Researchers are combining self-reports from mobile surveys with passive data collection using sensors and apps on smartphones increasingly more often. While smartphones are commonly used in some groups of individuals, smartphone penetration is significantly lower in other groups. In addition, different operating systems (OSs) limit how mobile data…

This research note discusses opportunities and challenges of using online survey engines for social network analysis (SNA) data collection and assessing sample size and representativeness. The discussion is based on a case study of SNA data collection for a pilot research on health-relevant policy networks in Canada. Our approach demonstrates how…

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has endorsed a "Closing the Gap" agenda designed to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians. The agenda is distilled in a series of targets, one of which is the goal of halving the gap for Indigenous students in Year 12 attainment or equivalent (Certificate II or above) attainment rates by…

The National Research Council's study on the status of black Americans risks enhancing negative policy attitudes towards the black community for the following reasons: (1) its perspective, choice of explanatory variables, and analysis will reflect a majority perspective and conservative viewpoint; (2) it lacks focus; and (3) it is concerned with…

Based on the premise that Canada needs to collect, collate, analyze, and disseminate reliable data on early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs that are comparable across provinces/territories and that good data are fundamental for informing policy, research, and service delivery, the National Data Project was funded in 2000-2001 to…

The paper discusses problems faced by policy makers in utilizing social science research in decision making on educational issues and problems. The term social science research is interpreted as including both educational evaluation and educational research. The history of social science research and critical issues associated with social science…

The 'rural' definitions applied by the Federal Government, especially by two data-gathering agencies, the Bureau of the Census and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), emphasize different dimensions of the concept, and delineate the rural-urban continuum in different ways. This report discusses the inconsistency of curent "rural"…

The first part of this document summarizes the current state of knowledge on trends in inequality of economic well-being in the United States since World War II. It surveys alternative answers to the often asked question: Has inequality in the U.S. increased, decreased, or remained roughly the same over a period of time? Intelligent laymen, and…

Deliberations about social policy often center on estimates of harm or benefit generated by different interest groups. Problems in what is measured and how it is measured are illustrated by a discussion of research into sexual abuse and rape. Advocacy research is an unreliable foundation for social policy formation. (SLD)

Data drive policies; a lack of information results in unresponsive or biased public policies. This book argues that current methods of gathering and interpreting data are not sensitive to the diversity and needs of people living in rural America. Emphasizing the goals of complementarity, cooperation, and responsiveness, it suggests how federal and…

Decision making in the public sector encompasses many topics of interest to the academic researcher--environmental issues, health and human services, budget planning, and so on. Expertise in data collection and analysis is critical to the policy-making process and can be provided by academic researchers. But the "real world" policymaker…

The movement toward integration of qualitative and quantitative research methods within the same study has been most evident in social policy research. Four major approaches to integrating can be identified in recent studies. The sequential, the parallel, and the fused models have been rather widely used. The interactive model, developed during…

This report offers an analysis of college faculty supply and demand as well as an evaluation of currently available data on this issue. The report was undertaken in response to three concurrent trends which point to significant faculty shortages beginning in 1995. The report begins with a descriptive overview of current faculty demographics that…

The l975 Educational Testing Service (ETS) Invitational Conference provided an overview of the social indicators movement, and the relationship between schooling and quality of life. The concept of educational indicators was discussed. Educational indicators are defined as statistics used to provide information regarding the status of particular…