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April 27, 2007
Mitofsky Award-Call for nominations
Call for nominations for:
The Warren J. Mitofsky Award for Excellence in Public Opinion Research
An annual award of The Roper Center
The Mitofsky award carries a cash prize and recognizes outstanding research or reporting that uses The Roper Center's public opinion data archive. The 2007 award prize is $1,000. The award recognizes important work on public opinion or survey methodology that has been published in a book, journal, magazine, or newspaper, or presented at a professional conference. Special consideration will be given to work that is based on data obtained by the researcher or author directly from the Roper archive, as well as to work that utilizes multiple data sources or compares survey results over time. The award recognizes both work published recently and work from the past that continues to have a significant impact on our understanding of society. The award will be celebrated this November at The Mitofsky Award Dinner in New York.
Anyone can make a nomination by submitting a statement that includes the full citation of the work and a brief description of the work's outstanding accomplishment and its use of the Roper Center's public opinion data archive.
For full consideration nominations must be received by June 30, 2007.
Please send nominations to:
Robert Y. Shapiro
Columbia University
Department of Political Science
420 W. 118th St., 730 IAB
New York, NY 10027
Tel: (212) 854-3944 Fax: (212) 222-0598
E-Mail: rys3@columbia.edu
Posted by ronbo at 02:33 PM
April 26, 2007
From ANES list: ANES 2006 Pilot Study Full Release is Now Available
Dear ANES User Community:
We're delighed to announce the full release of the 2006 ANES Pilot Study dataset and codebook. The Pilot Study data were previously made available in an "advance release." The full release features a nonresponse adjustment weight, additional auxillary ariables (such as geocodes and derived variables to summarize other variables), data from 10 additional interviews conducted after the data processing for the advance release had begun, and more complete documentation.
Any analysis of ANES Pilot Study data that is intended for publication should be based on this full release, which replaces the advance release.
To download the 2006 ANES Pilot Study dataset, or to visit the study page and learn more about the survey, please visit our Data Center at http://www.electionstudies.org/studypages/download/datacenter.htm
The 2006 ANES Pilot Study appears in the blue box to the left of the page, just under the ANES Cumulative Data File.
One noteworthy feature of the 2006 Pilot Study is that all of the Pilot Study respondents completed a pre-election interview in 2004. Many essential variables regarding the 2006 respondents (including basic demographics) are contained in the ANES 2004 time series data file (not to be confused with the 2004 ANES Panel Study). The 2004 time series file can be merged with the 2006 ANES Pilot Study for analysis. For more information, see the Pilot Study codebook introduction (ftp://ftp.electionstudies.org/ftp/nes/studypages/2006pilot/anes_2006pilot_int.txt).
As always, we are happy to receive your questions and comments on all aspects of the ANES at anes@electionstudies.org.
Sincerely,
Matthew DeBell, Ph.D.
Director of Stanford Operations for the American National Election Studies
Institute for Research in the Social Sciences Stanford University
Posted by ronbo at 04:05 PM
April 24, 2007
NEW NCES REPORT! - Course Credit Accrual and Dropping Out of High School
In this report, differences in the average number of course credits earned between high school graduates and dropouts, both within and accumulated across academic years, are examined in order to describe enrollment and completion behavior of high school graduates and dropouts. Differences in course credit accrual by selected subjects (English, mathematics, and science) are also reported. Data for this study are drawn from high school transcripts collected in 2005 as part of the first follow-up to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002). These high school transcripts provide enrollment histories, graduation dates, and coursetaking patterns. The findings from the analysis indicate that high school dropouts earn fewer credits than do on-time graduates within each academic year, and the gap in course credits accrued between dropouts and on-time graduates increased across academic years. Differences were also observed in the course credit accrual of dropouts and on-time graduates by selected subjects (e.g., mathematics, science, and English). In addition, the gap in the cumulative number of course credits accrued between on-time graduates and dropouts grew more pronounced over time, and the disparity in cumulative course credits was most evident in the final academic year in which they earned any course credits.
