Discusses effects on graduate sociology education of trends emphasizing quantitative methods and the positivist tradition at the expense of social theory and interpretive sociology. Argues that failure to develop sociology's interpretive tradition has allowed the style and intellectual creativity of sociological work to suffer. Urges greater…

A statistical relationship between student affect and student achievement is routinely observed--students who like a particular subject also tend to do well in that subject. Theory suggests that the underlying causality is a mutual influence relationship in which affect influences, and is influenced by, achievement. Published analyses, however,…

Presented are social, educational, and job-related characteristics of a select group of scientists, engineers and other highly-trained persons in the United States. Eight major fields (computer specialists, engineers, mathematical specialists, life scientists, physical scientists, environmental scientists, psychologists, and social scientists) are…

Examines the comparative labor market experience of youth in the United States and eight other developed countries from 1960-1979, focusing upon unemployment levels and rates. Finds that the situation worsened in industrialized nations after the 1974-75 recession and that Japanese and German youth continue to have the most favorable job prospects.…

This article reports on the nature of and reasons for the forthcoming changes in presentation, classification, and estimating procedures in labor force data derived from the Current Population Survey. Changes involve resident armed forces, new occupational classifications, conversion to Black-only data, and revision of first-stage ratio estimator.…

This paper traces the course of the consequences of viewing test responses as simply providing dichotomous data concerning ordinal relations. It begins by proposing that the score matrix is best considered to be items-plus-persons by items-plus-persons, and recording the wrongs as well as the rights. (Author/CTM)

Presents a method to improve client classification. Reviews clinical prediction models and statistical prediction issues. In classifying clients for remedial services, utility of the prediction scheme depends on gains accrued by its use over program base rates and relative cost. This assumes that differential treatments parallel diagnostic…

Evaluations involving nonrandom assignment to treatment or control groups are vulnerable to an accidental or intentional confounding of a selection effect with the treatment effect. Two techniques, discriminant analysis and base expectancy analysis, permit separate estimation of the selection and treatment effects in the final results. (Author/CTM)

To establish a sophisticated planning mechanism that will translate readily to affordable tactical steps, university planners must have a good understanding of the cost structure of individual academic and administrative departments and of the efficiency and effectiveness of the staffs of those departments. (MLW)

The restrictions on item difficulties that must be met when binomial models are applied to domain-referenced testing are examined. Both a deterministic and a stochastic conception of item responses are discussed with respect to difficulty and Guttman-type items. (Author/BH)

Demonstrates the use of Rasch models to assess the dimensionality of an item set across cohorts in longitudinal studies. Presents data from a study on adolescents' deductive reasoning ability showing that the same test items can be measuring qualitatively different latent traits in different subsamples or at different time points. (JPB)

Demonstrates how Rasch models can be used to study differences in item salience within and across time points, and that even if a test does not fulfill assumptions of the Rasch model, it can be used to obtain information on item functioning across participants and over time. Illustrates method using longitudinal data from Baltimore Prevention…

An annual survey by the Council for Aid to Education of voluntary support for education is reported. The survey does not take into account the October 19 stock market crash, and several colleges indicate a slowdown in the flow of gifts since then. (MLW)

Provides an overview of the area of quantitative research in chemical education, which involves the same components that comprise chemical research: (1) a question or hypothesis; (2) research design; (3) data collection and analysis; and (4) interpretation of results. Includes questions of interest to chemical educators; areas of quantitative…

This paper analyzes data from 12 of 20 studies conducted by Special Student Concerns Projects; the projects were designed to eliminate the disproportionate number of disciplinary actions involving minority group students in schools that were in the process of desegregating. The statistical approach to the quantitative suspension data used in this…