| Ohio's public two-year colleges traditionally have been institutions that emphasize teaching, and in the technology areas they have concentrated on occupation-oriented education and training. With changing economic conditions in Ohio's workplaces, the two-year colleges have become more involved in economic development. Expanded development concerns by individual companies, and the advent of Ohio's Thomas Edison Program which can provide grant money for applied research, have created attractive opportunities for the two-year colleges to enter into applied industrial research. An applied industrial research function for the two-year colleges may have the appearance of being incongruous with their usual activities, so, the question is raised as to their readiness to undertake this function. The research study addresses this question.;The research approach was to prepare a series of 20 statements pertinent to factors which favor participation in applied research, the factors being suggested by recent literature. Engineering technology faculty in Ohio's autonomous two-year colleges were surveyed by mail to obtain Likert-style levels of agreement with the statements. The data thus obtained were analyzed to find the levels of agreement for individual factor statements and groups of statements. Supplemental demographic information was also obtained from the survey and examined relative to the statements responses in a search for indications of influence on the responses.;Based upon the respondents agreeing with 70% of the survey statements, the two-year colleges appear to be ready to undertake the applied industrial research function. Demographic matters do not seem to influence faculty perceptions regarding the function. The data show extensive divisiveness and neutrality among the survey responses, and further research is recommended to explore the cause. Further research is also recommended to explore personal knowledge of applied research functional requirements. Five other recommendations are made. |