To download, view and print the report as a PDF file, please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2007018
Posted by ronbo at 10:21 PM
APRIL 30 SYMPOSIUM & RECEPTION - CENSUSES & SURVEYS:STILL USEFUL FOR THE COMMON GOOD?
Stanford faculty, students and staff are invited to attend a public symposium and reception on Monday, April 30, from 4:00 - 6:00 pm. in the Jonsson Social Sciences Reading Room, located on the first floor of the Green Library Bing Wing. Admission is free and registration is not required. The event is sponsored by the Social Sciences Resource Center (SSRC) and the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences at Stanford (IRiSS). Three speakers will discuss some of the political controversies and methodological complexities associated with these institutionalized sources for social science research and the formation of public policy:
∙Henry Brady, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy and Director, Survey Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley
∙Kenneth Prewitt, Professor of Public Affairs at Columbia University and former Director of the U.S. Census Bureau
∙Douglas Rivers, Professor of Political Science at Stanford University, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and founder of the web-based survey research company, Polimetrix
Questions from the audience and a reception will follow. Additional information is available at: http://library.stanford.edu/depts/green/about/rooms/ssrc/about_ssrc/events.html
Posted by Judy at 09:37 AM
April 23, 2007
From Census Product Update - - April 19, 2007: Hot Tip - Estimates Web Page Is a Valuable Resource!
Roll your cursor over the orange bar at the top of the Estimates page for all sorts of information related to estimates, including estimate schedules, and archives! The Population Estimates Program publishes total resident population estimates and demographic components of change (births, deaths, and migration) each year (reference date July 1). The program also publishes the estimates by demographic characteristics (age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin) for the nation, states and counties. In addition to the resident population universe, it also produces population estimates for these universes: resident plus armed forces overseas, civilian, and civilian non-institutional at the national level; and civilian at the state level.
Posted by ronbo at 07:15 AM
April 21, 2007
2003-04 SASS and 2004-05 TFS Summer Data Training session
A SASS and TFS data 2 ½ day training session will be held in Washington, D.C. June 6-8, 2007. Only a limited number of applicants will be accepted, with all costs being paid by NCES.
Please visit the NCES Conference / Training Connection for more details: http://ies.ed.gov/whatsnew/conferences/?cid=2
Posted by ronbo at 03:40 AM
April 17, 2007
NEW NCES REPORT! - Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2004-05 (Fiscal Year 2005)
This brief publication contains basic revenue and expenditure data, by state, for public elementary and secondary education for school year 2004-05. It contains state-level data on revenues by source and expenditures by function, including expenditures per pupil.
To view and print the publication, please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2007/expenditures/
Posted by ronbo at 02:20 PM
Recent ICPSR updates and additions - April 16, 2007
Below is a list of new data collection additions to the ICPSR data archive along with a list of released data collections that have been updated:
NEW ADDITIONS:
4653 Ghanaian Public Opinion on the Middle East Conflict in Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories, 2006
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/04653.xml
4668 Eurobarometer 62.2: Agricultural Policy, Development Aid, Social Capital, and Information and Communication Technology, November-December 2004
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/04668.xml
4693 National Incident-Based Reporting System, 2001: Extract Files
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/04693.xml
4700 National Incident-Based Reporting System, 2000: Extract Files
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/04700.xml
UPDATES:
3306 Multiple Cause of Death, 1998
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/03306.xml
4590 Eurobarometer 64.3: Foreign Languages, Biotechnology, Organized Crime, and Health Items, November-December 2005
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/04590.xml
4690 Americans' Changing Lives: Waves I, II, III, and IV, 1986, 1989, 1994, and 2006
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/04690.xml
You can also view a list of all studies added and updated in the last
ninety days by visiting the ICPSR Web site at http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/.
Posted by ronbo at 12:37 AM
IES Newsflash: NAEP Database Training: Register by May 15 for June 19-21 Seminar
The annual advanced studies seminar, Using the NAEP Database for Research and Policy Discussion (NAEP Database Training), is scheduled for June 19-21, 2007 in Washington, DC. This seminar is aimed at faculty and advanced graduate students from colleges and universities. Education researchers and policy analysts with strong statistical skills from state and local education agencies and professional associations are also welcome.
