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

A semimathematical model for library circulation control. The application is intended to contribute to a more structured yet flexible approach to library circulation management. It includes provisions for circulation policy analysis and management, recording, and controlling of circulation transactions. (Author/KP)

Discusses the problem of determining the cost of raising a foster child. Total costs include direct or out-of-pocket costs and indirect costs or the value of time devoted to rearing foster children. The use of secondary data for estimating costs in local areas is recommended. (MS)

This paper examines the potential for sample bias if the number of followup mailings in a survey is reduced. The results indicate that initial respondents differ from laggard respondents on five demographic characteristics, but differences diminish between early and late laggard respondents. Multiple mailings are necessary to improve the quality…

The second of three articles on abusive data collection and usage practices and their effect on personal privacy, discusses the evolution of data protection laws worldwide, and compares the scope, major provisions, and enforcement components of the laws. A chronology of key events in the regulation of computer databanks in included. (1 reference)…

Describes nonreactive methodology as unobstrusive methods of collecting data that do not interfere with the response itself. Discusses examples of use of nonreactive methodology in student affairs and presents practical steps to help in beginning a program of nonreactive research. (Author/NB)

A survey completed by 40 regular and 54 special education teachers indicated that the majority did not use or used sparingly the existing data collection methods. Ss collected and analyzed academic data more than adaptive, emotional, and social data. A computerized technique was advocated by the author. (CL)

Faculty feedback is an effective method for administrators to assess their performance and work toward leadership improvement. Guidelines for developing and using self-styled faculty feedback instruments are provided. (MD)

This article argues that treating interviews with adolescents as actual instances of adolescent-adult interaction yields an additional order of data, located in the conversing, which can complement the content analysis and interpretation of answers to questions. The technique is illustrated by transcribed passages from interviews with young…

A stringent "need to know" test for data gathering must be applied before teachers are asked to give their time supplying program information. (Author/RK)

Discusses the theory, design, and availability of laboratory recorders. (MLH)

Cognition in the elderly has been widely investigated, but there has been some disagreement concerning this phenomenon fostered in part by differences in instruments used, in data collection methods, and in analytic methods used. This study used Immediate and Delayed Recall data collected by the Health and Retirement Survey housed at the…

Evaluators of a statewide systemic school reform effort used Likert-type survey items to assess teachers satisfaction with the reform effort. They also asked teachers to respond to an open-ended item on the conversations about teaching and learning in which they had engaged in the previous 18 months. Thirty-three schools responded, for a total of…

The Microsoft Certification Program (MCP) includes many new computer-based item types, based on complex cases involving the Windows 2000 (registered) operating system. This Innovative Item Technology (IIT) has presented challenges beyond traditional psychometric considerations such as capturing and storing the relevant response data from…

This book shows how the results of needs assessments can be transformed into action plans for an organization and discusses the procedures for facilitating that change. The book also contains a detailed glossary of needs assessment terms. The chapters are: (1) "The Need"; (2) "The Three Phases of Needs Assessment: A Closer Look"; (3) "Data-Related…