DESCRIBED AND EXEMPLIFIED IS A CODING SYSTEM FOR TRANSLATING ON-GOING BEHAVIOR OF CHILDREN AND ADULTS INTO A NUMERICAL LANGUAGE, THUS PERMITTING THE DATA TO BE SUMMARIZED AND ANALYZED BY COMPUTER. APPROACH IS BASED ON OBSERVATION. THE OBSERVER, WHO BECOMES PART OF THE ENVIRONMENT, REPORTS INTO A TAPE RECORDER THE RESPONSES OF THE MAIN FIGURE BEING…

This package of modules comprises a portion of the National Training and Development Service Urban Management Curriculum Development Program. The four modules included in the package contain instructional materials covering a broad range of statistical and data analytic procedures chosen on the basis of their probable utility to public managers…

This seminar was designed for State Vocational Rehabilitation agency managers, who are not professional statisticians, to provide them with an awareness of some of the more easily constructed and useful tabulations of agency data. The 3-day seminar included 39 participants from seven states, Guam, and The Vocational Rehabilitation Administration.…

This paper suggests that since continuing professional educators must address the ever present gap between new knowledge and practitioner competence, accurate identification and prioritization of practitioners' educational needs must be maintained on a continuous basis. Describing an adult education agency as an open system whose output depends on…

Since problems associated with the statistical methodology of educational research are becoming increasingly important, this paper examines a subset of problems associated with the analysis and interpretation of aggregated data. Two major questions arise: (1) if a researcher knows the level (e.g., individual, teacher/classroom, school, school…

Persons responsible for 2-year college occupational education should take positive steps to monitor data to measure and insure the development and successful operation of their programs. The purpose of this report is to provide better understanding of techniques involved in conducting surveys. Surveys can establish: student characteristics,…

The manual, one in a series to assist in planning procedures for local and State vocational agencies, contains two basic sets of information needed to use the Local Education Agency Model. Section 1 contains data element definitions, data collection forms and instructions, and editing and keypunching instructions. Section 2 consists of annotated…

This report summarizes the problems schools are encountering as they try to use data to gauge the effectiveness of standards-based education, accountability efforts, and school reform. It provides an overview of the education market, discusses the strengths and weaknesses of available software, and describes systems used by 19 states. The article…

Presents an overview of an approach in training Black masters-level students in research, with emphasis on research design, data collection, data analysis, and computer usage. (JCD)

Describes the experimental methods used to verify two hypotheses concerning the variability of linguistic behavior at the social and individual levels, within a homogeneous community. Postulates correlations among data from the social/individual "external dimension" and the "internal dimension" which is based on structural properties such as…

Discusses the important role of graphs in conveying scientific information and the use of computer software in amplifying the value of graphs as tools for scientific investigation. Topics discussed include: skills required for analyzing and interpreting graphs, software design, and teaching and learning strategies. (JRH)

Discusses important factors to consider before deciding on hardware or software to use in building qualitative databases. Examines using the computer to store and retrieve text, store and retrieve graphics, analyze text, analyze graphic materials, distribute data stored on one machine to others, allow researchers access to data from remote sites,…

This guidebook is designed for data analysts who are working with computer data files that contain records with incomplete data. It indicates choices the analyst must make and the criteria for making those choices in regard to the following questions: (1) What resources are available for performing the imputation? (2) How big is the data file? (3)…

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 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,…