This guide describes a five-step collaborative process that educators can use with other educators, researchers, and content experts to write or adapt questions and develop surveys for education contexts. This process allows educators to leverage the expertise of individuals within and outside of their organization to ensure a high-quality survey…

Describes technique designed to aid students in introductory, quantitative, college level political science courses interpret simple, bivariate tables. Technique involves simulation of a computer sort. Evaluation of technique indicates that once students have participated in a tangible experience akin to a computer operation, they are better able…

Described is an in-class demonstration of mass reaction time which measures the speed of nerve impulses and the duration of various cognitive processes. A simpler version of the experiment for at-home use is described. (Author/DB)

Provides statistics based on the 1996 National Households Education Survey (NHES) of 55,000 families, measuring library use by presence of children, race, and ethnicity. Provides tables reporting use of public libraries by presence of children, by any household member, and by any household member in the last month. (PEN)

This book describes a structure for understanding and managing the process and options for gathering and analyzing data on needs. The three-phase model that forms the basis for the structure grew from both theory and practical experience in many settings. The focus is on assessing the needs of organizations rather than individuals. It is stressed…

The data used in this report to present three statistical pictures of Illinois public libraries during the fiscal year 1987-1988 comes primarily from the 1987-88 Illinois public library annual report forms. Section One presents the individual view of public library operations in which facts about use, resources, and finances are provided. Tables…

The Quality Circle project is a problem-solving concept requiring the interaction of a variety of organizational skills. Circle members work together, becoming involved in problem-solving processes. They make decisions and take action based upon the data they collect. The reliablity of those data is crucial to the circle's success. Presented in…

Reports results of a pilot study and full survey of preservation/conservation concerns about the non-rare book collections at the Syracuse University libraries. The methodology is described, including physical characteristics of the collections that were examined and statistical analyses used. (CLB)

Describes a study conducted to determine the effect of exposure to microcomputers coupled with large video displays on college students' beliefs about computers. Students' attitudes were measured both before and after exposure to microcomputers, and results indicate that students exposed to microcomputers developed more positive attitudes than the…

This report, the fourth in a series of annual reports on school crime, presents the latest available data on school crime and student safety. National indicators affirm that the levels of crime in school have continued to decline, that acts that promote fear and detract from learning are decreasing, and that students feel safer in school than they…

Outlines a demonstration lesson showing third graders how to make and interpret graphs. Includes descriptions of purpose, vocabulary, and learning activities in which students graph numbers of students with dogs at home and analyze the contents of M&M candy packages by color. Argues process helps students understand large amounts of abstract…

Described are computer assisted instruction exercises designed by a college professor to help undergraduate psychology students acquire fundamental skills in data collection--recording the data, using tables and graphs, and recognizing functional relationships. (RM)

Describes simple, unobtrusive method of determining who uses government publications by analyzing manual check-out circulation data at Arkansas State University. Per capita circulation and cross-tabulation results, analysis by classification number, document circulation and library circulation statistics, and publications that make up more than…

Randomly selected faculty from four state universities in Texas were surveyed to determine the degree to which the library and its resources influenced their decisions to accept university positions. Responses to the questionnaire reveal that faculty may take libraries for granted, as they are not exploited in faculty recruitment. (Author/CLB)

This document presents synthesized estimates of the rates of level 1 literacy by congressional district in the 50 states and District of Columbia. The estimates are extrapolations of the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) that were based on the findings of approximately 26,000 interviews. The document begins with an introduction containing the…