REPORT R.ESUMES ED 013 381 24 AA 000 236 INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCHAND THE ACADEMIC PROGRAM.NEW DIMENSIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION,NUMBER 20. BY- BOYER, ERNESTL. DUKE UNIV., DURHAM, N.C. REPORT NUMBER BR -6- 1722-20 PUB DATE APR 67 CONTRACT OEC--2-.6--061722-.1742 EDRS PRICE. MF -$0.50 HC-.43.04 76P. DESCRIPTORS-. *INSTITUTIONS,*RESEARCH, *CLEGE PROGRAMS, PROFESSORS, CHANGE AGENTS,HIGHER EDUCATION, ':EDUCATIONAL CHANGE, *ACADEMIC EDUCATION,LITERATURE REVIEWS, A SEARCH OF THE LITERATUREON INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCHWAS MADE TO FIND AN ANSWERTO ONE QUESTIN-.--10 WHATEXTENT HAS INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH ACTUALLYHELPED IMPROVE COLLEGIATE LIFE GENERALLY AND THEACADEMIC PROGRAM IN PARTICULAR.FROM THE SEARCH; THE AUTHORDRAWS THE CONCLUSION THAT THERECENT FLURRY OF RESEARCH ACTIVITYHAS NOT BEEN ACCOMPANIED BYA LARGE AMOUNT Cf EFFECT. LITTLEDIRECT EVIDENCE ABOUT THE IMPACT OF INSTITUTIONALRESEARCH WAS FOUND. JUDGEMENTCf THE EFFECTS CF THIS RESEARCHWAS MADE FROM INDIRECT EVIDENCEAND FROM THE CFININS CF INFORMEDOBSERVERS. THE REPORT EXAMINES THOSE ASPECTS Cf HIGHEREDUCATION THAT HAVE CHANGED,THOSE THAT HAVE REMAINED RELATIVELYSTABLE, AND THE DEGREE TO WHICH INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH MAYOR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN ASIGNIFICANT FORCE. REPRESENTATIVESTUDIES ARE CITED, AND THE FINAL SECTION DISCUSSES WAYS IN WHICHINSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH MIGHT INCREASE ITS IMPACT IN THEFUTURE. THE AUTHCiR CONCLUDESTHAT (1) IN PART, THE FAILUREOF INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCHTO AFFECT ACADEMIC AFFAIRS DIRECTLY ANDSUBSTANTIALLY CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO INTERNAL SHORTCOMINGSCf THE PROFESSION THATRELATE TO STRUCTURE, FUNCTION, THEORY,AND STYLE OF COMMUNICATION,AND (2) THE FUTURE EFFECTS CFACADEMIC RESEARCH WILL HINGEON THE WILLINGNESS OF EDUCATORS TO VIEWCHANGE AS AN ALLY RATHER THAN AS AN IMPEDIMENT. (AL) ri Pit CC) re\ 1141 1117BENW in Higher Education Ui Number 20 INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH AND THE ACADEMIC PROGRAM April, 1967 The literature research review reported in this manuscript was made possible by Contract Number OEC 2-6-061722-1742 between Duke University, Durham, North Carolina and the United States Office of Education. O DREW EDIIMIEMITSIONTS 113T ElINECATIEGINT tiNSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH AND THE ACADEMIC PROGRAM Ernest 1:-. Boyer Everett H. Hopkins, Editor U. S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH,EDUCATION, AND WELFARE JOHN GARDNER, Secretary a Office of Education HAROLD HOWE II, Commissioner ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ernest Leroy Boyer is Vice President for University-Wide Activities of the State University of New York. He holds the degrees of master of arts and doctor of philosophy from the Universityof Southern California, where his field was speech pathology and audiology.In addition, he did post-doctoral work in medical audio- logy at the University of Iowa Hospital in 1960 and in the administra- tion of higher education at the Harvard University Institute for Academic Deans in 1961. Dr. Boyer has taught at Upland College (Upland,Calif.), the University of Southern California, and Loyola University in Los Angeles.In addition to his present position at the State University of New York, his administrative background includes experience as Academic Dean at Upland College, director of the Joint Commission to Improve the Education of Teachers of the WesternCollege Associa- tion, and director of the Center for Coordinated Education at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Dr. Boyer is a member of the American Speech and Hearing Association, Pi Kappa Delta (forensics), Alpha Kappa Sigma(scholar- ship), and the Association for General and Liberal Studies. He serves on the board of directors of theMennonite Psychiatric Hospitals, the Commission on Experimentation and Research of the Council for Small Colleges, and is a member of the boards of trustees ofFriends' World College and Messiah College. He has contributed articles to professional journals in the fields of speech and hearing,communica- tions, and education. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page r About the Author iii Foreword vi Highlights vii I.Introduction 1 II.Institutional Research and Educational Management 4 College Facilities Studies Cost Analysis Studies Enrollment and Transfer Studies III.Institutional Research and Academic Programing 9 Studies of Teaching Methods Curriculum Studies College Dropout Studies College Climate Studies College Impact Studies IV.The Limited impact of Research 19 V.Increasing the Impact of Research 22 VI. A Research Model: A Comparative Study of Institutional Development 38 The Problem to be Studied is Clearly Identified Specific Goals are Set Forth A Methodology is Defined The Total Campus is Involved i A Commitment to Changeifs Established VII. A Final Observation 46 Footnotes 48 Annotated Bibliography 53 Reactions v FOREWORD (If and when this manuscript is published for general distribution, the Editor will gladly prepare an appropriate Foreword for the w: der audience. ) HIGHLIGHTS 1.Institutional research continues to becomean increasingly impor- tant factor in the higher education community. 