Maintains that usual method of analyzing student evaluation of teaching (SET) data is inappropriate. Shows results of both ordinary least squares (OLS) and multinominal logit data analysis approaches on 6,872 student evaluation of economics faculty at University of California, Santa Barbara during the 1983-84 academic year. Results show…

Provides a classroom demonstration designed to test an astrological hypothesis and help teach introductory psychology students about research design and data interpretation. Illustrates differences between science and nonscience, the role of theory in developing and testing hypotheses, making comparisons among groups, probability and statistical…

The Bayesian inferential process is modified for use in an aggregate meta-analytic evaluation. Compared with the average effect size meta-analytic approach, the Bayesian approach was more sensitive, more consistent and more powerful. This approach is recommended when primary data are not available and when all evaluations involve comparisons of…

A glance at any newspaper shows that graphs play an important part in presenting data to the public. It appears self-evident that children need to develop "graphical literacy" as part of their mathematics education. As part of a series of mathematically orientated science activities in the Practical Mechanics in Primary Mathematics project, 102…

This report examines how Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) sites used data to plan reforms and assess reform success, noting where and how they gathered data. Chapter 1, "The Need for Data," discusses: assessing data utilization, using data to enhance communication, and using this report to support reform. Chapter 2,…

Discusses and compares the meaning of epistemic uses of modals. Demonstrates that the relation between them is not as simple as has been frequently suggested. The article bases its observations on the data from a corpus of parallel French and English texts, pointing out that such a corpus can open new avenues for investigation of an old topic. (18…

The seven chapters of this special issue explore problems in how to better understand the reasoning process that is used to establish evaluative conclusions. The many unanswered questions about reasoning should stimulate further investigation of the meaning of sound evaluative reasoning. (SLD)

Assessment is described from the perspective of counselor inferential judgment. The problem with the conceptualization of assessment as a list of questions or measure is the possibility of getting stuck in the content of assessment. Types of cognitive bias and ways to avoid inferential error are discussed. (LKS)

This paper compares the results of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the Carnegie surveys of postsecondary faculty and notes the differently constructed samples, the different response rates, and different weighting schemes in analysis and interpretation. Inconsistencies in the surveys' results are identified and methodological…

The degree of agreement between two raters rating several objects for a single characteristic can be expressed through an association coefficient, such as the Pearson product-moment correlation. How to select an appropriate association coefficient, and the desirable properties and uses of a class of such coefficients--the Euclidean…

Examines theories of interpretation in light of racial issues and the understanding that race is one of several "communities of meaning." Argues that, as systems of understanding, hermeneutic theories need interrogation from the point of view of the ideology of race and the practices of racial discrimination. (JB)

Discusses a shift in administration and decision making at colleges and universities since 1975 towards substantially more use of data and analysis to respond to such constituencies as federal agencies, state legislators, students, and donors. Urges the use of research to respond to new policy questions, such as appropriate rates of withdrawal…

Responds to a critique by Mudford, Hogg, and Roberts (1997) that raised concerns about the observation code used in a longitudinal research project to assess emerging behavior state patterns in young children with disabilities. Concerns about the thoroughness of the reliability data collected by Mudford are discussed. (Author/CR)

Provides a procedure for interpreting the Campbell Interest and Skills Survey (CISS) and illustrates how it might be used to generate hypotheses during the counseling process. Examines the responses of a 29-year-old female high school teacher to the CISS. Addresses issues to be explored in counseling. (Author/MKA)

Presents and responds to questions the author would ask himself before meeting with a client whose Self-Directed Search he has reviewed. The client in the case is a 29-year-old female high school teacher faced with four occupational opportunities from which she is trying to make a choice. (MKA)