Introduction to Social Work, 2nd Ed., by Rex A. Skidmore and Milton G. Thackeray. Prentice-Hall,Englewood Cliffs,N.J., 1976. $11.95. 420 Pp.

Interdisciplinarity in doctoral education currently is strongly advocated by governments and universities as important in developing knowledge useful in addressing significant public problems. However, the efficacy of these claims has not been subject to empirical investigation. Using longitudinal data covering a 13-year period, this research addresses this limitation by examining how variation in interdisciplinary emphasis in social work doctoral programs affects the scholarly orientation and productivity of graduates. The findings suggest that interdisciplinary doctoral education makes a difference, with graduates from programs with higher levels of interdisciplinarity demonstrating more generalist scholarly orientations, and achieving higher levels of scholarly productivity.     

Elementany Survey Analysis. Prentice-Hall Methods of Social Science Series. James A. Davis. Englewood Cliffs,N. J: Prentice-Hall, 195 Pages, $3.95. Paperbound

This paper advocates clearer conceptual and operational distinctions in doctoral education based on the professional functions that graduates of doctoral programs are expected to perform. Starting from the premise of educating for professional leadership, it is argued that unless doctoral education for advanced practice is distinguished programmatically from education for knowledge production through research, the quality of the educational product in either function may be seriously compromised. A number of content areas whose inclusion in the curriculum could justify educating for practice functions at the doctoral level are outlined.