Because the terms art and aesthetic are often ambiguously used, the purpose of this study was to develop a method of analyzing and clarifying their usage in written texts. Chapter I includes hypotheses and assumptions of this study. The first hypothesis was that it is possible to develop a systematic, objective, and replicable method of analyzing and clarifying the usage of art and aesthetic in art education texts. The second hypothesis is that, as a result of this analysis, it is possible to compare the usage of art and aesthetic in one text with the usage of these same terms in another. The two texts chosen as sources of data were Becoming Human Through Art by Edmund Burke Feldman and Emphasis; Art by Frank Wachowiak and Theodore Ramsey. The assumptions upon which this analysis was based are (a) that frequency of mention indicates author emphasis, and (b) that, based on analysis which indicates emphasis, summary definition of an author's teaching beliefs regarding art and aesthetic would be possible. Although both hypotheses are accepted, limitations of the method result from the subjectivity which existed in the selection of variables, the inference of contextual meaning which determined placement of variables in categories, and inference of emphasis based on resulting frequencies. Recommendations for further research are (a) examination of categories for appropriateness and inclusion of all relevant variables; (b) use of the method of contingency analysis to determine the usage of other ambiguous words and phrases; (c) use of variables associated with art and aesthetic as a thesaurus for future reference; and (d) application of the method to other literature in art education, transcribed interviews, and/or classroom instruction.

The problems of this investigation are the content analyses of the art vocabulary, the art-term definitions, and the art-vocabulary objectives in seven sets of visual art curricula for the elementary grades. The hypotheses are that the formulators of three or more of the sources will agree on fifty per cent or more of the art terms and their definitions and will present art-vocabulary objectives. The findings are that the formulators of three or more of the sources agree on less than fifty per cent of the art terms and their definitions. Two sources include definite art-vocabulary objectives. The conclusion is that all three hypotheses are rejected.

In this investigation, a content analysis was made with eleven lexicographical sources and three basal reading series to determine if art and art-related words were present. The analysis was made with the use of two charts, in which each was divided into eight categories of word context. The Composite Chart contained 6,576 words found in six lexicons, five word lists and forty-two readers, and the Reader Chart contained 407 words found only in the readers. The analysis revealed: dominant categories and percentages, word and cumulative word frequencies, high and low frequency words, and the percentage of words found in the basal readers as compared to the lexicographical sources.