Practical considerations associated with local norms development are discussed. A local norming project administering the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised to 398 elementary Mexican--American children is presented in detail. The utility of local norms and their interpretation is discussed in the context of this local project. (Author/BW)

Guidelines for the implementation of qualitative methods in special education research are offered, addressing rigor, sample selection, data collection, and data management/analysis. Five possible pitfalls are identified, including the quantitative-qualitative methods debate, premature data collection, the tendency to use a linear procedural…

This paper recommends use of analysis of covariance in early intervention research to account for pretreatment group differences and increase statistical power. Diagrams show how analysis of covariance manipulates data under various conditions. Simulated data analysis demonstrates the process of selecting covariates and shows the results with and…

Provides details on the instrument development, sample design, data collection, and data analysis procedures of the 1996 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) long-term trend and main assessments for the United States. (Author/SLD)

Institutional researchers frequently use national datasets such as those provided by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The authors of this chapter explore the adjustments required when analyzing NCES data collected using complex sample designs. (Contains 8 tables.)

The problem of dimensionality with respect to Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM) specifically and, more generally, "g" or fluid intelligence, has been a long-standing issue. The present article reports two studies examining the dimensionality of both the original Set II of the APM (n = 506) and a short form (n = 644), using principal…

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory--Adolescent (MMPI-A) and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory--2 (MMPI-2) True Response Inconsistency (TRIN) scales are measures of acquiescence and nonacquiescence included among the standard validity scales on these instruments. The goals of this study were to evaluate the effectiveness of…

The National Education Longitudinal Studies Program (NELS) is a long-term effort that encompasses the educational experience of youth from three decades. This report is based on the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), a component of the NELS series that began as a national probability sample of eighth grade schools and…

This manual is designed to familiarize data users with the procedures followed for data collection and processing of the base-year school component of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88). A corollary objective is to provide the necessary documentation for use of the data files. The manual provides a wide range of…

Error profiles for the Fall Enrollment Survey of the Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) were developed as part of an assessment of the quality of survey data. Three statistics were of particular interest: the count of full-time equivalent students, the breakdown by race/ethnicity, and the count of unclassified students. Attention…

The state of the art in observational studies is discussed, with emphasis on explanatory research--studies of program effectiveness in which an attempt is made to explain the reasons for the results as well as describing the results. In addition to the collection of data and presentation of statistical facts, the explanatory study involves the…

This article presents a discussion of field utilization of staff development activities in the context of three separate training programs. Specifically, classroom implementation of knowledge and skills gained by participants in their training sessions was assessed via the Levels of Use (LoU) interview system. (Author/LMO)

The 1988 National Survey of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF-88), later named the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty, was the first comprehensive study of higher education instructional faculty conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics since 1963. This report provides a description of the 1993 NSOPF and the data generated by its…

Data gathered in application of Paul Kantor's demand-adjusted shelf availability model to medium-sized academic library indicate significant differences in shelf availability when data are analyzed by last circulation date, acquisition date, and imprint date, and when they are gathered during periods of low and high use. Ten references are cited.…

A study of staffing averages at institutions categorized by numbers of financial aid applicants provides a gauge by which institutions may evaluate staffing levels. The data are intended to be useful to financial aid administrators in evaluating the adequacy of the numbers and types of their staff. (MLW)