In this article, the authors detail the major themes set out in the previous articles in this volume, tying them together using the framework of organizational intelligence. In his article about the nature of institutional research, Terenzini (1993) invoked the concept of organizational intelligence, arguing that institutional researchers must be…

The value of qualitative assessment approaches has been underestimated primarily because they are often juxtaposed against long-standing quantitative traditions and the widely accepted premise that the best research produces generalizable and statistically significant findings. Institutional researchers avoid qualitative methods for at least three…

Examples of qualitative investigations of traditionally hard-to-measure college and university characteristics using multiple investigators are rare, despite their potential for in-depth understanding and broad comparisons of institutional contexts. A team approach to qualitative multisite research was found useful and effective in a 9-researcher…

A profile of prolific contributors to higher education literature is presented. Exceptional output is associated with academic sponsorship, authentic enjoyment of inquiry activities, facilitating work environments and personal life styles, a capacity for taking advantage of fortuitous opportunities, and an inordinate amount of time and effort…

The research on college students published between 1969 and 1983 in 11 periodicals was used to examine the substantive topics and research methods preferred by male and female authors. Gender differences persisted over the 15 year period and became sharper after 1975. (Author/MLW)