Seventy-nine studies in geoscience conceptions appeared in peer-reviewed publications in English from 1982 through July 2009. Summaries of the 79 studies suggest certain recurring themes across subject areas: issues with terms, scale (temporal and spatial), role of prior experience, and incorrect application of everyday knowledge to geoscience…

This simple method for simulating the Central Limit Theorem with students in a beginning nonmajor statistics class requires students to use dice to simulate drawing samples from a discrete uniform distribution. On a chalkboard, the distribution of sample means is superimposed on a graph of the discrete uniform distribution to provide visual…

A procedure for the analysis of judgmental estimates is derived. It uses a t-distribution concept to derive the relative experience of an expert and uses the derived experience as weight to obtain a weighted mean. Using this method, error in estimation was reduced by an average of one-half. (Author/BW)

Describes methodology for the gathering of useful collection management data and reports results of study which analyzed circulation data and sampled in-library use at a Government Printing Office depository to explore circulation and in-library use frequency distributions, circulation and in-library use, and age of publications used in the…

Discusses a study conducted at Ohio State University Libraries to develop and test a model that accurately estimates number of terminals required in an online public access catalog system. Data collection, research methodology, standard statistical distributions, and queuing models are noted. Four references are cited. (EJS)

Survey of Ohio State University faculty members and administrators examines their attitudes and perceptions regarding need for, and potential use of, a computerized database to increase efficiency of graduate school administration, and to collect and generate data for academic departments' use in improving programs. Proposed database design is…

Asserts that traditional approaches to multivariate analysis, including standard linear regression techniques, ignore the special character of count data. Explicates three suitable alternatives to standard regression techniques, a simple Poisson regression, a modified Poisson regression, and a negative binomial model. (MJP)

This monograph covers the theory, application, and interpretation of both descriptive and inferential statistical techniques in institutional research. Each chapter opens with a hypothetical case study, which is used to illustrate the application of one or more statistical procedures to typical research questions. Chapter 2 covers the comparison…