This report provides an overview of a selection of measurement error studies conducted on National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) surveys. Its intent is not to offer new analyses of program data, but to summarize information from internal memoranda, working papers, and adjudicated reports about errors of measurement that occur during five…

This manual explains how to construct a questionnaire. It is intended for the novice researcher who has little experience in questionnaire construction. The first seven chapters discuss the following seven stages in questionnaire development: (1) establishing the guiding questions; (2) operationalizing and clarifying the guiding questions; (3)…

The Collaborative Ukrainian Experiment (CUE) was a joint mission between the United States and the Ukraine (Russia) whose projects were designed to address specific questions about prior plant science microgravity experiments. The education project that grew out of this, Teachers and Students Investigating Plants in Space (TSIPS), involved…

Technical aspects of the first followup survey for the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) are documented and summarized. Some information overlaps materials in the users' manuals for this followup, such as the overview and general descriptions of data collection, sampling, weighting, variance estimation, nonresponse patterns,…

This book is intended for the practitioner of evaluation or for the student about to do his or her first formal evaluation. Chapter 1 sets the role of evaluating within the context of an organization and discusses a critical role of evaluation: changing people, programs, and organizations. Chapter 2 discusses personnel appraisals from an…

This proceedings report describes exercises used in a workshop on environmental scanning, designed to assist institutional research officers to develop competency in establishing and maintaining an external analysis capability on their campuses. The workshop offered an opportunity for participants to experience several techniques used in…

This response to a review committee reporting on young people's participation in post-compulsory education and training redefines the collection, analysis, and organization of ideas and information as a constituent part of the broader concept of information literacy. It is further suggested that information literacy should be identified as a…

Some specific computer-based tools for collecting and examining audit trails, i.e., data that describe a learner's path through a computer-based instruction (CBI) lesson, are detailed. Data analysis and measurement issues related to audit trails are also discussed. A particular set of embedded computer-based tools currently being used at San Diego…

Data from the Mature Women's cohort of the National Longitudinal Surveys were used in an analysis of the acquisition of education and training by women at later ages over the 1979-89 period. These data described a sample of women who were between the ages of 30 and 45 in 1967 and who had been interviewed regularly at later intervals. Between the…

In 1996, the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) supported a project at Rutgers University that applied new economic theories to measuring how well research libraries fulfill their service roles. This summary draws on the original proposal and the final report from the project's directors. The evaluation of library performance is…

This manual has been produced to familiarize data users with the procedures followed for data collection and processing of the first follow-up component of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88). A corollary objective is to provide the necessary documentation for use of the data file. Use of the data set does not require the…

To be successful, the instructional design must take the learning environment into consideration. But how is this environment to be analyzed? This book provides readers with the methodology to conduct an environmental analysis and use its findings to promote successful instruction. The book is divided into four parts. Part 1 includes two chapters…

In the present study, task instruction and lab data format were manipulated to explain the discrepancy between the positive linear recall function with expertise (reported by van de Wiel and others, 1993), and the generally found intermediate effect in clinical case recall. Sixteen second-year medical students, 16 fourth-year students, and 16…

The purpose of the National Leadership Conference on Media Literacy was to shape a national framework for media literacy so that each participating group could demonstrate its own niche and role in achieving common objectives. This report details the approaches and conclusions of the 25 representative leaders of the media literacy movement who met…

Careful demographic forecasting provides schools with crucial information they require to plan effectively to meet future needs. The overview of general population trends that begins this document includes a detailed description of factors that influence demographic predictions. Changes in ethnic groups in general and Hispanic, Black, and Asian…