While much is expected from the development of Institutional Research (IR) organizations, they face a range of difficult problems when trying to make a reality of these expectations. The core of the difficulties is closely related to the contradictions inherent in higher education reform. This paper sets out to trace the dynamics as they affect the different forces concerned with the development of the Assessment Movement in the United States, and against this background, to analyze the issues faced by Japan within a comparative framework.

　 Although Institutional Research (IR) has developed rapidly in Japan in recent years, the definition of the IR concept has not been clearly confirmed, and It remains questionable where IR should be positioned in the context of higher education and whether or not IR sections will be permanently established.

　 In the United States, IR has sought since its emergence in the 1960s to confirm its identity and establish a solid position in higher education. Such experience might offer some hints on how to structure IR development in Japan in the near future.

　 This paper explores the development process of IR in the United States. The core of the argument regarding the function of IR can be found in the issues of whether primary emphasis should be put on the theoretical or on the pragmatic aspect of IR and of how IR can be established as a profession. Against this background, this paper examines its development process of IR by analyzing the sub-forum structure of the Association for Institutional Research (hereafter AIR) and the special-topic issue of the AIR Journal in terms of the framework of the conflict between, on the one hand, theoretical study and the pursuit of expertise, and on the other hand, pragmatic adaptation to reality. The results of my analysis make it clear that there is still a duality-based conflict between pragmatism and theory despite the development and enlargement of IR in US higher education institutions. At the same time, the IR profession has been strengthened through the development of various facets of IR technology and methodology. In concrete terms, IR certificate and graduate programs have been developed with the collaboration of AIR and some graduate schools.

　 Japanese universities are required to produce evidence to show that they are managing themselves efficiently and helping students to achieve successful. With a view to satisfying these demands, there is a growing need for data collection and analysis. It is against this background that this research, aimed at increasing understanding of the roles of IR in U.S. institutions, has been conducted.

　 In general, the primary functions of IR offices in U.S. universities include collecting, integrating, and analyzing internal and external data to support institutional decision-making, planning, and policy development. They use an integrated database system to carry out these responsibilities.

　 On the other hand, most Japanese universities do not have such a database system. The data are stored and managed on a decentralized basis. It is also the case that some parts of the data cannot be accessed by IR offices. In addition, the nation-wide database that is called “University Info” has been collecting data since 2015, but still lacks a clear definition of the underlying rationale, making it difficult to develop an IR database in individual institutions.

　 This paper points out the issues and challenges to be addressed when introducing a university-wide database that IR offices can utilize. Concrete steps to develop the database that are discussed include setting goals, creating a data catalog, selecting technologies for data integration and visualization. Drawing up rules and regulations related to data management is important, and close communication between IR offices and others is seen as essential.

　 This paper adopts three perspectives in a discussion of the structural difficulties and potential of institutional research (IR) studies using academic and student affairs data. The first is that of a theoretical framework for higher education systems, focusing on the dilemma of research and practice derived from the positioning of IR. The second, that of whether IR is or is not “real” research, relates to the conditions governing the establishment of research through discussions regarding ethical approval (Institutional Review Board) and the handling of informed consent for quality improvement research (QIR) in the medical area. The third, applicable in the case of a process whereby IR is separated from “research” and brought closer to “practice,” involves the risk of thereby diminishing the quality and neutrality of IR-generated evidence. By raising these points, I identify the lack of discussion and policy development in the areas of research ethics and implementation procedures, such as ethical approval and the handling of informed consent, constituting a basis for the conduct of IR studies using academic and student affairs data in higher education. I also point out that the issues of resolving these structural problems and ensuring the credibility of IR-generated evidence have been largely left to the IR personnel directly involved. It follows from the above discussions that individuals (IR personnel, researchers), higher education institutions, and academic associations should clarify their policies, while at the same time, acknowledging their differences, in recognition of the need for conditions governing IR studies and, through repeated discussions and dialogue, build a common recognition of a framework that enables the realization of IR studies using academic and student affairs data in higher education.

　 This paper aims to examine how a student survey can be utilized and positively evaluated in pursuance of facilitating the sharing of university-related problems among students and teachers, and of activating the exchange of opinions about university reform.

　 The paper begins (Chapter 1) by confirming the characteristics and significant points of the current student survey and refers (Chapter 2) to other significant surveys carried out in recent years. It continues by presenting the well-known I-E-O model (college impact theory), slightly revised with the aim of enhancing the impact of the analysis on university teachers (Chapter 3). In the latter part of the paper (Chapter 4), I set ouf a framework embracing the concept of active learning as a specific example of what kind of analysis can be used to check whether a university reform has succeeded, and, along with this (Chapter 5), report on large-scale student surveys and on the trend toward and the significance of interuniversity benchmarking as means of enabling limits on surveys carried out by individual organizations to be overcome.

