Addresses the Welsh school-effect in which schools in Wales generally have lower school outcome measures compared to England although the growing number of Welsh medium schools in South Wales are doing better. Suggests an alternative way of analyzing school performance data that leads to the opposite conclusion on both propositions. (CMK)

Since many of the important energy-transferring pathways involve synthesis or degradation of biological macromolecules, observations of the enzymes responsible for starch breakdown provide a useful case study. Provides a short, one-step assay for the enzymes amylase and amyloglucosidase. Topics covered include goals, preparation, assay procedure,…

Explains how the graphing calculator can be used in simulations of physics experiments and how its use for plotting graphs requires a shift in emphasis from obtaining an experimental result to evaluating that result. (DDR)

Explores ways in which researchers gathered and analyzed data from time-log diaries kept by further education instructors in order to illuminate the social conditions of teaching. Describes the process of refinement of diaries and the combination of qualitative and quantitative data. (Contains 40 references.) (SK)

Presentation of quantitative research on the family often suffers from a tendency to interpret findings on a statistical rather than substantive basis. Advocates the use of data analysis that lends itself to an intuitive understanding of the nature of the findings, the strength of the association, and the import of the result. (JPS)

Examines whether mnemonic strategies can be successfully applied to the learning of a non-Roman foreign-language alphabet. Students were given materials presenting Russian letters and their English sounds on each page. Beneath each letter was a mnemonic. Findings indicate that these strategies enhance the learning speed of non-Roman…

Proposes a new system of analysis of English-for-Science-and-Technology data. The article reanalyzes data from previous grammatical-rhetorical interpretations and proposes that each grammatical tense/aspect form in English, including the passive, can be reduced to a semantic core that may be combined with one of several types into which predicate…

Based on a 1993 survey of 187 children's librarians in 14 states, this status report summarizes and discusses data representing input measures, output measures, fill rates, and special questions about the relationship between school and public libraries. It makes recommendations for improving the quantity and quality of data used to make decisions…

Data analysis problems, particularly involving the likelihood of obtaining visually ambiguous graphs, pose a barrier to efforts to promote increased use of single-case evaluation by practitioners. Uses findings from an evaluation of a cognitive-behavioral intervention with adolescent sex offenders to illustrate data analysis problems. (JPS)

Web server logs contain a great deal of information about who uses a Web site and how they use it. This article discusses the analysis of Web logs for instructional Web sites; reviews the data stored in most Web server logs; demonstrates what further information can be gleaned from the logs; and discusses analyzing that information for the…

Reviews information from a quarter century of surveys, focusing on such topics as the view of public funding of the arts, differences among group attitudes toward the arts, and support/opposition views on federal arts funding. Addresses problems with surveys and investments in data collection and analysis. (CMK)

Describes when and how to carry out many of the most common statistical tests including mean, standard deviation, confidence limits, correlation, regression, t-test, Chi square test, and ANOVA. Uses Excel to perform these operations. (DDR)

Getting answers to questions about schools and student learning requires that educators know how to collect, analyze, and interpret data. Six critical steps in this process include: posing questions, establishing judgment criteria, making a plan, gathering data, analyzing data, and interpreting results. These steps can serve as a beginning guide…

Examines the role of physical surroundings and artifacts and how they contribute to the knowledge work occurring there, based on preliminary analysis of data collected in interviews and observations of a research group over a four-month period. General issues of the interaction between information work and environment can be revealed and applied…

A complex tool, data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used to evaluate the relative efficiency of major academic research libraries that are members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). Results of a two-year base line study using traditional measures taken from 1995-96 ARL statistics are reported. (AEF)