe to be the three major directions that research in this area has taken to date. We will then highlight the first of these areas. In the following two chapters, we will look at each of the other two major research directions and will offer an assessment of the current state of this research area. Subsequent chapters will apply this knowledge to examine ways in which adult educators can utilize these findings in order to improve practice.
example, in the 20 issues of Adult Education Quarterly appearing during the five year period between Fall, 1984 and Summer, 1989, a total of 16 articles dealt directly with self-direction in learning, while several other articles were related in a secondary way. Also, during the 1985 Adult Education Research Conference, over 11% of the paper sessions were on the topic of self-direction.
Nonetheless, while we are encouraged by the picture presented in this and the following two chapters, we believe that the future of adult education research in general depends on continuing research efforts. To this end, self-direction in learning can serve as a "miner's canary," something of a gauge for measuring the ability of adult education to develop, sustain, and utilize a substantial knowledge base. Beder (1985) has suggested that while self-directed learning is one of the two relatively well developed research areas in adult education, it is doubtful that this knowledge has been utilized to guide practice in a major way. While, as we have stated above, research has often been used to improve practice, Beder's point is well taken, and should be kept in mind when implementing self-directed learning in the future.
This classification is based on the content of research studies. Further, it emphasizes both empirical research "as well as serious conceptual articles" (Caffarella & O'Donnell, 1988, p. 39).
appropriate classification scheme, for the vast majority of studies on self-direction still fit within one of these categories.
The first major branch of inquiry grew out of the methodology utilized initially by Tough in his work, The Adult's Learning Projects (1971, 1979). This line of research, since replicated by numerous researchers with a wide range of adult populations, provides convincing descriptive evidence of the frequency of self-planning by adult learners.
A second major branch of research has essentially defined self-directedness as a personological, or personality-related variable. In this approach, written instruments are used to determine the extent to which individuals possess qualities associated with self-directedness. This branch of inquiry has led to a number of studies linking self-directedness with such concepts as creativity (Torrance & Mourad, 1978), self-concept (Sabbaghian, 1980), motivational orientation (Reynolds, 1986), life satisfaction (Brockett, 1985a), and intellectual development (Shaw, 1987). Also, several researchers have used instruments designed to measure self-directedness in a diagnostic capacity within the classroom setting (e.g., Caffarella, 1983; Kasworm, 1983; Savoie, 1980; Six, 1987; Six & Hiemstra, 1987). This branch of inquiry has been responsible for moving our understanding of self-direction in learning from basic description toward greater understanding of how such variables may be related to one another and, to a lesser degree, where changes in one variable may cause a change in the other. Chapter Four will highlight this branch of research.
A third approach to studying self-direction in learning has employed qualitative methods such as observation and interviewing in order to develop models that can help to explain the meanings and contexts of self-direction in learning during adulthood (e.g., Brookfield, 1981; Gibbons, et al., 1980; Spear & Mocker, 1984). This branch of research (which will serve as the focus for Chapter Five) has helped adult educators in theory-building, which, in turn, has influenced the ways in which researchers and practitioners now understand self-direction in adult learning.
It is important to bear in mind that while these three streams of research have evolved in a somewhat sequential manner, they are not distinct stages of research. In other words, newer methodologies have not replaced previous approaches. Rather, each stream of inquiry continues to serve an important role in addressing specific types of research questions relative to self-direction in adult learning. The remainder of this chapter will offer a closer look at the first major stream of research by focusing on selected studies that reflect the learning projects paradigm.
In 1965, Allen Tough completed his doctoral dissertation at the University of Chicago on teaching tasks performed by "adult self-teachers." He found that, while self-teaching implies a degree of independence or autonomy, the learning that occurs through self-teaching does not generally take place in isolation (Tough, 1966). Those individuals who engage in self-teaching are highly likely to seek the assistance of others, such as close friends and relatives, librarians, subject-matter experts, and fellow learners.
Tough, in this study, focused on individuals engaged in a self-teaching project. As an outgrowth of this work, he began to raise questions about the extent to which self-teaching is a part of the total range of an individual's learning activities. Subsequently, during 1970, Tough and several colleagues at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (Toronto) interviewed 66 adults in an attempt to examine "the highly deliberate learning efforts" of adults. Particular emphasis was placed on the "planning and deciding" aspects of the learning project.
