Study On American Institutional Research

The purpose of this paper is to provide in a general way a description of the nature of Institutional Research, of its role in institutional governance and of the contributions it can make to the functioning of higher education institutions. It is intended to be useful to persons beginning work in higher education research, to executive officers and others who are considering the role of the activity in their institutions and to students of higher education.The first section of the paper is an introduction of the concept and nature of Institutional Research and a comparison between Institutional Research and higher education research. The second section analyses the background of institutional research. The third chapter is a statement of a brief history of IR. The fourth chapter describes the various ways in which the function of institutional research is included in the organizational structures of colleges and universities. The fifth chapter emphasizes on Requirements for Effective Institutional Research, Characteristics of Effective Institutional Research and Basic Tools of Institutional Research. The sixth chapter states the tasks of IR in the Twenty-First Century. In the end, this paper suggests that Chinese universities and colleges should reasonably carry out Institutional Research according to the situation of higher education in China.