Zipfian laws for frequency distributions of word pairs and longer phrases are derived from text sample analysis. From crossing of Zipfian curves, it is deduced that number of multi-word phrases that occur frequently in text is surprisingly small, of same order of magnitude as number of individual word-types. (8 references) (EJS)

Introduces two data distortion methods (Frequency-Imposed Distortion, Frequency-Imposed Probability Distortion) and uses a Monte Carlo study to compare their performance with that of other distortion methods (Point Distortion, Probability Distortion). Indications that data generated by these two methods produce accurate statistics and protect…

The study investigated the views and perception of school leavers about the democratic government in Nigeria. A self-designed questionnaire was used for collection of their views. The participants of the study comprised 500 school leavers selected across different working places in the six states of Southwest Nigeria. Results clearly revealed that…

One of the primary goals of Early College High Schools is to enroll students who are underrepresented in higher education. This brief report describes the strategies ECHSs have used to recruit students from groups that are traditionally underserved and underrepresented in higher education and addresses the impact of the recruitment and selection…

In October 2005, 68.6 percent of high school graduates from the class of 2005 were enrolled in colleges or universities, according to data released on March 24, 2006 by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The college enrollment rate for recent high school graduates was a historical high for the series dating back to 1959.…

Presents an instructional forum in which students and teachers work with researchers to engage in coordinated cycles of planning and implementing instruction and studying forms of students' thinking that emerged in the classroom. Reports on an 8-week teaching and learning study of elementary students' thinking about distribution, including their…

Outlines differences between classical statistics and exploratory data analysis. Provides examples in the use of the exploratory techniques. (YP)

The relationship between gender and mathematical achievement was investigated in 440 female and 480 male Norwegian third graders. Boys had higher test scores, but the effect size was small. Boys performed better in numeracy, mental arithmetic, and measurement problems. Marked gender differences were found at extreme tails of the distribution.…

Simulated data are used to assess the appropriateness of using separate calibration and between-fit approaches to detecting item bias in the Rasch rating scale model. Results indicate that Type I error rates for the null distribution hold even when there are different ability levels for reference and focal groups. (SLD)

Sixty-one nursing students and faculty were studied to compare the use of participatory graphic organizers to final form and advance organizers as instructional aids for computer-based interactive video. The participatory group achieved the lowest mean scores; the difference between the mean scores of the final form and participatory graphic…

Refines the cohort survival method for projecting student enrollment. Tests its effectiveness with 30 Maine school districts. The refinement empirically searches for optimal values of number of years of history to use in averaging, weights to place on the ratios, and linear versus exponential distribution of weights across ratios. (SLD)

A model developed by G. Rasch that assumes scores on some attainment tests can be realizations of a Poisson process is explained and expanded by assuming a prior distribution, with fixed but unknown parameters, for the subject parameters. How additional between-subject and within-subject factors can be incorporated is discussed. (SLD)

The purpose of this study was to determine whether data distribution changes as a result of motor skill practice or learning. The data on three dependent measures (movement time; MT), percentage of movement time in primary submovement (PSB), and movement jerk (JEK) were collected at baseline and practice Blocks 1 to 5. Sixty 6-year-olds,…

Objective and methods: To explore association between prevalence of ADHD and levels of risk for gestational alcohol exposure, the authors reviewed the charts of 2,231 youth referred for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Participants were categorized into four groups by different levels of risk for gestational alcohol exposure. For each group, the…

This note is concerned with presenting some simple indices of group-wise relative disadvantage in the distribution of income, in terms of the distance between the group's share in total population and its share in total income. The group-wise indices are then aggregated into society-wide indices of inter-group disparity. Empirical illustrations of…