Technological advances in microcomputer hardware and software, including size of memory and increasingly more sophisticated statistical application packages, create a new era in educational research. The alternative to costly main-frame computer data processing and statistical analysis is explored in this paper. In the first section, typical…

This workbook with teacher's guide provides "hand-ons" experience for second language (L2) acquisition researchers in analyzing second language data. The sample data is organized into language categories including morphology, lexicon, phonology, syntax/semantics, spoken and written discourse, foreigner talk discourse, specific purpose acquisition,…

This paper describes a computer support system that eliminated many of the problems associated with the usual methods of transcribing and analyzing questionnaire data. The system was created to support the course evaluation system at Athabasca University, a distance education university in Canada. The courses evaluated were all home study courses,…

Members of the educational community are increasingly concerned that the dropout rate is too high. However, concerned educators and researchers do not agree who should be included in the data to determine the dropout rate. National definitions are needed so that accurate comparisons can be made. There is also a need to assess the effectiveness of…

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…

A technique for detecting item bias that is responsive to attitudinal measurement considerations is a maximum likelihood factor analysis procedure comparing multivariate factor structures across various subpopulations, often referred to as SIFASP. The SIFASP technique allows for factorial model comparisons in the testing of various hypotheses…

Literacy trends among Black adults in the Republic of South Africa and in some Black states in southern Africa were determined from data obtained from population census reports from 1946 to 1970. Problems concerning the determination of literacy statistics included differing definitions of literacy and data that were subjective, difficult to…

The structure and documentation of High School and Beyond First Follow-Up data files represent a departure from Base Year practices. The Base Year student file contains data from both the senior and sophomore cohorts. Due to the more complex design of the First Follow-Up and resulting increase in the volume of available data, separate First…

The purpose of this case study was to provide the Portland Public Schools' Research and Evaluation Department with information to guide the development of improved data collection, reporting, and information delivery systems in order to target these systems to more effectively meet the decision-making needs of teachers, principals, parents and…

Two problems are encountered by faculty when teaching introductory social science courses. First, most students are only passive recipients of the information made available to them; second, they seldom appreciate the relevance of this information to their own lives. The primary objective of the project described in this paper is to involve…

The development of a national database describing the real undergraduate curriculum, the courses that college and university students actually take, is reported. Based on analyses of student transcripts from 30 public and private institutions of varying sizes, this report provides a rationale for the database; analyzes student choices across the…

Data from both the 1970 and the 1980 Census are used to determine changes and trends in artist occupations and in the numbers of artists. The effects of changes in methods utilized to count artists in the 1980 Census are outlined, and estimated rates of growth by artist occupations are provided. The percentage of women artists, the ethnic…

The expert system computer simulation detailed in this report is designed to investigate patterns of valuing in decision-making about dossiers of performance data used in teacher promotion evaluations. The knowledge base for the simulation consists of 111 questions organized into 117 rules. The questions and linked advice were derived from…

This preliminary investigation explored a means of maximizing the use of standardized test results. In addition to the usual package of alpha and ranked norm-referenced test reports, a special series of reports by the California Test Bureau/McGraw-Hill was generated for remedial reading and mathematics teachers. These reports displayed primarily…

A detailed description of five latent structure models of achievement measurement is presented. The first project paper, by David L. McArthur, analyzes the history of mental testing to show how conventional item analysis procedures were developed, and how dissatisfaction with them has led to fragmentation. The range of distinct conceptual and…