The importance of data analysis software in graduate programs in education and post-graduate educational research is self-evident. However the role of this software in facilitating supererogated statistical practice versus "cookbookery" is unclear. The need to rigorously document the role of data analysis software in students' graduate…

The advisability of drafting guidelines for evaluating statistical software is considered. The Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics of the National Research Council has decided to initiate a project to articulate issues relating to guidelines and to determine their priorities. Because there has been a proliferation in statistical…

This paper describes the findings of an OECD project examining ICT impact measurement and analyses based on official statistics. Both economic and social impacts are covered and some results are presented. It attempts to place ICT impacts measurement into an Information Society conceptual framework, provides some suggestions for standardising…

Attempts to distill a growing technical literature on repeated-measures analysis of variance into a few simple principles for selecting an analytic technique. Argues that researchers ought not opt for a general analysis strategy when current computer technology makes it possible to select the optimal analysis technique for a given data set. (RH)

Provides examples of the use of computer simulation to help beginners develop a grasp for difficult statistical concepts. The implementation of this teaching methodology is discussed and analysis of simulation output through use of standard statistical software packages is illustrated. (Author/MBR)

Argues that researchers in the area of discourse comprehension and mental representation of discourse will likely feel motivated to adopt highly quantitative research techniques described in the articles in this special issue. Notes that ability to do so will be enhanced by availability of well-documented, easy-to-use computer software, or…

Suggests decision making techniques that can be used to estimate the consequences of choosing alternative courses of action, to select an optimum strategy, or to determine how sensitive predicted outcomes are to particular assumptions. Microcomputer use, quantitative techniques, and examples involving item reordering and adoption of word…

Provides a conceptual framework for information systems (IS) that can be used in AIDS intervention and prevention (AIP). System components are analyzed, including a database, decision support systems (DSS), expert systems, and software; potential applications of ISAIP are suggested; and an example of a system implemented at Wright State University…

Focuses on problems in making machine-readable data files (MRDFs) accessible and in using them: quality of data in MRDFs themselves (social scientists' concern) and accessibility--availability of bibliographic control, quality of documentation, level of user skills (librarians' concern). Skills needed by social scientists and librarians are…

The proposal put forward in this presentation centers on the use of the microcomputer for the generation of educational research, both as a powerful tool for information collection and as a means for analyzing the generated data. The microcomputer-based laboratory (MBL) principles described in this paper may be used in rural classroom settings as…

Papers on local area networks (LANs), modelling techniques, software improvement, capacity planning, software engineering, microcomputers and end user computing, cost accounting and chargeback, configuration and performance management, and benchmarking presented at this conference include: (1) "Theoretical Performance Analysis of Virtual…

The planning and management of educational systems has been examined widely in the last decades despite the lack of a standard research method and a unified underlying theory. Research based on quantitative analysis yields data that may be processed using the graphic capabilities of computers. The combination of numerical data and computer…

Papers on information technology which were presented at the 1985 International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) conference include: (1) "Technology in the Public Library: The Impact on our Community" (Kenneth E. Dowlin, United States); (2) "Software Evaluation: Sources and Resources in the United Kingdom" (Stephen…