Since its inception, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has been committed to the practice of documenting its statistical methods for its customers and of seeking to avoid misinterpretation of its published data. The reason for this policy is to assure customers that proper statistical standards and techniques have been observed,…

Written by a social worker for social work students, this is a nuts and bolts guide to statistics that presents complex calculations and concepts in clear, easy-to-understand language. It includes numerous examples, data sets, and issues that students will encounter in social work practice. The first section introduces basic concepts and terms to…

Principles that institutional researchers should follow are discussed. The most important dictate is to present decision-makers the bare minimum of information necessary for the task; the material should be simple, short, and succinct. A report to assist decision-makers should not include extensive supporting documentation. The first step is to…

A detailed examination of the Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) data base--its content, development, and past and potential uses for researchers--is presented. Because knowledge of the data elements is crucial for successful secondary analysis, procedures for collecting needed information on the data in HEGIS are suggested. (BS)

Quantitative growth curve models for estimating individual developmental functions from various types of longitudinal data are discussed in the context of investigator assumptions and research design characteristics. Linear and nonlinear models that estimate growth curves are illustrated, and contrasted when they are fit to speech development…

Seven potentially useful maxims from the field of human information processing are proposed that may help institutional researchers prepare and present information for higher education decision-makers. The maxims, which are based on research and theory about how people cognitively process information, are as follows: (1) more may not be better;…

The purpose of this document is to encourage collaboration in research and development in postsecondary education through providing increased understanding of the diversity of contributions from professional educational researchers, teachers, librarians, and other school personnel. Emphasis is placed on the role of the educational practitioner, as…