Tough defined a learning project as "a series of related episodes, adding up to at least seven hours" where "more than half of the person's total motivation is to gain and retain certain fairly clear knowledge and skill, or to produce some other lasting change in himself" (p. 7). Similarly, an episode was defined as "a period of time devoted to a cluster or sequence of similar or related activities, which are not interrupted much by other activities" (p. 7). Examples of episodes might include reading a newspaper or a chapter of a book, visiting a museum, or attending a class. An episode had a definite beginning and concluding time, and to be classified as an episode, the information had to be retained for at least two days after the learning activity took place. This qualification excluded activities in which learning was intended to serve an immediate purpose, such as being able to assemble a piece of household furniture--an ability quickly forgotten. A learning project, then, was considered to be the total of all episodes that a person had undertaken in order to gain (and retain) some specific knowledge or skill.
period. It is important to emphasize that the "seven hours within a six-month period" qualification was intended as a minimum expenditure of time. In reality, Tough found that the majority of learning projects uncovered by his survey team far exceeded this minimum.
Upper-middle-class women with preschool children.
To obtain data, a highly structured interview process was employed. Interviewers were trained in how to use the interview format and in how to identify learning projects. Thus, interviewees could uncover many different kinds of efforts while eliminating "borderline learning," such as brief episodes and activities in which learning was not the major reason for undertaking the effort. While the interview procedure was generally structured, there were certain points in the process where interviewers would share with subjects various "probe sheets" that prompted a recall of learning projects from a wide range of areas (e.g., child-rearing, gardening, music, collecting, and job-related knowledge and skills).
most learning projects are motivated by "some anticipated use or application" of what has been learned. This finding is quite consistent with other surveys of reasons for adult learning participation (e.g., Aslanian & Brickell, 1980; Cross, 1981; Boshier & Collins, 1985).
Probably the most important finding to emerge from Tough's study--certainly with regard to our current discussion--pertains to the question of who assumes responsibility for planning learning projects. By far the majority of projects identified in the Tough study (68%) were planned primarily by the individual learners themselves. Another 12% were planned by a group or its leader/instructor (e.g., formal classes), 8% were planned primarily by another person in a one-to-one situation (e.g., tutorial), and a nonhuman resource (e.g., a programmed instruction manual) served as the planner in only 3% of the projects. In the remainder of projects, no single type of planner could be clearly identified.
It is this finding about individual planning preferences that lies at the heart of the current emphasis on self-direction research. While self-direction has long been assumed to be a major goal of adult education, it was not until Tough's investigation that the impact of this preference for individual responsibility in planning was made apparent. In fact, Tough used the analogy of an iceberg to describe adult learning. Only a very small portion of each (i.e., an iceberg and learning) is clearly visible, while the rest lies beneath the surface. The point here is that the vast majority of what adults learn is not easily observed as through rates of participation in formal adult education programs.
More recently, Tough (1982) has expanded his focus from the notion of adults learning projects to the broader concept of intentional changes. Here, Tough looked at the ways people undertake major personal change in various aspects of their lives. Using a format similar to the learning projects interview protocol and via a team of interviewers, Tough found that 75% of the changes reported by interviewees fell into four areas: job, career, and training; human relationships, emotions, and self-perception; enjoyable activities; and changes in residence location. With regard to taking responsibility for intentional changes, Tough observed that on the average, "the person assumes about 70% of the responsibility for all the subtasks involved in choosing the change, planning the strategy, and implementing the change" (1982, p. 52).
(1988) interviewed 46 Type II diabetics in Montana and found that at least 85% had made at least one health-related change in the previous five years. Self-planned learning projects were an important part of the change process for many of the individuals interviewed by Lundgren, and reading was viewed as the primary learning activity. From these studies, it can be seen that while the thrust of the intentional changes paradigm is different from Tough's earlier work, the link to self-planned learning nonetheless remains.
With the publication of The Adult's Learning Projects in 1971, numerous researchers began to adopt the methodology used by Tough in conducting additional studies with different segments of the adult population. In the following sections, we discuss several of these replication studies. Our intent in these sections is to provide a feel for the diversity and flavor that have characterized the follow-up work to Tough's study. In reviewing these replications, it should be noted that despite considerable variation in both the total number of learning projects and in the total percentage of self-planned projects, the findings from the original Tough investigation are largely substantiated.
