The purpose of this project was to research and develop two design guides on environments important to child development: child care facilities and outdoor play areas, and to specify new, research-based criteria for the planning and design of these facilities for military bases around the world. The current paper is a synopsis of parts of this…

The study of PASS 2 (program analysis of service systems) had two aims: to investigate the internal statistical properties of the evaluation instrument and to compare the relative quality (as measured by PASS 2) of services to the mentally retarded delivered in community versus institutional settings, to different age groups, in several human…

This manual is a beginning guide to program evaluation. Designed for program evaluators who have little or no previous experience in manipulating data, this guide is designed to demonstrate how to evaluate different aspects of a vocational rehabilitation program--and use those findings for program improvement. The use of averages, percentages, and…

This training guide for evaluating vocational rehabilitation programs and services is designed for use by state vocational rehabilitation agencies in developing a system for evaluating either their overall program or specific aspects of it. The manual first addresses itself to the rationale for program evaluation, and then examines the evaluation…

The authors define action or "on the job" research as a type of applied research undertaken by practitioners in order to solve practical problems and improve operations in the educational or institutional setting. Advantages and disadvantages of using action research are presented and procedures for conducting it outlined. Two tables list…

Tips on constructing survey instruments and examples of alternative formats for questionnaire items are provided in this paper. The 18 tips cover such areas as instructions for respondents, wording of questionnaire items, grouping of items, handling of difficult or sensitive questions, fixed-response items, open-ended questions, and questionnaire…

The manual provides vocational educators with information and guidelines regarding the design and use of questionnaires and interviews for gathering data and the construction, tabulation, and analysis of both open ended and forced response survey instruments. The first of nine chapters deals with surveys as a data collection technique, discusses…

This booklet is intended to serve as a step-by-step layman's guide to conducting a community survey, tabulating the findings of the survey, and presenting a final report of the survey findings. It is written in simple nontechnical language and contains numerous examples of various survey forms and procedures. Among the major topics discussed are:…

Notes the drawbacks of the artificial separation of content and method in most undergraduate, sociology department, course offerings. Reports on the development and operation of a local research center as a means of melding content and method. (JDH)

Describes how the lost letter technique, a research ploy involving leaving stamped, addressed letters in public locations and seeing if people will mail them, may be used to introduce students to experimental method in sociological research. Students manipulated letter location, size, and address in order to judge different effects such variations…

Describes three methods of sample size determination, each having its use in investigation of social science problems: Attribute method; Continuous Variable method; Galtung's Cell Size method. Statistical generalization, benefits of cell size method (ease of use, trivariate analysis and trichotyomized variables), and choice of method are…

This methodology guide is designed to help study teams answer basic questions about how to conduct a regional economic analysis of the child care sector. Specific examples are drawn from a local study, Tompkins County, NY, and two state studies, Kansas and New York, which the Cornell team conducted. Other state and local studies are also…

The promise charter schools hold for public school innovation and reform lies in an unprecedented combination of freedom and accountability. Underwritten with public funds but run independently, charter schools are free from a range of state laws and district policies stipulating what and how they teach, where they can spend their money, and who…

This guide explains what the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) database is and how it can be used by parents to learn more about schooling and parenting. The guide also presents descriptions of 55 articles and documents that can be obtained through ERIC. The cited resources are particularly relevant to parents' concerns about meeting…

The field manual for a series of coordinated studies of the spontaneous acquisition of a second language by adult immigrant workers provides a theoretical and practical framework for the entire project and a source of information about it for other researchers. Chapters 1 and 2 describe the project's objectives and organization. Chapter 3 reviews…