In 1881, Donald MacAlister posed a problem in the "Educational Times" that remains relevant today. The problem centers on the statistical evidence for the effectiveness of a treatment based on a comparison between two proportions. A brief historical sketch is followed by a discussion of two default Bayesian solutions, one based on a…

The relative power of the Mann-Whitney statistic, the t-statistic, the median test, a test based on exceedances (A,B), and two special cases of (A,B) the Tukey quick test and the revised Tukey quick test, was investigated via a Monte Carlo experiment. These procedures were compared across four population probability models: uniform, beta, normal,…

This study explores the speculation that unidentified factors such as organizational complexity might account for disparate research findings regarding the relationship between the administrative component and organization size. Complexity and size of organization were found to be significantly related variables, although there is no evidence to…

Describes and compares the results from two surveys of academic librarians in the State University of New York (SUNY) system that were conducted to determine librarians' satisfaction with faculty status. Evidence suggests that satisfaction correlates with institutional compliance with ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) standards.…

An examination of methodological referencing patterns for actual physics, engineering, and sociology literature for the year 1983, using a Dunn planned comparison approach, indicates that physics differs from both engineering and sociology, while no difference was found between engineering and sociology. References are given in each sample…

Reports on an empirical study of "Library Resources and Technical Services" (LRTS) that was conducted to define LRTS's content and to determine whether it displays the characteristics of formal scholarly communication. Results of bibliometric comparisons with other scholarly journals in the field are described. (Contains 30 references.)…

Examines characteristics of articles published in three sociology journals in 1968 and 1978 focusing on distinctive features which give librarians useful information about the communication system in sociology, and trends in types of research. Types of data used in published research studies are discussed. Twenty-nine references are provided. (EJS)

Discussion of the use of scientific information disseminated in primary subject literature focuses on a study that developed a methodology for hypothesis testing that measured document obsolescence by means of citation analysis and content obsolescence by expert opinions and then compared the results. Information validity and information utility…

Describes an experiment that was designed to compare three different map displays used as a visual display for information retrieval by either a self-organizing algorithm or human subjects. Results indicate that the organization and visual appearance of map displays had a significant effect on subjects' searching and browsing on the map displays.…

A survey of the collections of the libraries at the State University College at Buffalo (New York) was conducted to determine the physical condition of books and bound periodicals. The methodology of prior surveys at Yale (Connecticut) and Syracuse (New York) Universities was used and the following hypotheses were tested: (1) the methodology used…

Two models of library circulation, the Markov model and the mixed Poisson Model, are applied to circulation statistics from the University of Saskatchewan. Goodness-of-fit tests indicate that neither model fits the data; in both cases, the set of noncirculating items is larger than that predicted by the model. (Author/LRW)

Describes a study which compared film and written material with regard to effects produced by order in which conflicting information is presented. Results indicate film is more influential and better recalled than conflicting written information: conflicting paragraphs produce a primacy effect, whereas analogous film segments produce no order…

This nationwide study, conducted to investigate extent to which sex of individual is controlling factor relating to salaries, career progression, and library support, compared the careers of male and female public library directors serving populations of 100,000 or more in continental United States. Questionnaire is appended. (21 references) (EJS)

Overlap (two libraries own same title) and duplication (one library has more than one copy) in children's collections of books and audiovisual materials were measured. It was found that there was less overlap between two school libraries than between a school library and a public library. Six references are cited. (EJS)