Presents a research methodology related to needs assessment that can be used in a variety of settings in vocational education. It involves the use of small-group sessions and has five steps: introduction to meeting, silent generation of ideas, round-robin listing, discussion for clarification, and ranking of items. (Author/CT)

To improve school bus safety it is important to improve school bus data collection. Includes discussion of danger potential of older bridges and the importance of school bus drivers. (MD)

The authors explore the boundaries of ethnography (the use of some model of cultural process in both the gathering and interpretation of data). They define what is studied when one studies "culture," education as cultural transmission, and "good" ethnography as interpretation and cultural translation. (CT)

Surveyed attitudes toward the importance of privacy, seriousness of various privacy invasions, organizations that are trusted or mistrusted, etc. Concluded, among other findings, that most respondents were wary of possible invasions of privacy by the government but preferred government regulation of data collection by private businesses to…

Jurgen Habermas' theory relating to systems of action is used in an attempt to analyze the dynamic focus of home economics--the family--as a means of exploring the potential of the theory to promote understanding of family activities. (Author/CT)

Citation data for higher education journal articles published in the core literature from 1975 to 1981 are presented. Reference use trends are examined over the period covered by the research and by the role and institutional location of authors. Publishing medium, article type, and author demographic factors are discussed. (Author/MLW)

Questions are answered concerning the planning of an employer tuition aid study. Questions include: who will carry out the study, how will the information be used, how will the employers be selected, what information will be collected, how will the information be collection, and how will information be reported. (CT)

Compares self-reported job search contacts of unemployment insurance recipients with independently verified job-search contacts. The separate equations estimated for reported and actual job contacts suggest that systematic misreporting may distort the conclusions. Some implications of the findings for reported unemployment rates also are explored.…

Observation is important in evaluation, but artifact collection should also be used as a supplement to observation. This article includes a framework for analysis of content, design, and presentation of such material in teacher evaluation. (MD)

A microcomputer was installed in a large state mental retardation facility's Behavior Treatment Program to aid in data storage and analysis. Subjective estimates suggested that habilitative program analysis, review, and change were facilitated by the system. (Author/CL)

Uses Straus's Conflict Tactics Scale to show that couple data may be used for the evaluation of scale items and for the assessment of the validity of frequency estimates of violence and its relationship with other variables. Results showed that aggregate husband-wife data cannot substitute for couple data. (JAC)

Discusses difficulties in data collection which arise from the complex nature of time perspective and from characteristics associated with older respondents. An awareness of certain basic points can enhance the quality and accuracy of data collection. A number of generic methodological considerations are discussed, and various suggestions offered.…

An introduction and overview to document analysis as a retrospective data collection technique are presented. (PN)

Study obtained data on the effectiveness of the Selection Research, Inc., (SRI) Perceiver in staff hiring procedures. The Purdue Teacher Evaluation Scale was used by students and supervisors to rate the performance of secondary teachers. Conclusions seem to indicate that traditional hiring methods result in hiring teachers as competent as those…

Presents some specific questions that educators ought to raise about standardized tests and some alternatives to standardized tests. (Author/IRT)