Presents two experiments in which students examine the effects of touching and shaking on plant growth in common bush beans. (MDH)

Data from 6,472 South Carolina residents aged over 55 years support the reliability of S. Katz's Activities of Daily Living scale when data are collected by self-report telephone interview. Results indicate that telephone interview methods are a fast, inexpensive, and safe way to collect data for research and policy formation. (SLD)

Seven articles discuss research by and for practitioners. The topics include demystification of research for practitioners, experiences with helping teacher researchers, an application of a collaborative action research model, one health practitioner's experience, creating a dance research database, basic data analysis for nonresearchers, and why…

Discussion of search behavior in electronic environments focuses on the development of GRIP (Graphic Representor of Interaction Patterns), a graphing tool based on HyperCard that produces graphic representations of search patterns. Search state spaces are explained, and forms of data available from electronic searches are described. (34…

The first years of the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) pilot project to collect benchmark data on college costs and service levels are discussed, focusing on lessons learned, needs identified, current use of the results, and the project's place in the association's long-term research plan. (MSE)

Replenishing item pools for on-line ability testing requires innovative and efficient data collection. A method is proposed to collect test item calibration data in an on-line testing environment sequentially using locally D-optimum designs, thereby achieving high Fisher information for the item parameters. (SLD)

Trends in European practice that relate to qualitative assessment in the evaluation of the impact of research and innovation are discussed and analyzed. To date, European evaluations have been mainly concerned with quality and direct impact with few assessments of medium- or long-term impact. (SLD)

Describes the development of a measure of self-perceived abilities to implement various health promoting behaviors, reporting on a study of the psychometric properties of the measure in three samples. Results suggest the measure demonstrates adequate reliability and demonstrates predicted relationships with other health measures. (SM)

Discusses methods of assessing job preparatory-training outcomes, particularly a product called Data Linking for Outcomes Assessment (DLOA). Contends that through data linking, conclusions about programs, job placement, and salaries for graduates can be drawn with ease. Describes key design features for creating a DLOA. (EMH)

Describes instruction in an urban sixth-grade classroom in which students are learning about mass, volume, and density by attempting to layer three miscible solutions of differing densities atop one another. Contains 24 references. (DDR)

Describes the development of the Interactive Video Questionnaire for interviewing deaf persons. The questionnaire uses videodisc and bar-code readers to present survey questions on screen in American Sign Language, Signed English, speech reading, or as English subtitles. (DB)

A case study illustrates how the ongoing data-based monitoring of timeout use by parents enhanced the treatment of an 8-year-old boy, referred because of noncompliance in the home. Maintaining the timeout record enabled rapid refinements in the timeout procedure by providing a feedback mechanism to the therapist, identification of the need for…

The sources and structure of data reported in the annual "Top 100" list of colleges and universities conferring the highest numbers of degrees to students of color are described, and the use of the data to make comparisons between historically black and traditionally white institutions is explained. Some trends in the eight-year history of the…

The sources and structure of data reported in the annual "Top 100" list of colleges and universities conferring the highest numbers of degrees to students of color are described, including the way in which various student categories are reported. (MSE)

This article describes the development of a provider-based outcome measurement system, describing core components and processes, what to measure, who should be involved in the development and measurement process, and what data collection technologies can be used or adopted. Problems in developing model outcome measurement services are presented.…