The purpose of this study was to introduce a procedure to detect differential item functioning (DIF) particularly suitable for criterion-referenced tests and to demonstrate how this approach would affect the identification of DIF items using real data sets. The procedure based on item response theory (IRT) assesses DIF at a limited closed interval…

It is argued that expressive writing strategies, particularly those used by New Journalists, may eventually serve as models for case reporting in social science research. New Journalism refers to a movement begun in the 1960's that strives to reveal the story hidden beneath surface facts. It involves the use of fictive techniques applied to the…

The paper sets the stage for the effective and efficient use of computers in institutional research. The microcomputer and the mainframe computer are contrasted for those researchers who have a choice of where to process data. General computer use, specific microcomputer and mainframe computing guidelines, and an application utilizing both…

The Project on Secondary Analysis directed its attention to methodology and policy issues, focusing on reanalysis of existing data (1979-82)--surveys, program evaluations, etc.--as a vehicle for learning how to improve methods of obtaining and analyzing data, designing program evaluations, and constructing policy to enhance the quality and utility…

The way that graphs can be used to make calculations that are commonly used by institutional researchers is described using specific examples, and the technique of constructing computational graphs (and nomographs) is outlined. It is shown that once a calculation involving several variables has been represented by a computation diagram or a…

This how-to-do-it guide for Oklahoma public libraries to use in evaluating their performance defines the individual performance measures, explains the data collection and analysis procedures, shows example calculations, and discusses the analysis and presentation of the performance measures. The performance measures are presented in terms of the…

This paper first examines different conceptions of collaborative research. It then reviews problems and benefits in collaborative research as perceived by teams of researchers and teacher center/teacher personnel in 14 projects funded by the Teachers' Center Exchange at the Far West Laboratory. Criteria for effective collaborative research are…

This monograph, the last in a series of four volumes, reports data gathered in a study designed to discover and interpret the home conditions under which young children in the English-speaking Caribbean Islands, especially the underprivileged, are nurtured. Section 1 of the document details the interview schedule, providing a comprehensive outline…

This study examined how sex-stereotyping and liking or disliking of teachers may affect subject preferences and subject choice in single-sex and co-educational secondary schools. (Author)

The focus of this research was on the question of organizational climate tendencies over time. Andrew Halpin and Don Croft developed the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire and some of the more important research questions raised in conjunction with its development were examined. (Author/RK)

The research investigated relational and analytic cognitive styles among 11 adult learners. Thirteen hypotheses were formulated and an instrument was developed to collect data on both styles. Predictions about learning environment preference were given reasonable support. (Author/EC)

Analyzes results of a ten-nation study of literature education in terms of three different "deep structures" or basic approaches to literature curricula. Analysis of responses reveals significant national differences in curricular deep structures and indicates that agreement between student and teacher responses increases as students'…

A school district surveyed community employers to determine desired competencies and students' possession of those competencies so that instructional planning could continue to develop the cooperative education program. (Editor)