This paper describes the design and function of Louisiana's statewide student-level database, the Student Information System (SIS). In Louisiana the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education adopted the dropout definition of the National Center for Education Statistics for use by all Louisiana public schools in the 1989-1990 school year.…

This examination of data selection preceding multivariate analysis compares results grained with "gentle" and "draconian" variable elimination. To acquire comparable results, two stages of statistical exploration into an integrated model of motivation, learning strategies, and quality of teaching were used. The goal of the…

Discusses three interlocking areas associated with effectively and accurately conveying information about school performance to the public: (1) graphical display; (2) nonrandomly gathered data; and (3) statistical adjustment. Illustrates these points with historical data, including test results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress…

Describes the use of the program logic model as an integrative framework in the multimethod evaluation of a middle school curriculum delivery program. Shows how the logic model was used to focus data collection, organize data, and interpret the data in an integrative framework. Focuses on the area of computer skills to illustrate the usefulness of…

Professionals responsible for educational research, evaluation, and statistics have sought to provide timely and useful information to decision makers. Regardless of the evaluation model, research design, or statistical methodology employed, informing the decision making process with quality, reliable data is a basic goal. The definition of…

The sameness of and difference between autobiographical and biographical research methods were studied in this exploration of the researcher's work with six recent female immigrants to Canada, herself and her mother included. The self-study of autobiography and the biographical study of the researcher's mother and four other subjects were similar…

This paper discusses the use of peer debriefing to assist evaluators in their efforts to address project-end dilemmas and presents the implications of findings in this area for program evaluators and qualitative researchers. Peer debriefing has been defined as the process of exposing oneself to a disinterested peer to explore aspects of the…

Classroom observation is one of the premiere data collection methods available to those interested in teaching behavior. Observational techniques can be classified on a continuum ranging from low inference to high inference depending on the level of judgment required by the observer making the observation. Central to the issue of any form of…

To explore communication patterns within organizations, a network analysis was conducted of a large New York financial institution with 98 departments and 66 branches. Functional analysis revealed that departments had more and stronger communication linkages than did branches. Departments were also closer in communication distances than branches.…

This paper presents a model which illustrates the cyclical and interactive nature of the basic elements of the research design process. Rather than presenting each research design component in isolation, the model emphasizes their interrelationships. A brief discussion is presented on each of the following components of the model: (1) the "words"…

A dilemma faces the ethnographer whose discipline forces the creation of an objective text from an intimate participatory experience. There have been three ways in which ethnographers have attempted to solve the dilemma of producing the objectivity of a scientific text while acknowledging their presence in the field. The first approach is the…

Two studies were conducted to test the viability of a survey version of full-profile conjoint analysis. Conjoint analysis describes a variety of analytic techniques for measuring subjects'"utilities," or preferences for the individual attributes or levels of attributes that constitute objects under study. The first study compared the…

This description of ways in which a microcomputer can enhance the process of conducting qualitative research uses a multiple site case study in education carried out during 1986-87 as an example (the study examined the mobilization and implementation stages of introducing microcomputers into a majority adopter school district). Specific…

Despite growing interest in the use of anthropological or cultural research models, these approaches are not commonly understood by the higher education community. Because anthropological research differs significantly from other techniques, this paper first explains the rationale for using anthropological models to study higher education and…

Examples from the evaluation of a program in which data collection systems were developed jointly by the program's staff and evaluators are described. The Louisiana SPUR (Special Plan Upgrading Reading) Project was evaluated by the Louisiana Department of Education Bureau of Evaluation. SPUR involves 63 of the state's 66 public school systems and…