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INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR EVALUATION RESEARCH - A CASE STUDY

NCJ Number
66308
Author(s)
J H LOESCH
Date Published
1978
Length
12 pages
Annotation
IMPROVED QUALITY AND COMPLETENESS OF DATA AND LOWERED ROUTINE OPERATING COSTS ARE REPORTED IN THIS CASE STUDY OF A COMPUTERIZED INFORMATION SYSTEM DESIGNED EXPLICITY FOR CONTINUING EVALUATION RESEARCH.
Abstract
PROBLEMS OF SIZE, REPORTING SCHEDULES, NEED FOR FREQUENT UPDATING OF INFORMATION, AND THE NEED FOR INDIVIDUAL AND STATISTICAL INFORMATION LED TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CLIENT-ORIENTED DATA FOR EVALUATION (CODE). THE SYSTEM SERVES THE EVALUATION UNIT OF THE MINNESOTA CRIME CONTROL PLANNING BOARD AND HAS COLLECTED DATA ON THE CLIENTS OF ALL CLIENT-ORIENTED, GRANT-FUNDED PROJECTS SINCE 1972. THE CASE STUDY DESCRIBES PROBLEMS OF DATA ACCESSING, THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PILOT PROJECT WITH SOPHISTICATED UPDATE AND INDIVIDUAL-LEVEL DATA ACCESS CAPABILITIES, AND RESULTANT COST DIFFICULTIES THAT LED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION RETRIEVAL (SIR) SYSTEM. MAJOR SIR DATA STRUCTURE FEATURES OF THE SIR AND CODE SYSTEMS ARE DESCRIBED IN TERMS OF THEIR ABILITY TO MINIMIZE THE TOTAL COST OF SPECIFIC INFORMATION RETRIEVAL. ADVANTAGES OF THE CODE PROJECT INCLUDE IMPROVED QUALITY AND COMPLETENESS OF DATA SUBMITTED BY PROJECTS AND LOWERED ROUTINE OPERATING COSTS COMPARED WITH THOSE OF THE OLD MASTER FILE SYSTEM, ESPECIALLY WHEN COSTS OF THE PREVIOUS METHODS OF ANALYSIS ARE INCLUDED AS A PREVIOUS OPERATING COST. TABULAR DATA ARE PROVIDED. FOR THE USER'S GUIDE TO CODE, SEE NCJ-66307. FOR CODE QUARTERLY REPORTS FOR MINIMIUM DATA PROJECTS, SEE NCJ-66378.