State of the Art: Clothing as a Form of Human Behavior

Abstract

Three hundred clothing‐related research reports published in periodicals and serials between 1970 and 1981 were assessed. Textiles and Clothing professionals had written 40.7 percent of the published reports. Major findings indicated the body of clothing knowledge lacked a clear definition of key concepts and Clothing and Textiles professionals tended to ask exploratory questions of a correlational nature more often than did researchers of clothing behavior from other fields. Fifty‐seven percent of all studies were found lacking in theoretical base and only 35 percent of the authors were judged to have placed findings from their studies into existing theory or provide suggestions for extension or replication of findings. Only 7.5 percent of the clothing behavior researchers from academic disciplines outside Clothing and Textiles cited one or more articles from a Home Economics or Clothing and Textiles sponsored periodical. The ne cessity to address these concerns is discussed.