The vocabulary of sampling is examined in order to provide a clear understanding of basic sampling concepts. The basic vocabulary of sampling (population, probability sampling, precision and bias, stratification), the fundamental grammar of sampling (random sample), sample size and response rate, and cluster, multiphase, snowball, and panel…

The analysis of questionnaire data involves a sequence of planned activities beginning with questionnaire development and concluding with a report of the results of the study. Most questionnaires require the use of numerical codes to facilitate computer processing of results and to select appropriate statistical procedures for summarizing the…

A description of the commercially produced Harris Data Memory is presented. Operation instructions, memory capabilities, data storage, and applications are included. Usefulness of the instrument to instruction in all of the sciences is considered. (SA)

Describes a needs assessment model which can be used by grass-roots organizations to collect socioeconomic and demographic data in Hispanic and other ethnic-minority communities. (CM)

Teaching mathematics as one would teach a science course (that is, as a field of intellectual inquiry) is advocated. Four illustrative activities, most appropriate for grades 5-8, are suggested. (MK)

Public Law 94-311, passed by Congress in 1976, called for the expansion of statistics reflecting the socioeconomic status of Hispanics. The article discusses the state of the Hispanic community in early 1979, one agency's difficulties in implementing the mandates of P.L. 94-311, and the status of other agencies' work on the law's requirements. (NQ)

Determined to learn first-hand what kinds of data are the most meaningful to admissions directors, a survey of 80 colleges and universities was conducted to inquire about the range of acceptability of their own school transcript practices. Results are discussed. (Editor/RK)

Management information needs vary as a function of departmental complexity, goals, and services. A model is proposed to enable institutional researchers to serve better the distinctive information needs of academic departments and their chairmen. (LBH)

Advocates that the Current Population Survey (CPS) be redesigned to permit valid longitudinal studies, that the CPS include questions to evaluate poverty programs, that a common sampling framework be designed for the CPS and operating agencies serving the poor to assure that links between CPS and other data can be established, and that samples of…

This paper describes the apparatus and methods of recording used in a study of language acquisition. Recording equipment, study time and length and procedures are discussed. (CHK)

Presents procedures based on Rasch measurement theory for construction of an assessment network, which is defined as a system of rate and task banks. Three general classes of data collection designs are presented to calibrate an assessment network and provide the opportunity for objective and fair measurements. (SLD)

Describes an approach to new school design that looks at architectural issues from a different angle: channeling a wide range of information into a targeted collection of ideas on which the architect can then base a design. It includes the collection of both factual and emotional components that are brought together into a final design. (GR)

Describes information metering technology as a method that information providers use to provide information collections to users in encrypted form and charge them only for the parts actually used. Discusses how two current information metering systems (Wave Systems Corporation and CD-MAX) operate, the institutions using their systems, and the…

Presents an activity that explores the derivation of Pi. Involves students taking a constructivist role by collecting data, making conjectures, and using the data to construct graphs and tables and discourse about appropriate algebraic representations. Uses the computer as an instructional aid to enable students to view the data in a variety of…

This eight chapters of this special issue introduce the use of a template to specify program components as a new tool for program evaluation. The template articulates the components needed for program delivery and provides a systematic method for assessing program implementation. (SLD)