Johnstone and Rivera (1965), in their study of participation in adult education, found that mothers with young children had especially low rates of participation in institutional adult education programs. Of the seven groups studied by Tough, mothers with preschool-age children completed the third smallest number of projects during the study period. In one of the earliest learning projects replications conducted by someone other than one of Tough's associates, Coolican (1975) explored the total range of learning activities (institutional as well as noninstitutional) of a sample of 48 mothers in Syracuse, New York, whose oldest children had not yet entered school.
Data were obtained through the use of a two-part survey instrument. One part of the instrument was a questionnaire designed to obtain demographic information about the interviewee. The other instrument was an interview schedule adapted from the one used by Tough. All interviews were conducted by the researcher and took place in the subjects' homes. Each interview began with the researcher striving to develop a relaxed tone. After rapport was established, the structured interview began. On the average, interviews lasted 85 minutes.
home and family issues. Other major areas of interest included hobbies and recreation (18%) and personal development (11%). With the demands of caring for small children and running a household, Coolican found that these women typically were only able to spend short amounts of time on subjects in which they were interested.
Several possible limitations of the study identified by Coolican serve to point out some of the potential constraints of the learning projects methodology. First, since the data were obtained from a rather homogeneous sample, results cannot be generalized to a more heterogeneous population. Second, there may be limitations in using the interview approach, especially with regard to the recollection of learning projects that had taken place several months prior to the interview. Third, because of an unwillingness of subjects to reveal certain kinds of information or an inability to verbalize responses, there may be instances where the responses of subjects do not accurately reflect these actual experience. Fourth, no attempts were made to verify the accuracy of interviewees' statements. Fifth, the sample was based entirely on willing participants and, thus, there is a possibility that those who chose to respond were more oriented to or interested in learning than those who did not participate in the study. These limiting factors do not detract from the importance of Coolican's findings. Rather, they serve to articulate some of the very real concerns that need to be taken into account when interpreting the findings of studies using the learning projects methodology.
In the earliest large-scale study comparing the learning projects of adults within a particular geographical area, Peters and Gordon (1974) interviewed a total of 475 persons residing in Knoxville, Tennessee and a nearby rural county. At the outset, 15 interviewers received nine hours of formal training and were involved in several days of related activities such as readings, role playing, and practice interviews. The interviews consisted of the basic structure developed by Tough and lasted an average of one hour.
The 475 persons who were interviewed for the study ranged in age from 18 to 90, with a mean age of 41; the majority (61%) were male. Fifty-four percent reported having less than a high school education. Seventeen percent were high school graduates while the remaining 29% held either undergraduate or graduate degrees.
Peters and Gordon found that their subjects had conducted an average of 3.7 learning projects in the year prior to the study. This figure was higher for the urban subjects (4.1 projects) than for the rural interviewees (3.1 projects). Half of the subjects reported four or more learning projects during the study period; however, nearly 12% conducted no projects during this time.
The number of projects for females and single people was slightly higher than for men and those who were married. Looking at age groups, persons in the 35-39 age group conducted the largest number of projects (4.8) while those in the 55+ age group conducted the fewest projects (3.7). It is interesting to note the difference between urban and rural subjects in the older group. While interviewees in the 55+ age group who lived in the city averaged 5.4 projects--somewhat higher than the average for the total sample--those who lived in rural areas averaged only three projects.
Consistent with the findings of Tough (1979) and Coolican (1975), learning projects conducted by persons in the Peters and Gordon sample were overwhelmingly self-planned. Sixty-six percent of these projects, in fact, were planned by the individual learner. Unlike Tough's findings, however, 12.6% of the Peters and Gordon sample were enrolled in formal courses, a finding attributed by the authors to the relatively high number of college graduates found within the sample. This figure is consistent with data from the National Center for Education Statistics, which found that in 1981, 12.8% of all adults participated in an adult education course of some type (Kay, 1982). Other findings reported by Peters and Gordon dealt with utilization of resources, obstacles to participation, and content areas studied by learners in the sample. Resources most frequently used included books, magazines, tools and raw materials, and other individuals. The obstacles most often perceived by learners were lack of time, money, motivation, or education, plus family conflicts. The content of the majority of projects focused on topics related to employment or recreational pursuits.