2.There is, however, no body of literature that addresses itself to the central question: ."To what extent has institutional research actually helped improve collegiate life gene.rally and the academic program in particular?" 3.By inference and indirect evidence it doesseem obvious that institutional research has had a constructive impact onmany admin- istrative aspects of college and university affairs. 4. While institutional researchorganized both formally and informally-_ also has studied educational matters such as curriculum, teaching methods, and student development, this effort has had only minor impact on the heart of collegiate life--the academic program.This conclusion is supported by the paucity of relevant literature, the comments of informed observers, and the degree to whichmany aca- demic tenets and methods remain essentially what they weregenera- tions ago. 5.In part the failure of institutional research to affect academic affairs directly and substantially can be attributed toeveral internal short- comings of the profession that relate to structure, function, theory, and style of communication. 6. On the whole, and in spite of whatever self-improyement institu- tional research might successfully make, its futureas an agent of academic change is largely dependent on the willingness of educators to view change as an ally rather than, an impediment, and to become active partners in the design and evaluation of institutional studies. 7. Several suggestions are made as to the ways in which the higher education community as a whole can use self-study and evaluation to the benefit of its fundamental purposes and obligations. vii I. INTRODUCTION The position of institutional research in highereducation con- tinues to move forward. The volume of research, alreadysubstantial, increases steadily. A host of administrators, pressedhard to justify the growing cost andscope of their operations, have established internal research programs designedto evaluate the past and present and cast on the future. Although this vigorous activity is generallyimpressive, the focus of this review ismore upon the_impact of research thanupon either its growth or its popularity. Indeed,the central issue con- cerns the relevance of research to the fundamentalpurposes of formal education and the degree to which institutionalresearch can become more than a peripheral partner in the process of college reform. The crux of the matter is this: To what extent has institutional research actually helped improve collegiate life generallyand the academic program in particular? The response to this query is disappointing,for a search of the literature makes clear that the recent spate ofresearch activity has not been accompanied by a surge in influence. Existing research 2 bibliographies go on endlessly and yet very little is known about what actually happens once a project has been completed, a conclu- sion drawn, and a statistical table appropriately filed. This is not to_say that the problem of relating research to sub- sequent action has been completely ignored.For example, Linsl optimistically titled a collection of research articles he put together "Basis for Decision." Also, the Third Annual National Institutional Research Forum was devoted entirely to a study of the relationships between research and institutionalplanning.2 Yet the results of of these efforts are singularly unconvincing. No close relationship between research and decision-making has been established, and the very silence of the literature suggests that institutional re- seaicchers have examined virtually all aspects of college life except the question of how they themselves contribute to the growth and development of their parent enterprise. To conclude that little is known about the impact of institutional research does not and should not mean that the matter is closed. Since direct evidence is lacking, conclusions about the matter must be drawn from indirect evidence and from the judgment of informed observers. Specifically, we must look at actual changes in higher education and then infer from the literature the extent to which insti- tutional research has been involved. Therefore, the sections that 3 follow will examine those aspects of higher education that have changed, those that have remained relatively stable, and the degree to which institutional research may or may not have been a signifi- cant force. A few representative studies will be cited to support the conclusions. The final section of this review will discuss ways in which institutional research might increase its