By May 15, 2007 register at:
http://ies.ed.gov/whatsnew/conferences/?id=225&cid=2
To discover the richness of the NAEP database, try these online tools
NAEP Data Explorer:
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/
NAEP State Comparisons Tool:
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/statecomp/
NAEP Questions Tool:
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/itmrls/
See more information for NAEP researchers at:
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/researchcenter/
Posted by ronbo at 12:19 AM
April 13, 2007
From the ACS Alert: Census Bureau Submits to Congress Planned Subjects for 2010 Census and ACS
American Community Survey Alert, Number 47
(released April 13, 2007)
Informing you about news, events, data releases, congressional action, and other developments associated with the American Community Survey (ACS).
The U.S. Census Bureau recently submitted to Congress the subjects it plans to address in the 2010 Census and the ACS. Estimated to take less than 10 minutes to complete, the 2010 Census would be one of the shortest and easiest to complete since the nation's first census in 1790. Its subjects include gender, age, race, ethnicity, relationship and whether you own or rent your home.
The ACS, fully implemented in 2005, meets a critical need to have more timely, current and detailed data on which to base important decisions for all levels of government, community organizations and businesses.
Under law, the decennial census subjects must be submitted to Congress three years before Census Day on April 1, 2010. Census Bureau Director Louis Kincannon said the subjects represent the necessary balance between the need for data and the Census Bureau's commitment to eliminate redundant questions and reduce the time it takes to complete
the form.
The 2010 and ACS subjects document is available on the ACS Web site at:
<http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/Final_2010_Census_and_American_Community_Survey_Subjects_Notebook.pdf>.
Posted by ronbo at 02:53 PM
April 12, 2007
IES Newsflash: NCES Summer Data Conference Registration and Call for Proposals
NCES is pleased to announce that preregistration is now open for the NCES Data Conference scheduled for July 25-27, 2007. Preregistered participants will receive periodic updates on conference sessions. Preregistration closes Friday, July 6, 2007.
NCES is also soliciting concurrent session proposals through Friday, May 18.
To preregister or submit a concurrent session proposal, please visit:
http://ies.ed.gov/whatsnew/conferences/?id=235
Scroll down the page and select the registration link titled:
"Register for STATS-DC 2007 (and optionally submit a proposal)"
The Data Conference is an opportunity for professional networking, updates on federal and national activities affecting data collection and reporting, and information about the best new approaches in collecting, reporting, and using education statistics. The Conference will provide information about changes in how the U.S. Department of Education collects and uses data, and developments in electronic data standards for schools, school districts, and states. There will be half-day training sessions for CCD Fiscal and Nonfiscal Data Coordinators, presentations on NCES's survey and assessment programs, and overviews of developing statewide longitudinal data systems.
Posted by ronbo at 02:12 PM
April 11, 2007
FREE LUNCH (4/24) with MAPSS Talk on Dynamic Decision Making
At noon, Tuesday, April 24th, the MAPSS Colloquium Series presents...
Jay McClelland
Professor of Psychology, Director of Center for Mind, Brain, and Computation, Stanford University
"Dynamical Models of Decision Making: Optimality, human performance, and principles of neural information processing"
Lane History Corner, (Building 200) Room 203
Lunch will be served at 11:45 am and the talk will begin at 12:00. To receive lunch, you must RSVP by noon, Friday, April 20th at:
http://mapss.stanford.edu/events/rsvp.html
If you are a student currently enrolled in the MAPSS workshop, you do not need to RSVP for lunch.
Abstract:
I will present a model of the dynamics of decision making. The model can be related to the theory of optimal decision making under conditions in which noisy information is sampled continuously from the environment, to details of human behavior seen in experiments requiring perceptual classification or preferential choice, and to principles of neural information processing. The process of model development and the application of the model to experimental findings will be discussed, and contrasts with other models attempting to address some of the same phenomena will be presented.
