There is no right way to forecast college enrollments; in many instances, it will be prudent to use both qualitative and quantitative methods. Methods chosen must be relevant to questions addressed, policies and decisions at stake, and time and talent required. While it is tempting to start quickly, enrollment forecasting is an area in which…

Revenue forecasting is the critical first step in most college and university budget-planning processes. While it seems a straightforward exercise, effective forecasting requires consideration of a number of interacting internal and external variables, including demographic trends, economic conditions, and broad social priorities. The challenge…

Reports on a statistics course designed to emphasize real-world applications. The course is primarily lab-based and provides students with numerous opportunities to demonstrate mastery of their skills. The instruction is tightly focused on achievable goals and utilizes hands-on experience and computer tutorials. (MJP)

Analyzes household and school survey data from poor counties in six Chinese provinces to examine the effects of poverty, intra-household decision-making, and school quality on educational investments and learning outcomes. Finds, for example, that being poor and credit-constrained does not significantly affect learning in school (as measured by…

Tested validity of the Portuguese version of the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation questionnaire. Found results similar to original French-Canadian instrument in stability, internal consistency, and factorial structure. Found associations between teacher's description of social competence and behavioral difficulties in Brazilian…

Using 1980 census data, examines incomes of females entering the United States between 1970 and 1980 who represented diverse cultures from 59 countries. Determines that educational attainment and English proficiency reflect positively in higher incomes. Finds female immigrant incomes are inversely proportionate to male labor force participation.…

Reports on an exploratory study examining the conditions that contribute to the frequency with which social studies teachers use groupwork. Uses both quantitative and qualitative methods. Finds that the factors contributing to use of groupwork are school and classroom factors, and teaching objectives. (SLM)

Analyzing Test of Economic Literacy (TEL) scores, examines how extent of teacher course work influences student achievement. Concludes student learning improves when instructors had a minimum of four economics courses. States results are most significant in teaching macroeconomics with implications for citizenship education. (CH)

This study (N=75) examined the effects of student ability, locus of control, and type of instructional control on performance and the motivational outcome of confidence. Results indicated that student ability and locus of control significantly influenced both performance and confidence, whereas type of instructional control did not affect…

Provides a short BASIC program, RANVAR, which generates random variates for various theoretical probability distributions. The seven variates include: uniform, exponential, normal, binomial, Poisson, Pascal, and triangular. (MVL)

Describes a survey of library systems and software vendors that examined the sources, management, and use of authority records in their systems and the functions of an authority control module within an integrated system. Several tables and graphs offer summaries and comparisons of vendors' offerings and capabilities. The questionnaire used is…

Examines the effects of opportunity-structure variables on the rate of labor market participation among 4,688 subjects from early adolescence to young adulthood. Discusses the effect of the following: (1) attitudes; (2) education; (3) drug use; (4) sex and race; and (5) early sanctions and failures. (FMW)

Compares political attitudes of West German and U.S. twelfth-year students 16 to 18 years old. Analyzes 39 items of an 80-item questionnaire from a cross-sectional survey of 552 West German and 483 U.S. students. Finds that West German students are more questioning and realistic than U.S. students. (KO)

Results of an experimental study involving 49 sixth-grade science students suggest that teacher-constructed graphic organizers, regardless of position (before or after textual reading), are no more effective than traditional instruction in increasing comprehension and retention of science content-area information. (IAH)

Reviews the seven papers presented at a symposium entitled "Perennial Issues in Qualitative Research," part of the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (San Francisco, California, 1986), and included in this issue. Discusses the demonstrated usefulness of qualitative methods in educational research, and also…