The "k"-means clustering method, while widely embraced in college student typology research, is often misunderstood and misapplied. Many researchers regard "k"-means as a near-universal solution for uncovering homogeneous student groups, believing its success hinges primarily on the selection of an appropriate "k."…

While decades of research on college teaching has investigated several forms of classroom practices, much of this research approaches teaching as falling into mutually exclusive paradigms (e.g., active learning vs. lecturing). This paper enters inside the college classroom using external raters to understand patterns of pedagogical practices…

Although used frequently in related fields such as K-12 education research, educational psychology, sociology, and social survey research, latent class analysis (LCA) has been infrequently used in higher education. This article provides higher education researchers with a pedagogical application of LCA to classify entering freshmen based on their…

In this study, I draw on Bahr's ("Research in Higher Education" 51:724-749, 2010; New Directions for Institutional Research S1:33-48, 2011) behavioral typology of first-time community college students to examine college-level variation in students' patterns of use of 105 community colleges in California. I find that students' patterns of…

Using a longitudinal sample of Texas high school seniors of 2002 who enrolled in college within the calendar year of high school graduation, we examine variation in college persistence according to the economic composition of their high schools, which serves as a proxy for unmeasured high school attributes that are conductive to postsecondary…

The purpose of this study is to identify student and institutional characteristics that influence the probability for graduation. The study delves further into the probability for graduation by examining how far the student deviates from the institutional mean with respect to academics and affordability; this concept is referred to as the "match."…

This study aims to improve our understanding of the postsecondary impacts of high schools by investigating whether or not exposure to different high school contexts may explain academic performance once in college. Drawing on a sample of 3,750 participants from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen, descriptive and multivariate analyses…

The purpose of this study was to examine how perceptions of a chilly climate differ between students in traditionally female-dominated majors (nursing and education) versus traditionally male-dominated majors (information technology and engineering), and how these perceptions relate to students' intentions to persist or pursue higher education in…

This study involved the development of the first empirical typology of living-learning programs and its use in the assessment of students' learning outcomes. Using two-step cluster analysis with data from nearly 300 living-learning programs at 34 U.S. postsecondary institutions, the authors identified three "structural" types of programs: (a)…

A simplified example of a technique, conceived by Yates and later developed by Goodman and Haberman, for the determination of appropriate log-models in the measurement of qualitative data in higher education is presented. (Author/MLW)

The effect of administrative service as department chair on the scholarly careers of academic chemists is explored through an analysis of their publication and doctoral student productivity records over a two-decade period. The results indicate no significant difference in the productivity levels of the experimental and control groups. (Author/MLW)

The study investigated the importance of 1,286 college applicants' attitudes about competitor institutions in determining enrollment decisions. Demographic and ability factors that may affect attitudes were controlled. Findings indicated that attitudes toward competing institutions have a significant, positive relationship to enrollment decisions.…

Women employed in sex-balanced and male- and female-dominated occupations in the public sector have comparable levels of job satisfaction. In private firms, women in sex-balanced careers are more satisfied with the intrinsic nature of their jobs than those employed in female-dominated occupations. (Author/MLW)

A study used a multivariate approach to assessing college departmental excellence. Factor analysis identified three potentially useful factor clusters ("faculty research,""input," and "student") and seven indicators based on those clusters. Indicators combining faculty research and input and combining all three clusters were found to be the best…

The analysis of salary equity-parity typically involves the use of multiple regression analysis to determine predicted salary and the residual differences between predicted and actual salary. Two alternatives are presented, canonical analysis and multiple discriminant analysis. (Author/MLW)