Conducting research with human subjects can be difficult because of limited sample sizes and small empirical effects. We demonstrate that this problem can yield patterns of results that are practically indistinguishable from flipping a coin to determine the direction of treatment effects. We use this idea of random conclusions to establish a…

The sample size determination is an important issue for planning research. However, limitations in size have seldom been discussed in the literature. Thus, how to allocate participants into different treatment groups to achieve the desired power is a practical issue that still needs to be addressed when one group size is fixed. The authors focused…

Written by a social worker for social work students, this is a nuts and bolts guide to statistics that presents complex calculations and concepts in clear, easy-to-understand language. It includes numerous examples, data sets, and issues that students will encounter in social work practice. The first section introduces basic concepts and terms to…

A pivotal theorem which is of critical importance to statistical inference in probability and statistics is the Central Limit Theorem (CLT). The theorem concerns the sampling distribution of random samples taken from a population, including population distributions that do not have to be normal distributions. This paper contains a brief history of…

Practical formulas for several analysis of variance (ANOVA) designs and models are presented which make it possible for readers to compute strength of association measures without the use of complete ANOVA tables. (Author/PN)

The need for a system of price indexes for colleges and universities is discussed. First, past efforts to develop price indexes are reviewed, dating back to 1952 and highlighting two specific indexes, the Higher Education Price Index (HEPI) and the Uniform Price Index Calculation System (UPICS). For the latter, the price indexes of direct costs…

An elementary mathematical model is used to analyze tuition and privatization policies for higher education institutions. One finding is that an appropriate tuition can increase the social income of alumni. Another salient finding is that some of the model's results are counterintuitive, suggesting its utility in decision making. Methodological…

The use of data on longitudinal student attendance patterns to determine variances, and hence confidence bounds, on student enrollment forecasts, in addition to finding the forecasts themselves, is demonstrated. The formulation of the enrollment model based on longitudinal student attendance patterns is described step by step, presenting the…

This document was prepared in connection with a three-year longitudinal study of career expectations of high school students conducted to explain scientifically the process by which youth form career expectations, e.g., educational, occupational, and income expectations. Divided into six chapters, this document contains a theoretical rationale for…

The communication of research findings among collegiate institutional researchers is considered in relation to the contribution of qualitative language in general, and catastrophe theory in particular. The qualitative language of catastrophe theory may help reduce the arbitrariness of description, through identification of qualitative features…

Comparison of federal need-analysis formulas for student financial aid in 1992-93 and 1993-94 focused on elimination of home/farm equity from calculations, parent contributions, and Pell Grant awards. Results suggest higher unmet need and lower Pell Grant awards, and imply that the most needy students may lose gift assistance to more affluent…