In a follow-up analysis of the Peters and Gordon data, Brasfield (1984) focused specifically on the link between learning projects activity and educational attainment. In this analysis, Brasfield found that those adults with more formal education reported a greater number of learning projects than those with less formal education. However, she also found that the highest proportion of self-planned projects were found among those with fewer years of formal education. While the figures for self-planning among those with high school diplomas/some college and those with at least a bachelor's degree were 72% and 74% respectively, the self-planning figure for those with 0-12 years of education was 86%. This is a major departure from previous and subsequent research supporting a link between self-direction and educational attainment. We believe that the findings lend empirical support to the idea, which will be stressed further in the next chapter, that self-direction holds much potential for serving learners traditionally considered to be "hard-to-reach."
For the most part, learning projects research has been based on general adult samples, not focusing upon any specific age group within the population. Yet, in studies of formal adult education participation, an almost universally consistent finding has been that participation declines drastically among those persons age 55 and above (e.g., Kay, 1982). However, at least four studies employing the learning projects methodology have painted a somewhat more optimistic picture of the older adult as a potential learning participant.
The first study in North America to focus on the learning projects of older adults was Hiemstra's 1975 study in Nebraska. He examined 256 adults, at least 55 years of age, selected randomly from the voter registration cards in two communities and 18 rural townships, and from the membership list of a Hispanic community center. The sample for this study was predominantly white (88.7%) and middle-class blue or white collar (87.8%). Slightly more than three-quarters of the subjects (75.4%) lived in their own homes, and 63.3% were married while 25.4% were widowed. In terms of previous education, 66.3% were at least high school graduates and nearly 20% had graduated from college. The mean age of the sample was 68.1 years of age (Hiemstra, 1975, 1976a).
Using the learning projects interview schedule, seven trained interviewers spent between one and two hours with each of the interviewees. Hiemstra found that of the 256 individuals interviewed, 214 or 83.5% reported conducting one or more learning projects in the previous year. An average of 325 hours per year was spent on a mean of 3.3 projects. And, as with other learning projects studies, it was also found that the majority of projects (55%) were self-planned. The primary planner used by subjects in this study is shown in Table 3.1.
individuals. However, there were no significant differences across age groups between those who participated in more self-planned projects and those participating in fewer projects of this type. Finally, when asked to name the primary subject matter of their learning projects, there were no significant differences among the two age groups in terms of preferences for self-fulfillment subjects (Hiemstra, 1985b).
From this study, we believe there is evidence that older adults often are active learners and that most of this activity is reflected through the self-planned learning projects in which such individuals are engaged. This study suggests that "educators must learn how to remove their institutional blinders and recognize all the self-directed, independent learning going on and needed outside institutional structures" (Hiemstra, 1976b, p. 337).
A second study using the learning projects approach with older subjects was reported by Ralston (1981), who was interested in comparing black and non-black groups. Ralston interviewed 110 randomly-selected persons age 65 or older in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. Among the findings of this study, Ralston found that her interviewees conducted a mean of 2.45 projects. She noted that "respondents who were white, white-collar, and had higher educational levels were involved in significantly more learning projects than other subgroups" (p. 237). Ralston did not seek to identify the primary planner of projects so it is not possible to determine the extent to which these projects were self-planned.
Hassan (1982) studied self-directed learning among a sample of 77 adults residing in Ames, Iowa. Of this sample, more than 37% were over 55 years of age. The 29 people in this older age group conducted a mean of 9.7 projects per year, a figure that was not significantly different from that of the 48 younger people. The Hassan study is discussed further in Chapter Four.
In a fourth study involving older adults, Estrin (1986) examined the relationship between life satisfaction and learning participation among older women living in two subsidized senior housing developments in southern Rhode Island. Of the 87 women in this study, 54 were widowed, the mean age was 72.5, and the mean educational level was 10.3 years. Estrin found a significant positive relationship between life satisfaction and learning activity, both in terms of number of projects and number of hours spent engaged in learning. She concluded that participation in learning can be viewed as a strategy for enhancing life satisfaction in the later years. This conclusion is further supported through research (Brockett, 1985a) that will be addressed in the next chapter.
Probably the most comprehensive learning projects study to date was conducted by Penland (1977, 1978, 1979). For the most part, learning projects studies have focused on self-planned activities within specific groups; thus, the findings have not been generalizable to a larger population. By obtaining data from a U.S. national probability sample, Penland (1978) attempted to overcome this limiting factor by conducting a study that would address what he felt to be a "lack of a systematic behavioral foundation for a professional helping relationship" (p. 1).
