This technical report and user's guide is designed to provide researchers with an overview of the design and implementation of the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), as well as with information on how to access the PISA 2009 data. This information is meant to supplement that presented in Organization for Economic Cooperation…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to model the relationship between student performance, student attitudes, and computer laboratory environments. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 234 college students enrolled in courses that involved the use of a computer to solve problems and provided the laboratory experience by means of…

The effects on response rate of familiarity with survey sender was investigated in a study involving the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences faculty. The study was part of a mail survey of 3,467 citrus producers in 23 counties in Florida. Half (1,790) of the producers on the agricultural agent's mailing lists were…

This study explored seven possible techniques for improving the rate of returns for a questionnaire study with special concern for collecting information through high school follow-up studies. It evaluated these techniques using two criteria: their effectiveness in improving returns and their cost-effectiveness. The results suggest that a school…

"This study involving 1,452 liberal Arts College science graduates has shown that a personalized approach can elicit an excellent response to a mailed questionnaire. (Author)

Two thousand questionnaires were mailed to respondents allocated among seven treatments. Controls received an initial mailing (questionnaire and cover letter) only. The remaining six treatments varied by number of follow-up mailings and whether another questionnaire copy was included. Results suggest more than one follow-up letter with a…

The suspension of any student is problematic for students from all groups. Suspension and expulsion as interventions are inadequate to change behavior unless they are paired with teaching replacement behaviors. However, African American/Black, American Indian and Hispanic students are suspended and expelled at rates that are disproportionate to…

Gathering large-scale data on tax evasion is an undisputable challenge in and of itself. Doing so in a country in transition from a communist to a democratic system is even more difficult. This paper discusses the challenges and presents a case study to show how they can be dealt with effectively. One important implication of the paper is that…

A two-part questionnaire is presented. The first part is intended to elicit information from the school principal about his school and the students in it. The second part has to do with compensatory reading programs. (CK)

Creating a survey that asks the right questions at a level appropriate for the intended audience is a difficult task. This guide is designed to support educators who want to be confident that the data they gather will be useful. The guide is organized according to the developmental steps in creating a survey. Individual chapters correspond to the…

Mail questionnaire survey of employment by occupation provides data for labor market analysis, employment projections, and educational program planning. (BH)

Article suggests ways to slow the deluge of questionnaires that is strangling the academic world and its administrators, and still improve data collection. (Editor)

Techniques for improving response rate on mail questionnaire surveys are discussed. (JD)