Demands on higher education institutions are growing. Stakeholders are demanding proof of quality to ensure students are receiving the education they are paying for. Institutional accountability is a growing concern for higher education institutions, more specifically community colleges. The diverse characteristics of community colleges have made…

Income is regarded as one of the clearest indicators of socioeconomic status and wellbeing in the developed world and is highly correlated with a wide range of outcomes. Despite its importance, there remains an issue as to the best way to collect income as part of surveys. This paper examines differences in how income is collected in a nationally…

Background: Schools are an ideal setting in which to involve children in research. Yet for investigators wishing to work in these settings, there are few method papers providing insights into working efficiently in this setting. Objective: The aim of this paper is to describe the five strategies used to increase response rates, data quality and…

The role of the administrator has evolved over the past 30 years from manager to instructional leader. As instructional leaders, administrators are now responsible for student achievement on high-stakes state-mandated assessments. Therefore, it is imperative principal preparation programs provide the necessary training instructional leaders need…

Educational researchers and policy makers have come to rely on data from sample surveys. However, survey research on educational issues poses some special challenges. In many respects, the survey methodology issues in educational research are the same as those throughout the social and behavioral sciences. These issues concern obtaining the best…

In this paper a method is proposed whereby an investigator may improve the metric qualities of questionnaire and similar kinds of data. (Author)

The aim of attitude measurement is to derive indices of socially significant behavior. It is therefore necessary to broaden the basis of measurement to include data derived from a variety of sources. The widening gulf between the increasing sophistication of measurement and the relatively crude conceptualizations on which it is based is likely…

The analysis of questionnaire data involves a sequence of planned activities beginning with questionnaire development and concluding with a report of the results of the study. Most questionnaires require the use of numerical codes to facilitate computer processing of results and to select appropriate statistical procedures for summarizing the…

Thirty psychology majors in a Tests and Measurement class, and 49 of 65 faculty members of a liberal arts arts college developed a college-wide course ratings questionnaire. The psychology students, in class exercises and homework assignments, collected data over a 6-month period from peers (n=153) and faculty at every stage of the design process.…

Reliable institutional research is seen as serving as a valuable means of generating accurate, objective data useful in reaching sound management decisions in institutions of higher education. Institutional research is defined as the systematic, comprehensive self-study used by a college or university to improve the institution. Sound…

As a consequence of the suspension of a system of yearly evaluations of individual courses with student questionnaires, the University of Leuven organised a broad consultation of the academic community focussing on what they expect from a system based on student feedback. The study revealed that this community attaches great importance to a clear…