　 Finally I added consideration about the role of IRer not as who handles the task that the university executives require, as who do his work autonomously.

　 The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of research on the relationship between management information systems and organizational effectiveness in higher education institutions. On the basis of an analysis of the history of studies on management information systems and institutional research, the paper proposes four types of future studies. The first is based on recognition of the need for management information system to be developed on the premise of the decision-making process in the organization. Aggregation of transaction systems is not equal to the decision support systems, so researchers should pay sufficient attention to the core activities performed by the top management team members. The second focuses on the fact that the introduction of information systems has an acceleration effect on organizational change and/or organizational learning. The third concerns the possibility of varying the choice of effective organizational learning strategies by reference to their association with differing environmental conditions. This means that conventional IR activities will not always be effective in Japan. In particular, there is a need for studies that examine what organizational learning strategies are effective in higher education institutions in Japan. The fourth type centers on the linkage between Academic Analytics and internal educational systems such as learning management systems, library information systems or student information systems is one of the possible ways forward for institutional research in the era of knowledge management.

　 Against the background of the diversification of university and college students brought about by the universalization of higher education, this study aims to clarify the actual situation and to identify the mechanism that generates decisions to drop out of college or repeat a grade, including points that need to be considered when trying to reduce the incidence of such actions. The primary methodology is an analysis of questionnaires collected from 2,223 departments of 678 universities and colleges in Japan.

　 The three confirmed findings are as set out below.

　 Firstly, the authors identify factors that affect student enrollment patterns, as reflected in the results of an analysis that uses typology derived from the actual situation of both college dropouts and those who have repeated a grade.

　 Secondly, using the results of a decision-tree analysis, the authors identify a need for universities and colleges to take departmental contexts such as the freshman dropout rate, choice of majors, and the selectivity function of entrance examinations into consideration when they manage student enrollment.

　 Finally, by means of a discussion on the intervention effect of the learning support delivered by universities and colleges, the authors undertake a critical examination of the advantages and limitations of the use of cross-sectional data in research on the outcomes of college education.

　 In recent years, MEXT has made efforts to increase the number of adult post-graduate students by introducing a variety of policies but the number of students still shows no increase.

　 When working adults try to enter a post-graduate school, they face a number of barriers, so I interviewed a number of students at K university business school who fell into the category of working adults to find out how they had overcome these barriers and finalized their decision to proceed with their entry.

　 I found that there were roughly three patterns constituting the process which enabled them to overcome the barriers facing them and proceed with their decision to apply.

　 One was their realization that if they did not decide to proceed, they would never have a better chance in their future life. The issue of timing as well as the influence exerted by other people and the effect of university extension programs pushed them into the professional school.

　 A second pattern was the way in which their very positive attitude toward learning made their motivation strong enough to overcome the barriers.

　 A third pattern was the way in which some of them managed to overcome the barriers by using their own inbuilt strong human agency.

　 In order to attract students, business schools should provide briefing sessions and seminars which can allay the anxiety felt by some people and strengthen their motivation, and the teachers at seminars should establish a relationship of trust with students so as to form a significant force in their lives.

　 The purpose of this study is to identify the achievements and problems that can be seen in the results of the Pharmaceutical Science education Reform from two points of view; (1) post-graduate courses aimed at pharmaceutical students, (2) the National Qualification Examination for pharmacists and its determining factors.

　Faculties of Pharmaceutical Science in Japan have undergone major changes in recent years. The length of the curriculum to train pharmacists has been extended from 4 years to 6 years, and with a view to enhancing their specialist knowledge, this has been established as a common feature in all higher education pharmaceutical training. In addition, the number of Faculties of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Japan and student quotas have increased rapidly over the last 23 years.

　In spite of the above situation, the constituent factors have not been the subject of detailed study. This is why I decided to focus on “search for employment” and “the National Qualification Examination”, because these two viewpoints most clearly manifest the influence of the education reform.

　The results of the analysis of post-graduate courses show clearly that the percentage of Pharmacy students who take up employment in a clinical site, for example in a hospital or a dispensing pharmacy, has increased since the reform.

　As a separate item, the results of the National Qualification Examination for pharmacists show a decreasing trend in the pass rate. Moreover, the result of a panel data analysis of the examination referred to above shows that the pass rate is determined by the basic academic skills of students at the time of university enrollment, in spite of the existence of a common curriculum and a common achievement test at the fourth grade.

　These results lead to the following two conclusions. Firstly, as a result of the reform, more than 60% of pharmaceutical graduates decide to take up employment in a clinical site after graduation. Secondly, as an ongoing problem that needs to be addressed, a number of graduates are unsuccessful in the professional qualifying examination and consequently cannot take up employment in a clinical site, despite having had specialized education for 6 years and having followed a common curriculum.