A theory of policy intervention in social problems is needed to enhance our understanding of the processes of change when investigated by social engineers. The development of such a theory could encourage the integration of basic and applied research. (Author/RLV)

Examines problems of field research conducted by female researchers in policy settings. Proposes ways to manage role, entree and access, data gathering, reciprocity, and reporting. Raises issue of male-female dynamics in field research, and suggests appropriate roles for female researchers in policy settings. (Author/KH)

Addresses problems, such as the relationship of needs to the availability of services, encountered by rural officials in conducting needs assessments of community services and notes their implications for policy makers. (SB)

Reasons behind the trend by health professional schools to use computers for storing, sorting, and retrieving student data are discussed. Methods are suggested to ensure that the data system will meet administrative and evaluative needs and be financially viable. (Author/GK)

Discusses reasons for supporting indirect indicators to track higher education's progress in teaching critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving skills. Outlines the primary characteristics of indirect indicators. Provides specific examples of different indirect indicators, analyzing data collection methods. Assesses the viability of…

Suggests several possibilities for encouraging higher education economics research, including a week-long retreat for economists and education leadership and policy scholars where papers would be shared and discussed at length, a dissertation fellowship program, and improvements to the usefulness of well-known data sets. (EV)

Includes task force recommendations on the role of the International Council for Adult Education in monitoring achievement of adult education objectives, qualitative and quantitative indicators, and diverse data collection methods. Eleven workshop reports discuss progress on adult education policy advocacy, documentation, health care reform,…

The economic transformation of eastern Europe raises issues in the collection and interpretation of national statistics on output measures, price measures, labor force, household income, and private enterprise. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is assisting eastern European statistical agencies in rebuilding their systems. (SK)

This testimony summarizes in four propositions results from a review of recent estimates of the net federal, state, or local costs of immigration and is designed to explore why these cost estimates vary so widely and how to develop more credible cost estimates. First, the testimony proposes that various studies of the cost of immigration agree…

This brief report highlights the issues, evidence, and first steps toward including students with disabilities in educational data systems. The report notes that if students with disabilities are excluded from educational data collection systems, policy makers do not have an adequate set of information from which to make policy decisions. The…

In response to the current intensified public interest in education, some professional organizations have undertaken to draft public policy responses. These responses are constrained by a variety of issues. When practitioner task forces analyze policy under time constraints, they face issues in policy definition, and the definition used affects…

Characteristics of population and economic measures as traditional social indicators are compared to more recent quality of life measures to demonstrate that social indicators are value statements at the policy level. Alternative perspectives are illustrated and the importance of assumptions implicit in a given indicator is discussed. (Author/MH)

Urges audiologists and speech-language pathologists working in school settings to become involved in studies of treatment outcomes and clinical trials. (DB)

In this end piece, the authors argue that while this special issue shifts debates on the digital divide to address students' capacity to use Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for productive social purposes, access to ICT remains a major challenge in countries like Uganda, in which less than 1% of the population has access to the…

The conflict between immediacy and accuracy in data-gathering and analysis is discussed. The case of the Postsecondary Transcript Sample (PETS) of the National Longitudinal Study is used to illustrate the particulars of this conflict and their resolution on the side of accuracy. (Author/MLW)