▁facilities , ▁athlet ics , ▁and ▁al umn i ▁relations . ▁ ▁Institution al ▁research ers ▁collect , ▁analyze , ▁report , ▁and ▁w are house ▁quant itative ▁and ▁qual itative ▁data ▁about ▁their ▁institution ' s ▁students , ▁fac ulty , ▁staff , ▁curr icul um , ▁course ▁offer ings , ▁and ▁learning ▁out comes . ▁They ▁are ▁involved ▁in ▁collect ing ▁and ▁reporting ▁information ▁to ▁government ▁bodies ▁( for ▁example , ▁in ▁the ▁USA , ▁the ▁United ▁States ▁Department ▁of ▁Education ' s ▁Integr ated ▁Post second ary ▁Education ▁Data ▁System ), ▁to ▁the ▁public ▁( e . g ., ▁Common ▁Data ▁Set , ▁the ▁National ▁Association ▁of ▁Independent ▁Colleg es ▁and ▁Univers ities ' s ▁ ▁University - Col lege ▁Account ability ▁Network ), ▁and ▁various ▁college ▁guide ▁publish ers ▁( e . g ., ▁U . S . ▁News ▁& ▁World ▁Report ▁and ▁College ▁Board ). ▁On ▁occasion , ▁institution al ▁research ers ▁share ▁data ▁with ▁one ▁another ▁to ▁compare ▁their ▁own ▁practices ▁and ▁out comes ▁against ▁those ▁of ▁similar ▁institutions . ▁Institution al ▁research ▁is ▁the ▁source ▁of ▁much ▁of ▁the ▁information ▁provided ▁to ▁regional ▁and ▁national ▁acc red itation ▁bodies ▁to ▁document ▁how ▁institutions ▁ful fill ▁the ▁standards ▁for ▁acc red itation . ▁ ▁In ▁addition ▁to ▁reporting , ▁institution al ▁research ers ▁often ▁eng age ▁in ▁data ▁analysis , ▁r anging ▁from ▁simply ▁testing ▁whether ▁differences ▁in ▁reported ▁data ▁are ▁statist ically ▁significant ▁to ▁developing ▁and ▁using ▁caus al ▁and ▁predict ive ▁statistical ▁models . ▁