Discusses the importance of interaction among participants in conferences. Data on participant interaction must be used to evaluate conferences. Describes one graphic technique for collecting and analyzing this data. (JOW)

Student follow-up statistics must meet exacting federal standards; yet state educators and officials also wish to derive benefits from them. How should the model follow-up program be structured? Here is presented New Hampshire's solutions to this and other questions. (Author)

Argues for common understandings of the language and definitions used for recording information about libraries, and presents a method by which impressions of library behavior can be organized. (FM)

Describes the use of triangulation in a study by the author, and argues that triangulation heightens qualitative methods to their deserved prominence while demonstrating that quantitative methods can and should be used in a complementary fashion. (Author/IRT)

Argues that most social science does not take into account the way in which the master tropes (metaphor, synecdoche, metonymy, and irony) shape the writing as well as the gathering of qualitative data. (Author/IRT)

Ecuador is one of the first developing countries to attempt a full-scale sector analysis of elementary education. It is hoped that by focusing this article on the first phase of the study (design and data collection), a valuable contribution might be made to efforts in other countries. (RC)

When a person performs several activities at the same time, there is often competition for the processing resources required to do those activities. Recently, the authors developed a method for analyzing the tradeoffs that can occur when two or more tasks compete for the same limited resource. (Editor/RK)

Compares qualitative and quantitative research in terms of features, researcher role, design, data collection strategies, data analysis, and judgment. Offers advice about selecting a method. (SK)

A quadratic curve test equating method for equating different test forms under a random-groups data collection design is proposed that equates the first three central moments of the test forms. When applied to real test data, the method performs as well as other equating methods. Procedures from implementing the test are described. (SLD)

How should scarce resources available to produce metadata be deployed to support discovery in different contexts? How might metadata harvesting be exploited to support new interfaces and enhanced navigation among related resources in digital libraries? This article starts a conversation between metadata providers and service builders by describing…

Action research involves responding to practice problems through problem posing and solving. Its core processes are planning, acting, reflecting, and observing. Data collection methods include anecdotes, field notes, document analysis, logs, journals, portfolios, questionnaires, interviews, audio/video recordings, and tests of learner performance.…

Describes record linkage as a data-generating technique, and presents a method for linking client records to live and stillbirth records, using 32,974 births in the Cleveland (Ohio) area. Biases that can enter the linkage process and general research issues related to record linkage are discussed. (SLD)

Summarizes the existing practices of Internet research and suggests extensions to them (e.g., consideration of new capabilities, such as adaptive questions and higher levels of flexibility and control) based on a large-scale, national Web survey. Lessons learned include the use of a modular design, management of Web traffic, and the higher level…

Discusses access to and management and interpretation of online data. Considers the new ethical considerations arising when it is not clear whether participants in a conversation know or remember that they are being monitored. Also discusses data collection, preparation, preservation, and analysis. (SLD)

Collected substance use survey data from 69 of 105 targeted school districts in 12 states. Results indicate that the availability and quality of extant data currently limit their usefulness. Recommendations are made to assisting schools to improve the value of their substance use surveys. (SLD)