Beneath the Surface: Misleading Numbers

Autor/in	Cunningham, Alisa
Titel	Beneath the Surface: Misleading Numbers
Quelle	In: Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 39 (2007) 4, S.52-54 (3 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0009-1383
Schlagwörter	Leitfaden; Educational Assessment; Higher Education; Data Analysis; Context Effect; Data Interpretation; Trend Analysis; Statistical Analysis + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Education; assessment; Bewertungssystem; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; Auswertung; Data evaluation; Datenauswertung; Trendanalyse; Statistische Analyse
Abstract	What people know about higher education may depend on which data they look at and how they examine them. Responsible analysts should present a full picture of their sources of data and the limitations of those sources, restricting their conclusions to those that the data genuinely warrant. When new research conflicts with previous results, enough information should be made available so that decision-makers, the media, and the public can make informed judgments about the findings. This article focuses on the questions users should ask when interpreting the meaning of data and the importance of context for any analysis. As a case in point, the author discusses private (or alternative) loans, which are concentrated among certain groups of students, to show how a careful look at the data can show where "conventional wisdom" goes wrong. (Contains 3 figures.) (ERIC).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10