With the view that social scientists conduct too little exploratory research, the author outlines the methods and attitudes of the exploratory analyst and describes the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) as a source of research data. Exploratory analysis, in which no paradigm is used, is contrasted with confirmatory research, which…

This study assessed the construct validity of a cognitive structure interpretation of multidimensional scaling solutions of concept similarity data. Using high school subjects, convergent validity was assessed through correspondence of scaling solutions of three similarity rating tasks; word association, similarity judgment, and semantic…

Results of a national survey to determine preferences and priorities for school mathematics in the 1980's are reported. Responses were obtained from samples of nine populations, including teachers, supervisors, and other professionals in mathematics education, plus principals, school board members, and PTA presidents. First-round surveys concerned…

THE AUTHOR POINTS OUT PROBLEMS IN TEST RESEARCH AND INTERPRETATION, SOME OF WHICH ARE DUE TO CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE FINDINGS OF THE DATA ANALYST WHO IS RESTRICTED TO BASING HIS DECISIONS ON SELECTED DATA ONLY, AND THE TEST INTERPRETER WHO IS AWARE OF VARIABLE VALIDITIES OF SUCH UNTESTED FACTORS AS SITUATIONAL ANXIETY, PERSONALITY, MOTHER-TONGUE…

This training text is designed to introduce program evaluation concepts and terminology to beginning program evaluators for state-federal vocational rehabilitation programs. Taking a research approach, the text covers the principles underlying program evaluation, and is geared to give the reader a basic understanding of how these principles can be…

Based on a sample of 12 representative school boards in Ontario, a normative method of analysis was utilized in addressing the major concerns of the study: the appropriate number of noncertified staff for a given school board, future demand for and supply of noncertified staff, and the resultant implications of such information. The study…

A study is described which examined the relationships between law-related knowledge, attitudes, and demographic characteristics of high school students. Participants were 457 students in grades nine through 12 from four high schools near Phoenix, Arizona. Three questionnaires were administered: (1) a 65-item social attitude questionnaire on…

The paper reports on a research study investigating the attitudinal and content retention effects of a proposed values/moral education model. The research focuses on four components: 1) appropriate research designs consistent with the model used, 2) appropriate, reliable, and valid posttest attitude tests consistent with the expressed goals and…

The accuracy with which regression models estimate treatment effects is dependent upon a number of conditions. The stability of the regression line (a function of sample size and correlation between pretest and posttest) is said to be the most important of these conditions. The utility of regression models is proportional to the size of the…

The activities of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in evaluating educational programs are described. Program evaluations are categorized as needs assessment, formative evaluation, or summative evaluation. Three classic efforts which illustrate the range of ETS' participation are the Pennsylvania Goals Study (1965), the Coleman Report--Equality of…

Research will be conducted which will investigate the process by which individuals gain access to careers. (Career is defined as empirically determined regularities in job sequences.) The research program is organized around two phases of analysis. The first phase involves empirically constructing multi-dimensional career lines through extensive…

This paper discribes the analysis of data in the Management Implications of Team Teaching Project (MITT). It touches on the interviews conducted with teachers and principals, presents the breadth of information obtained in the questionnaire, and explains how the data were aggregated and how issues were grouped. Information collected in the…

The Timed Interval Categorical Observation Recorder (TICOR), a portable, battery powered microcomputer designed to automate the collection of sequential and simultaneous behavioral observations and their associated durations, was developed to overcome problems in gathering subtle interaction analysis data characterized by sequential flow of…

The Consumer Information Center is a federal program which encourages federal agencies to develop and release consumer information to the public. It also promotes consumer awareness and access to information through the "Consumer Information Catalog" and a mail order distribution operation. Through research, the Center can learn the…

A relatively simple procedure for modeling periodic components in time series data is presented in this paper, along with an example of the procedure's use with communication data. Similar to multiple regression analysis, the described procedure has four steps that are based on information about periodic waves and their components, how to create…