Compared face-to-face interviews with self-administered questionnaires as methods of data collection in a study of smoking attitudes and behavior conducted with 601 young Latina and African American women. Results show neither mode to provide superior results and indicate that cost effectiveness and convenience may be greater for the…

Efforts to gather data of various sorts--demographics, language-learning history, contact with native speakers, use of the language in the field--as they relate to participants in SLA research studies are inherent to understanding more about language acquisition and use. Scholars frequently develop questionnaires of their own, which are rarely…

The U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics has updated the household and prison public-use data files for the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy and the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey. The accompanying 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy Public-Use Data File User's Guide explains how the data…

There have been numerous attempts in the past few years within education research--and social science research more generally--to alter the character of research practice(s). In particular, there has been a systematic effort to address perceived shortcomings in research practice through a series of "research-capacity building"…

Educational researchers and policy makers have come to rely on data from sample surveys. However, survey research on educational issues poses some special challenges. In many respects, the survey methodology issues in educational research are the same as those throughout the social and behavioral sciences. These issues concern obtaining the best…

Suicide as a cause of death among adolescents and migration as a component of population have been growing in importance. Very little research has been conducted on the connections between migration and suicidality among adolescents in Hong Kong, and so is the aim of this article. It uses census and registration data to study suicide mortality,…

This article is concerned with some of the universal but seldom- articulated problems and considerations related to the art of data collection through use of questionnaires. (Author/RK)

Described an educational experiment at Kent State University that would serve the purposes of reuniting faculty and students in a more intimate learning environment and provide the university with a program in which experimentation with innovative ideas could be stimulated and evaluated. (Author/RK)

Elementary and secondary school curriculum development and implementation in Ontario is guided by pamphlets (curriculum guidelines) from the Ministry of Education. The diverse nature of these pamphlets caused the Ministry to initiate the design of instruments to determine the meaningfulness and effectiveness of the guidelines throughout the…

Five data collection methods are described: interviews of individuals, nominal group approaches, administration of questionnaires, inspection of records, and the Delphi decision making technique. A matrix is included and provides a brief description of each method, along with its choice criteria and its advantages and disadvantages. (BM)

Offers suggestions to student pollsters regarding three aspects of the polling process: sampling, constructing the questionnaire, and reporting results. (GW)

The Delphi technique is a valuable tool for collecting and organizing data to help in making decisions and to help increase the probabilities that the decisions made will be productive ones. This paper focuses on the Delphi's role in the administrator's repertoire of data collection devices. (Author)

A pilot test to survey the collection of occupational detail and the ability of employees to accurately report the number of job openings is described. Discusses the method of soliciting participation, the nature of the data to be collected, and the format of the survey questionnaires. (CT)

Reports on Counting on Results, a project funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services that developed and tested tools to standardize and simplify the collection of outcome data from public library patrons. Discusses results of questionnaires that addressed "Planning for Results" service responses. (Author/LRW)

Examines Blumenschein's "Description of Various Libraries in Europe" as an early example of library research methodology; discusses his methods of data collection; describes his use of a questionnaire; and suggests the necessity of further studies of the development of research in library and information science. (Contains 10…