Bio:
James L. (Jay) McClelland received his Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1975. He served on the faculty of the University of California, San Diego, before moving to Carnegie Mellon in 1984, where he was a founding Co-Director of the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, a joint project of Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh. In 2006 he moved to Stanford University, where he is now Professor of Psychology and the founding Director of the Center for Mind, Brain and Computation.
Over his career, McClelland has contributed to both the experimental and theoretical literatures, most notably in the application of connectionist/parallel distributed processing models to problems in perception, cognitive development, language learning, and the neurobiology of memory. He was a co-founder with David E. Rumelhart of the Parallel Distributed Processing research group, and together with Rumelhart he led the effort leading to the publication in 1986 of the two-volume book, Parallel Distributed Processing, in which the parallel distributed processing framework was laid out and applied to a wide range of topics in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience. McClelland and Rumelhart jointly received the 1996 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association and several other awards for their pioneering work in this area. McClelland is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and he has received the APS William James Fellow Award for lifetime contributions to the basic science of psychology.
McClelland currently teaches cognitive neuroscience and conducts research on learning, memory, conceptual development, spoken language, decision making, and semantic cognition.
For the full 2006-2007 speaker schedule, see the MAPSS website: http://www.stanford.edu/group/mapss/colloquium/index.html
MAPSS is sponsored by Stanford's Institute for Research in the Social Sciences (IRiSS)
Posted by ronbo at 05:36 PM
April 10, 2007
Roper Center Newsletter, April 2007
Tip of the month!!
NEW DATA RELEASES —
The 2006 General Election Day Exit Polls are now available from the Roper Center thanks to the support of Edison Media Research, Mitofsky International and the members of the National Election Pool. Datasets for the national exit poll and 32 state exits have been archived and released on via RoperExpress and for purchase on CD. More…
The 2000 Virginia Slims American Women's Opinion Poll, the eighth in a series of surveys started in 1970 on the lives and concerns of women in America, has been archived and released by the Roper Center. More…
Topics at a Glance!--"Medical Research"
http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/cgi-bin/hsrun.exe/roperweb/pom/pom.htx;start=HS_special_topics?Topic=medical_research
How does America feel about the field of Genetic Engineering? This month's topics covers issues such as stem cell research and cloning. Are your views in sync with the rest of America? Find out how others feel and more in this month's Topic at a Glance--Medical Research!
Based on a new topic each month, TAG offers a generous free sampling of related polling data and details of survey datasets held by the Roper Center, along with articles previously published in Public Perspective magazine.
Experience the depth of information housed in the Roper Center archives - The complete list of "Topics at a Glance!" http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/cgi-bin/hsrun.exe/Roperweb/pom/pom.htx;start=HS_pom_list
Newly spotlighted datasets http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/cgi-bin/hsrun.exe/roperweb/Catalog40/Catalog40.htx;start=HS_surveyspot
Updated as of April 5, 2007
Special studies of interest recently added to iPOLL.
The database now contains nearly a half million questions!
http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/data_access/ipoll/ipoll.html
Title: Unmarried Women's Agenda Survey
Source: Survey by Women's Voices. Women Vote
Methodology: Conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, January 28-January 30, 2007 and based on telephone interviews with a national adult unmarried women sample of 1,000.
Search for: Searched iPOLL for: Topic: 'women'; Organization: 'Greenberg' Date: '01/28/2007 to 01/28/2007'
Title: Trust for America's Health Survey
Source: Survey by Trust for America's Health
Methodology: Conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, January 18-January 22, 2007 and based on telephone interviews with a national adult sample of 1,015.
