This Handbook provides an introduction to basic procedures and methods of data analysis. The authors provide a framework to guide program staff in their thinking about these procedures and methods and their relevant applications in MSHS (Migrant and Seasonal Head Start) settings. Accordingly, this Handbook was developed to support the work of…

Study undertaken to determine the particular areas in science which are of common interest to intermediate grade boys and girls from three different environmental settings. (Authors)

Authors outline a two-quarter, graduate sociology course in fieldwork that they teach at the University of California, Davis. The course addresses the tasks of data collection, focusing gathered data scientifically, data analysis, and dealing with consequences of the research. (GC)

Educational attainment provides some indication of the extent to which a person will be "trainable" for professional purposes, with the result that preference is given to the more education. Unemployment rate trends among young people in France and Italy are analyzed and "under-utilisation" is described. (MLW)

The various costs of Type I and Type II errors of inference from data are discussed. Six methods for minimizing each error type are presented, which may be employed even after data collection for Type I and which minimizes Type II errors by a study design and analytical means combination. (Author/CM)

Empirical results from two studies--a simulation study and an experimental one--indicated that, in achievement data of the problem-solving type where a specific subject matter area is being tested, the greater the variety of the algorithms used, the higher the dimensionality of the test data. (Author/PN)

Analyzes problems in the use of cohort data as illustrated by cohort data on drinking alcoholic beverages taken from American national surveys conducted during the late 1950s, late 1960s, and late 1970s. Researchers are cautioned that all available "side information" should be considered before statistical cohort models are tested. (Author/RC)

The impact of an academic progress policy implemented at Cleveland State University is reviewed and evaluated with a focus on: the methodology used in identifying students affected by the academic progress policy; student characteristics; possible misuse of Title IV funds; and benefits and future of the policy. (MLW)

The origins of institutional research and its association with a planning function are reviewed. The role of values, politics, and social pressures in regard to the planning function are examined. Planning is likely to be more directed to attaining administrative and faculty aspirations than to meeting educational and social needs. (Author/MLW)

An ACE follow-up study of women and minorities in academic administration includes the presentation of employment patterns and salary compensation findings for the 1978-79 academic year, a longitudinal analysis of the changes experienced by women and minorities between 1975-78, and explanations for low percentages of women and minorities. (MLW)

A study to demonstrate the wide divergence of attitudes to various aspects of music between students of different levels of education, localities and sex, and also between students and their parents, and between parents of different sex is reported. Recognition of differences must be considered in curricula design. (Author/MLW)

A study of 89 Basic Educational Opportunity Grants requiring validation disclosed some disheartening data: an overall total understatement of $54,982 in adjusted gross income and a total overstatement of $1,164 paid in U.S. income taxes. This data was compared to the institutional cost of the validation process. (MLW)