Data-driven decision making is part of our everyday lives. For example, we examine our children's immunization charts in order to indicate what vaccinations they have received, as well as what vaccinations are missing and expired. We use information, like a chart, to make decisions about what to do and what not to do. Data-driven decision making…

The International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2009 studied the ways in which countries prepare their young people to undertake their roles as citizens. ICCS 2009 was based on the premise that preparing students for citizenship roles involves helping them develop relevant knowledge and understanding and form positive attitudes…

To support and promote secondary analyses, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) is making the SITES 2006 international database and accompanying User Guide available to researchers, analysts, and public users. The database comprises national contexts and school- and teacher-level data from 23 education…

Seven methods for measuring and comparing value added in higher education are considered; six are index methods (all found unsatisfactory for lack of empirical support) and a seventh is proposed which calculates value added as the difference between the outcomes achieved and those predicted from national (United Kingdom) data. The advantages of a…

Time series analysis is applied to an assessment of the temporary and permanent impact of the 1975 Australian Family Law Act and its effect on number of divorces. The application and construct validity of the model is examined. (Author/PN)

The linking of research and action, basic methods of social research, and the uses of research in distance teaching are examined, with examples drawn from the Lesotho Distance Teaching Centre and other distance teaching programs. Ways in which research can be useful and early stages of research design and planning are discussed. An explanation of…

The norm-referenced score scale used by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) is described. The usefulness of standardized scores is explained by a simple numerical example, and the formulas and computations are shown for calculating a mean, a standard deviation, and a deviation or z score. The need for a representative sample is…

Outlines a stepwise regression analysis technique for predicting faculty needs in a small technical university, using King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (Saudi Arabia) for illustration. Validation with microcomputer software suggests the method is an attractive option for college and university planners in forecasting manpower needs.…

When studying different types of returns to education, educational reforms are commonly used in the economics literature as a source of exogenous variation in education. The Swedish compulsory school reform is one example; the reform extended compulsory education throughout the country, in different municipalities at different points in time. Such…

Reports on a study which collated and compared evaluations of seven distance education courses in Hong Kong using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. Conclusions about tutorials, group activities, interstudent contact, telephone counseling, and video and television broadcasts are synthesized; and guidelines for formatting…

This book is intended to give animal scientists elementary tools to perform on-farm livestock analysis and to provide crop-oriented farming systems researchers with methods for conducting animal research. Chapter 1 describes farming systems research as a systems approach to on-farm animal research. Chapter 2 outlines some important…

Designed for language teachers who find reading statistical research difficult but necessary, this article focuses on the minimal knowledge needed about statistical techniques for interpreting research findings. It first examines the statistical reasoning underlying quantitative, empirical studies, including normal distribution, standard…

This guide for researchers introduces important research methodologies and data collecting techniques, provides a framework for the critical assessment of existing research, and encourages involvement of academics and practitioners in research. Chapter 1, on planning a research project, discusses scheduling, time management, and planning the…

The project reported on here was established to develop an item pool to reflect the universe of content set down in "Education in the Primary and Junior Division" (EPJD), which was adopted by the Ontario Ministry of Education in 1975 to provide a general framework for the justification of curricular decisions; to provide a curriculum…

This manual, which is intended for vocational education and training (VET) providers, does the following: explains fundamental market research concepts; highlights situations where market research can help VET providers with their planning and policy development; and illustrates the uses of market research in VET institutions. The following topics…