Search for: Searched iPOLL for: Topic: 'health'; Organization: 'Greenberg'; Date: '01/18/2007 to 01/18/2007'
Additional resources - Web sites with special survey samples
ABC News/USA Today/BBC/ARD Poll of Iraqis
http://abcnews.go.com/images/US/1033aIraqpoll.pdf
NSF 2007 Sleep in America Poll - women
http://www.sleepfoundation.org/site/c.huIXKjM0IxF/b.2574229/k.14DA/2007_Sleep_in_America_Poll.htm
Gfk. Roper for Avon International Women's Poll
http://shop.avon.com/shop/landing/global_summit/avon_index.pdf
Posted by ronbo at 09:52 PM
GIS: Approaches and Exemplars
Hosted by the GIS Special Interest Group @ Stanford
April 18, 3:00-5:00 p.m. at the Stanford Humanities Center
Presenters:
Ruth Mostern (University of California, Merced), Paul S. Ell (Queen’s University, Belfast) and Ian Gregory (Lancaster University)
Summary:
Geographical information is becoming increasingly ubiquitous. Cars and cell phones support intuitive and visually compelling navigation systems; mapping services are a feature of sites promoting real estate, public safety, and recreation; news reports are saturated with descriptive and often interactive maps. In academia, the capacity to readily organize, analyze and visualize geographical information has changed the face of disciplines from Environmental Science to Sociology. “Learning to think spatially,” as a recent report from the National Research Council puts it, has emerged as a challenge for scholars, students, and society alike.
Geographic information science and systems hold the promise for reshaping scholarship in the humanities. However, uptake in the humanities has been relatively slow. For our disciplines, normally grounded in close, contextualized and nuanced readings of texts, the demand for quantification and modeling can be challenging, and the available data in any area may be sparse and inconsistent. Nevertheless, in the past decade, scholars have used GIS in the humanities to expand our knowledge of culture while challenging the technology to better suit our disciplinary traditions. In this presentation, we consider exemplary GIS research agendas that have shown promise in both approaches and results. We will reflect on both the new knowledge they provide about culture and history, and on the ways that humanists and social scientists can extend and enhance the capacity of all scholars to be more sophisticated spatial thinkers.
For bios and more: http://gissig.stanford.edu
Posted by ronbo at 07:46 PM
IES Newsflash: DAS Online 2.0 Beta Released!
The Data Analysis System (DAS) Online has been updated. The new version, DAS Online 2.0 Beta, includes many new features and functions. DAS Online users may now estimate covariance analyses--both Weighted Least Squares and Logistic regressions. A Winsor filter has been added to filter out cases with extreme values by deleting a certain percentage of cases from the top and bottom of the range. For some newer datasets, users are offered more than one missing value code, called "reserve" codes--e.g., legitimate skip, unknown, refused, etc. Finally, several specification screens have been updated to be more user-friendly. DAS Users can find help with these features and others in the User Help Center as well as from the convenient help link from within the application.
DAS Online 2.0 Beta can be accessed at:
http://nces.ed.gov/das/
Posted by ronbo at 01:35 PM
April 06, 2007
Recent ICPSR updates and additions - April 06, 2007
Below is a list of new data collection additions to the ICPSR data archive along with a list of released data collections that have been updated:
NEW ADDITIONS:
4327 CBS News Monthly Poll, May 2005
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/04327.xml
4548 International Stability: What Ghanians are Thinking, 2006
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/04548.xml
4586 Global Terrorism Database, 1970-1997
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/04586.xml
4637 Survey of Holt Adoptees and Their Families, 2005
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/04637.xml
4692 National Incident-Based Reporting System, 2002: Extract Files
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/04692.xml
13627 Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN): Header Data, Wave 2, 1997-2000
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/13627.xml
13629 Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN): Health Screen, Wave 2, 1997-2000
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/13629.xml
13705 Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN): Forward Memory, Wave 3, 2000-2002
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/13705.xml
13715 Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN): Health Screen, Wave 3, 2000-2002
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/13715.xml
13732 Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN): Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Wave 3, 2000-2002
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/13732.xml
UPDATES:
3576 Reports of the American Indian Family History Project, 1885-1930
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/03576.xml
3593 Japanese General Social Survey, 2000
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/03593.xml
4203 National Judicial Reporting Program, 2002: [United States]
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/04203.xml
4213 Japanese General Social Survey (JGSS), 2001
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/04213.xml
4214 Japanese General Social Survey (JGSS), 2002
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/04214.xml
4282 Current Population Survey, October 2004: School Enrollment, Language Proficiency and Disability Supplement
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/04282.xml
6014 ABC News Republican Convention Quick Poll, August 1992
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/06014.xml
7644 Macroeconomic Time Series for the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and France
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/07644.xml
9464 ABC News Iraq Poll, August 1990
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/09464.xml
9942 ABC News Angry Voter Poll, April 1992
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/09942.xml
You can also view a list of all studies added and updated in the last ninety days by visiting the ICPSR Web site at http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/.