The study sample was drawn from the total U.S. population of persons aged 18 or older, in a manner similar to the way in which public opinion polls are conducted. Since the study was conducted under different circumstances than other learning projects studies, the interview format was modified somewhat from the structured interview schedule developed by Tough (Penland, 1979). The instrument used by Penland was developed so that interviews could be completed in one hour and so those subjects not involved in learning could be accommodated "more efficiently" (Penland, 1978). For purposes of the study, Penland defined a continuing self-learner as "an individual (usually adult) who plans and designs an independent learning project," and independent self-designed learning was defined as "the overt behavioral evidence of a sequence of information processing episodes" (p.3).
The interview schedule used by Penland looked at three different sets of questions. The first set sought information about the "patterns and purposes" of adult learning activities. These questions explored the frequency and nature of learning projects. A second group of questions explored the use of resources as a part of the learning process. In addition, several questions focused on obtaining demographic information about the subjects.
Penland found that 78.9% of the sample perceived themselves to be "continuing learners" and that 76.1% had conducted at least one self-planned learning project in the year prior to the study. The average number of projects per person was 3.3 with a range of from one to 18. A mean of 155.8 hours was spent on each project. Penland attributed much of this figure to the involvement of the learner in planning aspects of activities that might otherwise be assumed by someone or something else.
The three reasons cited by subjects for preferring self- planned learning include the desire to learn what they choose and at their own pace, to maintain flexibility in their learning activities, and to structure their own project. According to Penland, the widespread emphasis on self-planned learning can be viewed as evidence to support the centrality of individualism in United States society.
An important component of the Penland survey was the use of resources, particularly the library, in conjunction with self- planned learning projects. It was found that 73.2% of those persons who considered themselves to be continuing learners had deliberately looked up some piece of information during the seven days prior to the interview. However, only 14% of the sample stated that they used the library on a regular basis while another 60% never used the library for self-planned learning. Penland concluded that those persons who participate in lifelong learning activities need "shopping center" access to resources. This, he feels, requires the cooperation of adult educators, information brokers, and community development personnel. In Chapter Nine, we suggest some policies related to this need.
The studies described above indicate a high degree of self- planning among learners from a variety of settings. Indeed, most learning projects studies have shown that a clear majority of projects are self-planned. However, some studies have found half or less of all projects to be planned primarily by the learners themselves.
Johnson (1973) interviewed 40 adults in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, who had recently completed senior high school examinations. This group conducted an average of 14.4 learning projects, 50% of which were self-planned.
Miller and Botsman (1975), using a modified case study approach, examined the learning projects of nine Cooperative Extension agents in New York State. Subjects conducted an average of 12 projects. Forty percent of the projects were self-planned, while more than half of the projects consisted of workshops planned by others.
Umoren (1978) studied 50 individuals from two socioeconomic groups in Lincoln, Nebraska. In this sample, the 38 low income adults and 22 middle or high income individuals conducted an average of 4.7 learning projects, and about 40% of these projects were self-planned.
Field (1979) examined the learning activities of 86 low literacy attainment adults in the Brownstown, Jamaica, area. Of the 4.2 average number of projects conducted by these subjects, about 20% were self-planned and more than 50% were planned by group leaders. Field attributed these figures to a prevalence of literacy training and projects pertaining to religious activities, both of which tended to rely on group leaders.
which were self-planned. In this sample black respondents reported a higher mean number of learning projects and of hours spent on learning projects activity than white interviewees, although the differences were not statistically significant.
While studies reporting low figures for self-planning are a clear minority of learning projects research, they make an important contribution to this research area in at least three ways. First, the findings indicate that such groups are, indeed, much more actively involved in adult learning activities than studies focusing on more "formal" participation typically indicate. This has clear implications for how educators of adults might work to reach traditionally "hard-to-reach" groups of adults (Brockett, 1983b). Second, these studies accentuate the need to use caution when espousing the value of self-planning for all adult learners. This concern is related to some of the myths presented in Chapter One. Finally, these findings can serve as an impetus for encouraging a critical look at both the contributions and potential limitations of the learning projects methodology.
Has the learning projects methodology had a major impact on efforts to understand self-direction in adult learning? To address this question, it is necessary to assess both the contributions and limitations of this approach. Looking first at contributions, there are at least three ways in which learning projects research has benefitted the field of adult education. First, it has offered a method for studying the learning efforts of countless individuals who prefer to engage in learning activities outside of the formal educational institution setting. Because the methodology emphasizes learning that takes place both within and outside of institutions, it has provided a way of studying learning among individuals, such as older adults and those persons with little or no formal education, who have traditionally been considered "hard-to-reach."
