Presidential elections can be forecast using information from political and economic conditions, polls, and a statistical model of changes in public opinion over time. However, these "knowns" about how to make a good presidential election forecast come with many unknowns due to the challenges of evaluating forecast calibration and…

By exploring the tensions, impacts, and origins of major controversies relating to schooling and curricula since the early twentieth century, this insightful text illustrates how fear has played a key role in steering the development of education in the United States. Through rigorous historical investigation, Evans demonstrates how numerous…

This article analyzes and discusses the notion of including multivocality as an autoethnographic method to: (a) illustrate that there is no single and temporally-fixed voice that a researcher possesses, (b) unfix identity in a way that exposes the fluid nature of identity as it moves through particular contexts, and (c) deconstruct competing…

Following a rise in university-industry relationships (UIRs), scholars began questioning the efficacy of those relationships, as well as whether industry and university research interests and integrity are being compromised. Although many of these studies focus on the university, few examine the perspectives of industry participants. We conducted…

A study used disproportionate exemplar distributions to create a spiral of silence effect for a morally loaded issue. The effect of perception of public opinion on willingness to express an opinion was also examined. Three video news stories were created that would represent either a supporting, balanced, or opposing stance on the prayer in school…

Discusses results obtained from a survey of secondary science teachers to determine their research needs. Among the areas considered are priorities of these teachers in general and differences in priorities related to discipline taught, sex, grade level (junior or senior high), type of community, and years of teaching experience. (JN)

Evidence supporting the use of a revision of the Opinions Relative to Mainstreaming scale, called Opinions Relative to Integration of Students with Disabilities, is presented. Scale testing with 376 professionals revealed satisfactory item characteristics, adequate reliability and homogeneity, and initial support for construct validity. The scale…

Experts' opinion is proposed as a valuable evaluation tool. Advantages of this method include the relative cost effectiveness when compared with other data collection methods. It is a time-saving method important in formative evaluation when a decision must be made concerning implementation of a course of action. When experts are carefully…

Members of the Peace Education Commission answered a questionnaire on peace museums. The first 60 respondents, representing 25 different countries supplied the results of this report. A majority of the respondents had a positive opinion about the potential values of a peace museum. A variety of definitions of a peace museum were supplied by…

In her model of opinion formation, Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann postulates a spiral of silence: to avoid isolation, people holding minority views either alter their ideas to conform to the majority's stance or remain silent, thus increasing the impression of the majority view's dominance. While providing a helpful integration of disparate ideas in…

This study was undertaken to determine the perceptions of a wide range of citizens and to inform the Mississippi Legislature on the issue of merit pay in education. From each of 50 randomly selected Mississippi school districts, a representation of grades K through 12 was chosen, with all professional and administrative staff members asked to…

This 1985 Educator Opinion Poll was designed to obtain accurate data on the status, experience, and range of views held by public school teachers. The status and experience questions covered such topics as current class size, number of years of teaching experience, annual salary, eligibility for merit pay, education, professional affiliations, and…

This document summarizes the media's reaction to the release of the 1991 "National Education Goals Report: Building a Nation of Learners," and public response to the National Education Goals Panel's (NEGP's) call for specific feedback on its work. Results will be used by the NEGP to improve the format and content of future reports.…

The draft code of ethics prepared by the Committee on Standards and Ethics of the Association for Institutional Research is reviewed by section, with commentary on the precepts involved and the code's provisions for individual training and competence, responsibility, confidentiality, relationships within institution and community, and conduct…

The Minnesota Dialogue on Education project was a comprehensive statewide survey of public opinion on educational issues conducted by the Minnesota Department of Education from September 1983 through February 1984. The project involved dissemination of 250,000 copies of a Dialogue on Education Study Guide with a questionnaire attached, followed by…