Posted by ronbo at 12:13 PM
NLS Summer Workshop 2007
NICHD and CHRR are sponsoring a User Workshop on the National Longitudinal Surveys in Columbus, Ohio from July 16 – July 19, 2007.
User Workshop on the National Longitudinal Surveys
This workshop is aimed at new users interested in learning about various NLS cohorts including the NLSY79, the newest NLSY97, and the original cohorts, as well as the NLSY79 Child and Young Adult Surveys. This workshop is designed to be of interest to graduate students, recent Ph.D.s and more established researchers who wish to learn more about the NLS. The first day and a half will cover a “core” of topics, after which the following days will include breakout sessions covering topics of research interest. For experienced users of the NLS wishing further training on Web Investigator, including how to access and download NLS data on-line, a Refresher Course will be offered one day only. In the future, the public release data will only be provided over the web, and the refresher course will cover the web interface as well as offer and opportunity for question and answer.
For more information about the User Workshop on the National Longitudinal Surveys, please see the Brochure.
Applicants to this workshop should submit an on-line application form. A letter of recommendation from an advisor or senior scientist (for pre-doctoral applicants only) may be sent by email to NLSworkshop@chrr.osu.edu
Posted by ronbo at 12:04 PM
April 05, 2007
GIS and Spatial Statistics Workshops for Social Science Instructors
Center for Spatially Integrated Social Science (CSISS)
Spatial Perspectives on Analysis for Curriculum Enhancement (SPACE) program Summer Workshops 2007
For Instructors of Undergraduate Courses in the Social Sciences
SPACE workshops are intended for instructors of undergraduate students in the social sciences. They offer content knowledge in methods of spatial analysis, instructional resources, and professional development support for curriculum planning and learning assessment. Successful applicants must commit to implementing spatial perspectives in their undergraduate courses and to providing feedback and documentation to evaluate the SPACE workshop program
Participants in the program are eligible for scholarship support for subsistence. The deadline for applications is 23 April 2007.
Details are available at www.csiss.org/SPACE/workshops
GIS and Spatial Modeling for the Undergraduate Social Science Curriculum
18–23 June 2007, Columbus OH
This workshop focuses on applications of spatial analytic techniques suited for undergraduate social science courses. These techniques include cartographic visualization, exploratory spatial data analysis, space-time modeling of individual behavior, spatial equilibrium models, and spatial optimization methods. Workshop participants will consider how to integrate these techniques into instructional modules, exercises, and learning assessment approaches. Requirements to benefit from this workshop include prior experience with computer file and data management in applications of quantitative analysis in the social sciences. GIS experience is desirable.
Instructors: Mei-Po Kwan (coordinator), Ola Ahlqvist, Desheng Liu, Alan Murray, Morton O’Kelly, Kathryn Plank, and Ningchuan Xiao (all of The Ohio State University), and Sara McLafferty (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).
Co-sponsor with CSISS: University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (http://www.ucgis.org/) and the Department of Geography, The Ohio State University (http://www.geography.ohio-state.edu)
SpatialAnalysis in the Social Science Curriculum: Enhancing Undergraduate Learning
15-20 July 2007, Santa Barbara CA
This workshop focuses on spatial methods and perspectives suited for applications in the undergraduate social science curriculum, such as spatial statistics, spatial econometrics, spatial pattern analysis, and cartographic visualization, in a GIS framework. Participants will illustrate these methods and design instructional modules and exercises for use in teaching undergraduates. A major goal of the workshop will be to explore strategies for curriculum enhancement and for assessment of student learning. Requirements to benefit from this workshop include prior experience with computer file and data management in applications of quantitative analysis in the social sciences.