A second, related contribution is that the learning projects methodology has served to redefine the meaning of adult education participation (Brockett, 1983b). For the most part, surveys of participation in adult education, such as those conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (e.g., Kay, 1982) are based only on involvement in adult education courses. However, as the Tough study and subsequent replications indicate, courses comprise only a very small portion of all adult learning activity. The learning projects approach can provide data that are much more inclusive--and, as such, representative of the actual nature of adult learning--than data reported in most survey studies to date.
has represented the first effort by adult education researchers to systematically study the concept of self-direction in learning. The learning projects approach seems to have served a "consciousness-raising" function for the adult education field, providing data to confirm that which was known intuitively for many years. If the extent to which the research approach has been replicated by other researchers can serve as testimonial, Tough's initial study would have to be considered one of the most significant pieces of research in all of North American adult education.
It is clear that the contributions of the learning projects methodology are quite substantial. At the same time, as with any other research approach, the paradigm has certain constraints that define and delimit the ways in which learning projects data may be interpreted. Brookfield (1981a), for example, has reviewed Tough's research and identified three limitations with the approach.
First, there are limitations in using the structured interview. While the structured interview format has the advantage that it can be replicated, Brookfield points out that the methodology can "run the risk of forcing the researcher's notion of what are admissible and appropriate substantive concerns" upon subjects without taking into consideration what they believe to be relevant (1981a, p. 115). In other words, the interview questions and the biases of the interviewer might prompt subjects to respond in a specific way.
Second, most of the subjects in Tough's 1971 survey were highly educated. Using the popular notion that education begets education, it could be argued that, since self-planning was clearly the predominant mode of learning in this study, it is not surprising for these learners to express a preference for this mode. Since then, however, several studies have investigated the learning projects conducted by adults of lower educational attainment than those in Tough's sample and have often found high degrees of self-planning (e.g., Brockett, 1983a, 1985c). Yet, as noted earlier, in the studies where the figures for self-planning were low, the samples tended to have a large number of "undereducated" adults. Thus, one could believe that a preference for self-planned learning will tend to be higher among those who have completed more formal schooling. But the relationship between self-directedness and previous education is not entirely clear and might, in fact, be related to other factors. In any case, this potential limitation is certainly a relevant concern when assessing the impact of self-directed learning research and, thus, is addressed further in Chapter Five.
Third, one might question the appropriateness of studying self-planned learning. Brookfield summarized this argument by stating that " . . . extended investigations into the nature of noninstitutionalized adult learning, while interesting, are inappropriate in the current economic climate.
However, Brookfield is quick to negate this argument by stating that if, in fact, self-planning is as prevalent as the learning projects research suggests, adult education faces the challenge of identifying ways to support such efforts. It is this emphasis on supporting self-directed learners and their efforts that comprises the major focus of subsequent chapters in this book.
There are at least two other considerations that we believe are important when reviewing learning projects research. These have less to do with the methodology, per se, than with the way in which results could potentially be misinterpreted. When interpreting the results of learning projects studies, it is important to bear in mind that, while most researchers have used the Tough interview schedule as a point of departure, there is often considerable variation in the specific questions asked, the actual interview process, and the data analysis procedures. For example, most studies report figures for self-planning as a percentage of the total projects conducted by all subjects in the sample. However, Penland (1979) based his finding relative to self-planning on the percent of the sample who completed at least one self-planned project rather than the total percentage of projects that were planned by the learners themselves. This kind of variation is not a limitation in and of itself; however, those who utilize the findings need to be aware of these variations when interpreting data from these studies.
Another way in which learning projects data can be misinterpreted is that the approach is sometimes described as a qualitative research method. In reality, it is a quantitative descriptive survey approach. While interviewing is frequently associated with qualitative research, it is the way in which learning projects data are analyzed that places the method into a descriptive category. Fingeret (1982) points out that qualitative data are presented as quotations that have been taken from an interview or observation. She states that data are not the numbers of responses given to a particular question but, rather, are the actual words of the subjects themselves. In learning projects studies data are treated primarily through descriptive statistics.
