Every two years congressional elections bring a new class of legislators to Washington, DC. The 112th Congress convenes this January and with it, more than 100 new Senators and Representatives, a new majority party in the House and with it new leaders, and in both the House and Senate many new Committee Chairs and legislative staff. The November…

A dependency on correlational data allows one to avoid theory building and even to avoid defining terms. The social science community is being seduced by data and would do well to resist what is available simply because of its ease of tabulation and redundancy. (RL)

This paper provides a complete picture of the environment for numeric databases and a set of appropriate responses for modifying this environment. The emphasis is on the statistical database produced by the public and private sectors, with coverage of government and academic stakeholders in the statistical data transfer system. Part one describes…

Several problems in reporting and presentation of Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) data that might affect data comparability are outlined and recommendations of a HEGIS study group are presented. Suggestions range from increased institutional involvement and increased feedback to institutions, to improvements in data storage and…

A system for developing public policy indicators would include social, economic, and environmental statistics which would define problems facing a political community. Policy indicator variables center around the broad needs of policy. Any measure of human conditions, including sources outside the basic disciplines, are used; intervals of…

Describes the Marquette University Interlibrary Loan Log, which is an online log of borrowing and lending requests. Applications of the interlibrary loan data for statistical reporting, management decision making, collection development, online enhancement, and copyright monitoring are discussed. (3 references) (CLB)

The preparation and use of data needed to make objective, useful comparisons in higher education are considered. The needs for comparative data in higher education, including demands for accountability and strategic planning, are reviewed. In addition, data-related problems are considered: problems of narrowness, misrepresentation, sameness,…

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) could provide better information for policy makers by (1) analyzing likely uses of the information it collects and disseminates; (2) launching more detailed investigations of educational inputs and processes; (3) taking some steps to place findings on educational outcomes in context; and (4)…

The Fourth International Research Forum in Information Science (IRFIS 4) focused on two themes: user-oriented research in information science and experimental and practical investigations of the mediation and use of information. An opening speech by Bjorn Tell reviewed information research policy in the United States, France, England, Japan, the…