Instructors: Stuart Sweeney (coordinator),David Folch, Kirk Goldsberry, Fiona Goodchild, Mike Goodchild, Kathryn Grace, Jeff Howarth, Don Janelle, Stacy Rebich Hespanha, and Waldo Tobler (all of UC Santa Barbara).
Co-sponsor with CSISS and host institution: Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara
www.geog.ucsb.edu, Institute for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Research www.isber.ucsb.edu
This program is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Undergraduate Education, under its program for Course, Curriculum & Laboratory Improvement – National Dissemination. Department of Geography, The Ohio State University
Posted by ronbo at 05:31 PM
Structural Equation Modeling for Institutional Researchers: Applications using SPSS and AMOS
Apr 26, 2007
United States
Begins at: 1 pm CT
Duration: 1 hour
Registration and more information here.
Join the Association for Institutional Research and SPSS Inc. for the second in a three-part series of Webinars titled "Structural Equation Modeling for Institutional Researchers: Applications using SPSS and AMOS."
Part two of this Webinar series will focus on confirmatory factor analysis and its application within the field of Institutional Research. Expanding on our first webinar that explored Senior Survey data to reduce the data and propose a factor structure, this next webinar will take the next step and use AMOS to explore confirmatory factor analysis. The webinar will discuss the basis of Structural Equation Modeling and describe how confirmatory factor analysis allows use to create a measurement model that can then be used to propose and test a structural model. This webinar will introduce participants into the use of AMOS software and will provide two different examples of confirmatory factor analysis using AMOS.
The presenters for this event are Mary Ann Coughlin and William Knight. Mary Ann is currently serving as the Vice President for AIR. She is a Professor of Research and Statistics at Springfield College, Springfield Massachusetts. Mary Ann has previously served on the Board as Professional Development Service Committee Chair from 2001 - 2005, in addition to serving as the North East Association for Institutional Research President, 2002 - 2005. Mary Ann is a faculty member in AIR's Institute series serving as an instructor in both the Foundations Institute as well as the Statistics Institute.
Mary Ann will be joined by Bill Knight. Bill was recently elected as AIR's Vice-President for 2007-2008. In addition Bill is the Assistant Vice President for Planning and Accountability at Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green Ohio. Bill has previous served on the AIR Board as Forum Chair for the 2006 AIR Forum. Bill is the author of numerous articles and the editor of the Primer for Institutional Research.
Posted by yan at 12:02 AM
April 04, 2007
From IES Newsflash: NEW REPORT! Effectiveness of Reading and Mathematics Software Products: Findings from the First Student Cohort
The National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, in the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, has released a major study of the effectiveness of education technology. The report, ‘Effectiveness of Reading and Mathematics Software Products: Findings from the First Student Cohort’ which was mandated by Congress, uses scientifically based research methods and control groups to focus on the impact of technology on student academic achievement. The main findings of the study are:
• Test scores were not significantly higher in classrooms using the reading and mathematics software products than those in control classrooms. In each of the four groups of products—reading in first grade and in fourth grade, mathematics in sixth grade, and high school algebra—the evaluation found no significant differences in student achievement between the classrooms that used the technology products and classrooms that did not.
• There was substantial variation between schools regarding the effects on student achievement. Although the study collected data on many school and classroom characteristics, only two characteristics were related to the variation in reading achievement. For first grade, effects were larger in schools that had smaller student-teacher ratios (a measure of class size). For fourth grade, effects were larger when treatment teachers reported higher levels of use of the study product.
Thirty-three districts, 132 schools, and 439 teachers participated in the study. Sixteen products were selected for the study based on public submissions and ratings by a study team and expert review panels.
The report is available at: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20074005
Posted by ronbo at 03:17 PM