Finally, Caffarella and O'Donnell (1988) have raised the concern that learning projects studies have "reached the point of dullness." They go on to offer the following suggestion: "We may need to put the element of surprise into future verification studies. If we know the answer in advance, do we really need to ask the question?
The implication here is that while learning projects research has been vital to our understanding of self-direction in adult learning, we have pretty much reached a point of saturation with this approach. The kinds of studies that will be reported in the next two chapters are indicative of a healthy evolution in the development of research on self-direction in adult learning.
In summary, we believe that the learning projects approach has made a landmark contribution to the adult education literature and has, both directly and indirectly, served as a major source of impetus for the development of a systematic body of knowledge in the area of self-directed adult learning. At the same time, we believe that it is important to interpret learning projects findings with a degree of caution and to recognize that the approach was designed to address the frequency and nature of learning projects activity, not to assess the quality of or reasons for such activities. These kinds of issues have begun to be addressed through other methodologies and will be explored in the next two chapters.


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Home/Contact Lenses/Keratoconus
Keratoconus is the most common dystrophy of the cornea, affecting around one person in a thousand although some reports indicate prevalence as high as 1 in 500 individuals. It is typically diagnosed in the mid to late teens and attains its most severe state in the twenties an6d thirties. Proprietor Glen Ward has over 35 years experience as a qualified dispensing contact lens optician and specialises in fitting keratoconics.
Keratoconus in detail
Keratoconus is a degenerative non-inflammatory disorder of the cornea (the front window of the eye) and generally affects both eyes. The underlying problem is weakness of the supporting collagen fibres in the cornea. This makes the cornea structurally and biomechanically "weak". As a result, the cornea assumes a more conical shape with resultant irregular astigmatism.
The progression of Keratoconus can be quite variable, with some patients remaining stable while others progress rapidly or experience occasional exacerbations over a long and otherwise steady course. A genetic predisposition to keratoconus has been observed, with the disease running within families in 10% of all cases.
How is Keratoconus diagnosed?
From the patient's history, a detailed slit lamp examination as well as sophisticated corneal imagery which can assess the profile of the cornea.
Symptoms of Keratoconus
Symptoms can include substantial distortion of vision (astigmatism), with multiple images, blurry (near- and farsighted) vision and sensitivity to light (photophobia). Initially most people can correct their vision with glasses. But as the astigmatism worsens, most patients can be managed with specially fitted rigid gas permeable contact lenses to reduce the distortion and provide better vision. Proprietor and Contact Lens Optician Glen Ward has over 15 years experience improving the vision of patients with keratoconus. Symptoms may be unilateral initially and may later become bilateral. In 20% of patients, the condition is progressive and requires surgical intervention.
What are the surgical interventions?
Corneal INTACS
A recent surgical alternative to a corneal transplant is the insertion of intrastromal corneal ring segments.
These are clear, thin prescription inserts placed in the corneal periphery during a brief procedure. The rings act as scaffolding to the cornea providing support, and push out against the curvature of the cornea, flattening the peak of the cone and returning it to a more natural shape. The procedure carried out on an outpatient basis and offers the benefit of being reversible and even potentially exchangeable as it involves no removal of eye tissue.
Corneal Collagen Crosslinking
Corneal Collagen Crosslinking with Riboflavin (also known as C3R) is a new procedure that has been shown to strengthen the weak corneal structure. The cornea is made up of many layers of collagen arranged in a very regular pattern with cross links for strength. In conditions where the cornea is abnormally weak, such as keratoconus, there are fewer of these links and the result is bulging of the cornea. C3R works by increasing collagen cross-linking thereby strengthening the cornea.
The procedure involves application of riboflavin eye drops to the cornea and then using UV light to activate the riboflavin inducing cross links in the cornea.
The development of this new technique is a big step in the management of keratoconus as it addresses the underlying pathophysiology of the condition rather than just treat the symptoms. It is important to emphasise that this procedure slows progression of the disease and patients may still require corrective contact lenses post-operatively.
Corneal Transplantation
This is the last port of call for keratoconus patients and is reserved for those patients with significant corneal scarring or where INTACS and Crosslinking have not been successful or are not suitable.
The procedure involves replacing the diseased cornea with a donor cornea which is secured with very fine stitches. The visual recovery is prolonged but the vast majority of patients have a good outcome.
Newer techniques have also been developed which involve replacing only the diseased anterior cornea rather than the full thickness of the cornea which was common place in the past.
Keratoconus Treatment in London
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