Statistics or Heuristics?

RESEARCH	ASSESSMENT
1-3 years, time-neutral, generalizable basic truths	1-3 months, time-specific, issue-specific outcomes
Often specially funded to “do a study” for an external purpose	Usually internally funded in an ongoing “culture of inquiry”
Control, experimental rigor, neutrality, freedom from bias	Partial control, practicality, political wisdom, investment in results
High validity and reliability, concern for certainty	“Good enough” validity and reliability, willingness to use professional judgment with imperfect data

Thanks to Randy L. Swing, co-director of the Policy Center on the First Year of College. Items above are partly quoted and partly paraphrased from his presentation on April 5, 2002 at the ASC&U Learning Communities Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.