Existing methods for collecting and analyzing nasality data are problematic for linguistic fieldworkers: aerodynamic equipment can be expensive and difficult to transport, and acoustic analyses require large amounts of optimally-recorded data. In this paper, a highly mobile and low-cost method is proposed. By connecting low impedance earbuds into…

We report on the implementation experience of carrying out data collection and other activities for a public health evaluation study on whether U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) investment improved utilization of health services and health system strengthening in Uganda. The retrospective study period focused on the PEPFAR…

It is important to be able to describe instructional practices accurately in order to support research on "what works" in education and professional development as a basis for efforts to improve practice. This report describes a project to develop procedures for characterizing classroom practices in mathematics and science on the …

The use of fieldwork in evaluation presents the fieldworker and agencies connected with educational evaluation with a number of critical problems. Four of these problems are identified and discussed: 1) definition of the "problem"; 2) multiplicity of signals, expectations, and responses; 3) dispensation of fieldwork data; and 4) collection of data…

The "CSE Program Evaluation Kit" is a series of nine books intended to assist people conducting program evaluations. This volume, the fourth in the kit, explains the basic assumptions underlying qualitative procedures, suggests evaluation situations where qualitative designs are useful, and provides guidelines for designing qualitative…

This paper attempts to provide evaluators, administrators, and policy makers with the advantages of and methodology of merging formative and summative data to enhance summative evaluations. It draws on RMC Research Corporation's 1980-81 California Statewide Evaluation of Migrant Education. The concern that evaluations typically fail to obtain the…

Attrition, or the loss of study subjects, confounds the subject identification process. Design attrition occurs when subjects initially involved in the study are excluded because of changes in study focus or rationale. Data collection attrition occurs when subjects are excluded because they were not contacted by the data gatherer, or because the…

A practical guide for designing and carrying out qualitative case study in education is provided. How-to advice for managing all phases of case study research is included. The focus is on case studies that draw from what is commonly known as the qualitative research paradigm rather than a quantitative, positivistic, experimental orientation. Three…

A methodology is presented for collection of cost data in evaluation of community-level health interventions that coincides with the intervention implementation. The seven discrete steps of the analysis are described, and the Minimal Contact Education for Cholesterol Change study is used as an example of how the strategy is used. (SLD)

Intended as a supplement to the National Testing Service (NTS) project proposal of September 12, 1978, this report describes the status (as of November 15, 1978) of the evaluation design and the field implementation plan used for the national evaluation study of Head Start Educational Services and the Basic Educational Skills demonstration…

This handbook, designed as a guide for new evaluators in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, provides an orientation to the "Discrepancy Evaluation Model" and a detailed outline of the administrative procedures necessary to conduct day-to-day activities in the first two stages of program evaluation. Guidelines for use during the first stage of…

This book offers a resource guide for qualitative researchers in education, discussing data collection techniques, data analysis, reporting, and the issues of validity, reliability, and ethics. Part 1 reviews the nature and design of qualitative research; it discusses various types of qualitative research (including case studies), and how to…

Describes a student field project which measured and interpreted ground-level aspects of the urban heat island in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. Discusses procedural steps and decisions, field procedures, data compiling, findings, evaluation, and dissemination of results. (Author/CK)

Two innovative methods for collecting and analyzing qualitative data are vignettes and pre-structured cases. Vignettes are descriptions of situations or problems written by a professional, with a suggested outline and comments provided by a researcher. Advantages of this method are strength of impact of the written descriptions and efficiency of…

Based on the evaluators' experience with a large-scale curriculum development project, this manual is designed to aid those who plan and implement field tests of educational products (instructional procedures and materials) in natural school settings. Within the procedures discussed, problems likely to arise are described. The steps in…