Running experiments and grabbing experimental data are great ways to learn and teach science and mathematics. Data grabbers are instruments that capture physical data in electronic form for graphing and analysis in graphing calculators and computers. Describes some data grabbers and points to items in their gigantic support system. (PVD)

An environmental scanning system was developed by the admissions office of a graduate school of management in a small southeastern university. The school's strategic planning committee felt that it would be beneficial to acquire information concerning issues, trends, and possible events that might impact upon the school in the future and to…

General research designs and procedures, special methods applicable to libraries and media centers, and research techniques from educational technology are discussed in this guide to research applications in the school media center. Topics covered include the nature of the research process; the identification and definition of researchable…

The guide is intended to explain and demonstrate by example how to use the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) system, especially to find information pertaining to Mexican Americans. An overview of ERIC and ERIC/CRESS (ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools) is given, noting definitions, potential users, types of…

Volume III of the National Day Care Study First Annual Report funded by the Office of Child Development describes the information management system which was developed and tested during Phase I. In addition, the volume includes overviews of the sample instruments from the three major data collection systems developed during the year: the Research…

This guide to planning and conducting research projects covers how to decide on a research problem, state a hypothesis, plan for the collection of data, write a proposal, analyze and interpret data, and write the research report. Overall, the book takes a practical, hands-on approach and offers checklists, suggestions, and guidelines for all the…

In the summer of 1969, Educational Testing Service (ETS) began identifying the 1,650 3 1/2-year-old children in four sites across the country who would become part of a six-year longitudinal study designed to assess the impact of Head Start. The sites were Lee County, Alabama, St. Louis, Missouri, Trenton, New Jersey, and Portland, Oregon. The…

Commissioned by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to assess the status of data collection activities in the museum community, this report reinforces recommendations made by a similar 1998 study, addressing the need for systematic data collection to inform public policy and museum management decision-making. The report examines a…

Electronic access to research on women is available in a variety of forms, from both primary and secondary sources. Both types of sources are growing dramatically in number and scope. This guide provides information on resources directly available to the researcher through electronic communications media. It includes enough technical information…

Ethnographic research (1) observes human behavior in its natural setting over a substantial period of time, (2) claims that classes of events are better understood through intensive examination of carefully selected particular cases, (3) incorporates as many of the complexities and variables into a setting as possible, and (4) is usually comprised…

The main objective of this study was the development of an evaluation and reporting system that would provide information considered to be meaningful to those involved at the local, district, state, and federal levels. Subobjectives are to determine the amount and type of evaluation information needed at each level to assess the ability and…

This is a compendium of research instruments and procedures concerned with the school curriculum and instructional practices for developing a data base to be used in comprehensive educational planning. The instruments and procedures were designed and tested with the cooperation of the boards of education, administrators, teachers, students, and…

Produced as part of the Targeted Outcomes Field Development Project, this handbook provides basic guidelines that can be used by community colleges for organizing and conducting community impact studies. An introductory chapter touches on the broad range of economic, educational, social, and technological impacts which community colleges have upon…

The proceedings of this forum contain 23 papers focusing mainly on the technical aspects of institutional research. Most of the authors are institutional research officers in various colleges and universities. Part 1 contains papers on institutional research methodology. They deal with such topics as faculty load studies, enrollment projections,…

A number of problems are identified and questions raised about the usefulness of conventional instruments of educational and psychological measurement in curriculum evaluation and research. Four purposes of curriculum evaluation data are identified: (1) advancement of science, (2) curriculum revision, (3) provision of data for the formulation of…