A study of the college presidency that uses "career trajectory" as a better way to understand administrative careers is described. There appears to be little advance planning either by the individual or the organization along a specific route that would lead to a college presidency. (MLW)

The histories of five multisite, qualitative policy studies were examined to see how much variation in formalization reflected the technical requirements of the research problem, the demands of the federal client, and the preferences of the project team and its professional network. (Author/PN)

Describes the scope, objectives, and status of a study of user responses to public online catalogs conducted in 1982 with Council on Library Resources (CLR) funding. The framework for evaluating the user-catalog interface, data collection, and questionnaire content are discussed, and a copy of the survey questionnaire is appended. (Author/JL)

Alternate approaches to traditional research techniques available for the physical educator are: (1) field research, using structured and unstructured observation in actual settings; (2) survey analysis to ascertain current conditions or practice; (3) field experiments conducted in actual settings with experimenter controls; (4) time series…

Investigates relationship between number of card catalog access points provided for a group of randomly selected education book titles in academic library and number of times the same titles circulated in specified period of time. Research method, sample selection, and data collection and analysis are discussed. Twelve references are provided.…

Best Liked/Least Liked is a technique for collecting evaluation information. The technique is composed of stages (data collection, data analysis, and data interpretation) that are characterized by ease of use. Its use can be narrowly or broadly focused, and it can be used for achievement testing or affective measurement. (Author/PN)

Issues and considerations likely to be confronted in designing and constructing longitudinal institutional databases or studies are examined, including operational definitions of retention and attrition. The intent is to reduce current limitations in dropout research. (MSE)

Presents the results of a study on data collection instruments, specifically questionnaires, used by libraries in evaluating resource use and institutional effectiveness. A number of causes for inconsistent survey results are identified and problems with imprecision in survey question terminology are discussed. (JL)

Describes the use of sample surveys in student affairs data collection. Discusses guidelines for planning, designing, and conducting research projects which employ survey methodology. Considers survey methodology, wording of questions, survey format, and sample size. (RC)

In a simulated adversary-advocacy evaluation of a computer-assisted school guidance program, the evaluation audience's reaction to different forms of data, the order of argument presentations, and the rated attitude of the evaluator are shown to influence audience agreement with evaluation recommendations. (CM)

Describes four types of decisions concerning admissions policies for allied health programs: (1) refining applicant evaluation criteria; (2) identifying information sources whose data can be quantified; (3) transforming these data into measurable form; and (4) conducting evaluation of admission criteria. (Author/CT)

The ethnographer should be part historian, part psychologist, part sociologist, part anthropologist, and must apply rigorous and consistent rules and procedure to the various steps in his/her research in order to arrive at reliable conclusions. An ethnographic observational study of administrative behavior of eight school superintendents provides…

Four types of values education approaches for use in teaching in high school biology classes are described. The approaches include moral development, values clarification, action learning, and analysis. Inculcation is mentioned but not discussed because the author feels that it does little to help develop values. (SA)

Describes a process for evaluating career education activities. Discusses the selection of the evaluation sample, selection and development of instruments, data reduction and analysis, comparison standards, and preparation of an evaluation handbook. (JOW)