Indexing Metadata to Establish Internal and External Validity

• In Event: Poster Session 15
  In Poster Session: Poster Fair B: Data Use and Research in the Schools

Abstract

How can research and evaluation (R&E) really know enough about the data being analyzed? Do the data meet the analysis assumptions? Are definitions comparable across time periods and comparison groups? R&E must answer these questions even when R&E is not the owner of the data. As R&E leverages larger databases of instructional management systems, decision-support systems, and data warehouses, the data accessed are managed by non-research-trained professionals. R&E must influence the quality of the metadata to ensure they meet research standards. This paper offers the Metadata Index based upon best practices to provide a tool for working with the owners of large databases to obtain the quality metadata required for substantiating both internal and external validity.

Author

• Glynn Ligon, ESP Solutions Group