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Abstract
This study examines The American Journal of Distance Education (AJDE) during a nine year period from its inception in 1987 to 1995. The analysis of the journal is based on Porter's “Forum Analysis,” a set of questions used to study the publications of a discourse community. These questions provide a framework to describe the characteristics of a forum, such as AJDE. The questions for this study include, What is the background of the forum? Who speaks or writes in this forum? To whom do they speak? What do they speak about? and How do they say it? Data on the journal's historical background and the contributors and their institutional affiliation were collected, and the major journal articles were classified by topic. Answers to the Forum Analysis questions form the foundation for a discussion of the trends in research and practice in the field of distance education, as reflected in AJDE.
