Governments, organizations, and companies are generating copious amounts of data and analysis to support education decision-making around the world. While continued investments in data creation and management are necessary, the ultimate value of information is not in its "production," but its "use." Herein lies one of the…

Scientists have long recognized the value of having statistical data to measure the scope and vitality of education, research, and workforce development in their fields. Such data support evidence-based policy discussions in professional and governmental forums. Since 1982, the National Science Board has been required by law to publish…

Federal education policy in recent years has encouraged state and local education agencies to embrace data use and analysis in decision-making, ranging from policy development and implementation to performance evaluation. The capacity of these agencies to make effective and methodologically sound use of collected data for these purposes remains an…

The relationship of policy and decision making to statistical data and analyses is discussed. The optimal relationship, in which statistics play a key role in funding allocation and other policy decisions, rarely holds. Most surveys by statistical agencies are on a large scale, with a broad focus, resulting in databases which are difficult to…

This document is intended to inform NCHEMS constituents and other interested persons about the results of the Higher Education Outcome Measures Identification Study (OMIS) conducted by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems at WICHE in spring 1974. The purpose of the study was to help practitioners and researchers gain a…

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,…

In a technologically advanced society, many of the dialogues take place within the "management information system," or as a result of the "hard data" acquired through such a system, rather than in a public forum. The absence of the Hispanic American from that type of systems dialogue can and does place unnecessary disadvantages on Hispanic…

The data system and its branches, computerized in 1970, provide information from the following: student records file, accountancy file, an experimental-stage personnel file, and a planning-stage facilities file. The files not only cope with the university's daily management duties but also supply the French Ministry with statistics. Two types of…

This was a study to determine if individual linear programs could be made for a heterogeneous group of farmers with varied organizational problems; if extension agents could be trained to interview farmers and collect data sufficiently accurate for linear programing; and whether the results would be logical and acceptable to farm managers. Area…

An issues-oriented framework for selecting data to support typical state-level planning analyses is presented. Attention is focused on questions concerning the planning issues, and the general data requirements required to support a given state's analytical questions and decision requirements. State-level planning issues in postsecondary education…

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;…

Project MAP (Model Accounting Plan) is designed to test a demographic system for monitoring the within-school and post-school transitions of special education participants. Implemented at the local level, this system produces data to inform school-level decision-making. In addition, the data that are produced can be aggregated for use at higher…

Information reporting at traditionally black colleges and universities was reviewed, based on the Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) files for 36 institutions. The objective was to determine the quality of the data submitted by seven of these institutions, and to suggest actions for improving the quality of the HEGIS information…