Reports on the work of the Center for the Study of Community Colleges in helping two-year colleges to define and establish their rates of transfer. Presents the outcomes of 1990 forums where study participants discussed problems and issues in data collection. (DMM)

Possible bias due to sampling problems or low response rates has been a troubling "nuisance" variable in empirical research since seminal and classical studies were done on these problems at the beginning of this century. Recent research suggests that: (1) earlier views of the alleged bias problem were misleading; (2) under a variety of fairly…

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), in its expansion of data reporting, should consider approaches for studying the curricular content of elementary and secondary instruction and student achievement of curricular goals. More specific information is needed about the curricular content of U.S. education. For example, data collected…

This paper acknowledges that research on school dropouts presents problems in the definitions and computation of dropout indices. It considers a variety of methods for computing dropout rates, using dropout rates which are real and which were available at the end of the 1986-1987 school year. Fall enrollment, average daily membership, and total…

A number of methodological and substantive issues were raised by the ethnographic research for the book (coauthored by the author of this paper), "Teaching Tales and Theories: A Story and A Commentary on a Science Classroom" (1981). First, the origin of the "problem" came not only from earlier research but also from a serendipitous meeting with…

Papers from a forum sponsored by the Association for Institutional Research address the role problems of institutional researchers and the special position of institutional research in institutions of higher education and the issues that lead to conflict between institutional research, data gathering activities, and the faculty. In "Dilemmas in…

The information system of the American Council on Education (ACE), which comprises the basis for the ACE Higher Education Data Bank, is designed to collect and maintain biographical and other data on approximately 300,000 college freshmen each year for continuing longitudinal research based on subsamples of the students. The need for confidential…

The fourth of a series of reports on the study, Mental Retardation in a Canadian Province, the document covers the initial months of field data gathering in Prince Edward Island, April to September 1969. The major objectives of the study, to describe and explore the most suitable definition of retardation for a Canadian population and to report on…

Attrition, or the loss of study subjects, confounds the subject identification process. Design attrition occurs when subjects initially involved in the study are excluded because of changes in study focus or rationale. Data collection attrition occurs when subjects are excluded because they were not contacted by the data gatherer, or because the…

Distortion and selective disclosure limit data that are available to program evaluators, producing a bias that tends to maintain the status quo. Paradoxically, attempts to objectify the data only increase the potential for distortion. Ironically, one way to encourage innovation may be to not measure it. Additional solutions are suggested.…

Major concerns about conducting research in American Indian Communities are reviewed and discussed. Examples of three research projects conducted with Indian communities are summarized, and procedures found to be sensitive to the cultural milieu of the community are examined. (Author)

Triangulation strategy results in evidence characterized by the following: (1) convergence; (2) inconsistency; and (3) contradiction. In order to render the data sensible, the researcher or evaluator must report data collection procedures, as well as the three levels of information from which explanations of social phenomena are constructed. (BJV)

Two basic ethical questions--informed-consent and the risk-benefit equation--are examined as they apply to the data collection, analysis, and publication strategies of qualitative family research. Suggests the distinctive features of family life warrant a special discussion of the ethical dilemmas inherent in the qualitative study of families.…

Many problems are encountered when evaluating a complex, decentralized national program such as 4-H. Good effects of the federal evaluation mandate include local concern with program quality. Bad effects include that local agencies are forced to utilize noxious methodologies or to collect information they consider to be unimportant. (Author/GC)

Shows how one medium-size daily newspaper operation in Louisiana has set up a viable polling system at modest cost. Points out some of the problems involved. (RL)