David L. Doerfert, Texas Tech University
Spurred by the release of the 1988 report Understanding Agriculture: New Directions for Education, members of the agricultural education profession have been increasingly active in conducting research on agricultural literacy. The purpose of this study was to assess the research conducted in agricultural literacy through and review of the research designs, populations, research variables, and instrument design utilized. The results indicated that (1) non-experimental research methodology (both quantitative and qualitative) has been the dominate research typology utilized; (2) the majority of agricultural literacy research has examined populations in formal education settings including educators, students and administrators; (3) that knowledge of agriculture has been the variable most frequently measured; (4) that there is a lack of clarity as to how “perceptions,” “opinions,” and “concerns” are defined and measured: (5) changes in participant behavior as a result of agricultural literacy efforts are not a frequent measure; and (6) the majority of the research studies created a unique instrument to measure the variables examined. The researcher recommended (1) that more rigorous research designs be utilized future research efforts, (2) that the agricultural education profession should create a mechanism to facilitate agricultural literacy research collaboration, (3) that an agricultural literacy data collection instrument should be created through factor analysis procedures, (4) that more research is needed to examine changes in adult behavior that a result of agricultural literacy efforts, (5) that efforts to secure a multi-institutional national agricultural literacy research grant should be conducted, (6) that research is needed to determine if the current models of agricultural literacy are sufficient for individuals to understand the more complex issues, policies and technologies of today’s agriculture industry, and (7) that agricultural literacy researchers should seek partnerships throughout the agriculture industry.