Institutional researchers can be confronted with ethical quandaries. Pressures from their institutions can conflict with professional standards and general ethical requirements. Analyses that appear to be neutral can conceal hidden assumptions that are unintentionally harmful to those individuals whom institutions have a responsibility to protect.…

This chapter leverages STEM-focused Integrated Postsecondary Data System (IPEDS) data to investigate the consequences of chilly institutional climates across institutional types, with particular attention to implications for institutions and researchers. Further, we synthesize the literature, findings, and recommendations across the volume and…

This chapter will value of including diverse voices of researchers. An innovative, cost-effective model for assessment will be described, capturing the process implemented at a university in its efforts to center social justice within assessment and evaluation research practices.

In this chapter, we explore the contexts within which institutional researchers must try to ensure the ethical use of data. We also identify challenges institutional research professionals can face when navigating college culture while trying to ensure the ethical use of data. Finally, we identify potential solutions for improving institutional…

This chapter sheds light on the ways in which institutional research (IR) professionals can be involved in the development and/or modification of high-quality academic programs. Suggestions from authors within this volume for how IR can assist in accomplishing these goals will be integrated and organized in alignment with Terenzini's (1993) three…

This chapter provides a conceptual model that institutional research professionals can use to develop contextual intelligence of issues of interest in higher education with the use of case studies from peer institutions. The model draws from the metaphor of the "divided brain" and how the two hemispheres must work together with both…

This chapter utilizes the duties and functions of institutional research to outline the skills needed by institutional research professionals in an evolving digital institution. The concept of future-proofing, explained and considered in this context, encourages professionals to develop skills for the present with the future needs of data-informed…

Critical mixed methods approaches allow us to reflect upon the ways in which we collect, measure, interpret, and analyze data, providing novel alternatives for quantitative analysis. For institutional researchers, whose work influences institutional policies, programs, and practices, the approach has the transformative ability to expose and create…

Although institutional research has been a significant feature of U.S. higher education for more than 50 years, it is not so well understood in other parts of the world. As higher education around the world faces increasingly challenging times in responding to pressures of massification and globalization, increasing forms of accountability and…

The upcoming challenge for higher education institutions (HEIs) globally is how to respond to an increasing variety of societal needs but with fewer public resources and increased accountability demands. In this chapter we draw attention to the central role institutional research (IR) professionals play in positioning HEIs in a competitive and…

Multilevel modeling (MLM), also referred to as hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) or mixed models, provides a powerful analytical framework through which to study colleges and universities and their impact on students. Due to the natural hierarchical structure of data obtained from students or faculty in colleges and universities, MLM offers many…

Institutional researchers might know more about non-tenure-track (NTT) faculty than leaders on many college campuses, particularly four-year institutions and research universities (Cross and Goldenberg, 2009). As such, institutional researchers play an important role in educating campus leaders about this growing segment of the academic workforce.…

Multilevel modeling offers researchers a rich array of tools that can be used for a variety of purposes, such as analyzing specific institutional issues, looking for macro-level trends, and helping to shape and inform educational policy. One of the more complex multilevel modeling tools available to institutional researchers is cross-classified…

The sophisticated analytical techniques available to institutional researchers give them an array of procedures to estimate a causal effect using observational data. But as many quantitative researchers have discovered, access to a wider selection of statistical tools does not necessarily ensure construction of a better analytical model. Moreover,…

The future challenge and opportunity for institutional researchers is to serve as change agents with involvement in initiating, implementing, and evaluating campus work. Institutional researchers are poised to excel at doing so because of the array of technical skills they routinely apply to existing institutional research roles. Their work…