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Archived Information
Answers in the Tool Box: Academic Intensity, Attendance Patterns, and Bachelor's Degree Attainment — June 1999Most of the tables in this study include a "universe statement" that tells the reader exactly who is included in the statistics, along with the weighted number of students in that universe.
The "universe statement" can be found in the notes for the tables at issue. It is a most important guide for interpreting a table.
For example, many tables include an estimate for bachelor's degree completion rates. No two of these estimates are the same, and the reasons lie in the definition of the universe.
The definition serves as more than a documentation and guide: it is an academic courtesy. It allows other researchers who wish to investigate different hypotheses or different configurations and definitions of variables to replicate the universe and thus report more accurately how their conclusions either reinforce or differ from those stated here.
Introduction: Departing from Standard Accounts of Attainment