Is there a preference between "in" and "among" in the following sentence?
The data consist of test scores collected in/among students participating in an international survey.
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"Among" is more appropriate than "in" in this context. I'd go do far as to day that "in" is entirely the wrong word to use here.
"From" may be even more appropriate if the data are being collected from all members of the subject group rather than from only a portion.
To my ears:
The data consist of test scores collected in students participating in an international survey.
sounds very odd.
The data consist of test scores collected among students participating in an international survey.
This would indicate that only some of the students taking the survey are the source of data.
The data consist of test scores collected from students participating in an international survey.
This is what I believe you intend to say, that the data were collected from the entire group of students who took the survey.
RegDwigнt
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Andrew Lambert
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+1, and I'll add that many people say "amongst" instead of "among". They mean the same thing. – tenfour Apr 16 '11 at 08:35
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@tenfour: ...though among is more popular and less stilted than amongst, see what is the distinction between “among” and “amongst”? – RegDwigнt Apr 16 '11 at 09:02