Needs sensing is any type of systematic assessment of needs ranging from formal data collection through surveys to a more informal use of expert opinion through advisory groups. It is especially difficult to use systematically collected, data-based needs in research and development (R & D) organizations because they typically: (1) have the…

Many international standards have been developed to aid information transfer and feedback, but they must be updated and promoted. International Organization for Standards (ISO) technical committees dealing with terminology, documentation, and information processing have several programs designed to meet this need. Catalogs, indexes, and…

The prime function of a special library is the correlation of all aspects of patron needs, coupled with extensive knowledge of the parent organization. Business librarians should be alert to their role as facilitators, and routing sheets are an example of internally generated information distribution. Feedback from employees can also provide the…

With the increased use of the follow-up study on graduates, it has become necessary to research and compare the results of alternative methods of data collection on a diverse student population. The purpose of this study is to determine the most effective data collection method by examining the rate and nature of responses and the cost of three…

This report briefly describes the procedures for assessing children's psychological development and the data analytic framework used in the New York City Infant Day Care Study. This study is a 5-year, longitudinal investigation in which infants in group and family day care programs and infants reared at home are compared. Children in the study are…

This report provides an account of the nature and purposes of data collected concerning the health, nutrition, and physical development of infants during the first three years of life, in order to compare the physical health of children in family or group day care and children with no previous day care experience. The data collected include the…

Marital adjustment over the family life cycle is reexamined using data from probability samples of married couples studied in coordinated research projects in three different states--Iowa, Ohio, and Georgia. A total of 1,584 respondents completed the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Scale and responded to questions about stage of the family life…

Florida Junior College at Jacksonville has developed a Community Survey process that provides information needed for adequate communication between community and college. A step-by-step description of the survey process is provided, beginning with the setting of objectives and ending with a summary of results. The objectives of the survey were to…

It is clear that women have made progress in advancing into the ranks of school administration since the passage of Title IX, and equally clear that they have not achieved parity with men. Recognizing the problems posed by the absence of reliable, comparative data, and considering the need for longitudinal studies to be able to address the…

Organizations are looking at ways to manage their information resources. Both the capture and the use of data created by the organization have come under scrutiny. Part of the concern comes from their desire to enhance the business process and part comes from the explosion of data available to any organization. In this context the role of…

This paper describes the processes for collecting information about the objectives of a medical school curriculum and the validation studies of those processes. Major revisions were implemented in the curriculum of the first 2 years at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in 1998. In the 2000-2001 academic year, student and faculty groups…

Conducting and analyzing a school culture audit can be a useful diagnostic tool and can enhance the impact of a school improvement plan. This paper describes the administration of a school culture audit and describes the use of the culture audit results to begin interaction with stakeholders relative to the school improvement process. The emphasis…

This study examined the data selection process preceding multivariate analysis for a data set measuring student motivation and self-regulated learning. Data were 138 responses to a questionnaire on motivation and self-regulated learning, adapted for Finnish students. The first goal was to compare the results gained with "gentle" and…

An environmental scanning process was used to solicit opinions about the future of Columbia Basin College, Washington, from various interest groups. The interest groups were formed to research topics and areas important to the future of the college. Ten interest groups, with a total of 37 members, were founded and the scanning process was also…

This study examines key theoretical principles of learning-oriented evaluation for HRD programs. Practical guidelines for the implementation of learning-oriented evaluation are also developed based on the related literature. This study suggests that evaluation should be a learning process in which information and knowledge are socially constructed…