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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1982. An Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States: Mathematical and Physical Sciences. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9730.
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Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

An Assessment of Research-Doctorabe Programs in the United Saws: Mathematwal physics Scopes Committee on an Assessment of Quality-Related Characteristics of Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States Lyle V. Jones, Gardner Lindsey, and Porter E. Coggeshall, Editors Sponsored by The Conference Board of Associated Research Councils American Council of Learned Societies American Council on Education National Research Council Social Science Research Council NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS Washington, D.C. 1982

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Conference Board of Associated Research Councils, whose members are drawn from the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Council on Education, the National Research Council, and the Social Science Research Council. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors and editors according to procedures approved by each of the four member Councils of the Conference Board. The Conference Board of Associated Research Councils was created to foster discussion of issues of mutual interest; to determine the extent to which a common viewpoint on such issues prevails within the academic community of the United States; to foster specific investigations when so desired; and, when the Conference Board finds joint, common, or other action desirable, to make recommendations to the appropriate Councils. Blue page insert duplicates page 15 and may be used as a portable guide to program measures by placing it beside the tables under examination. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 82-61277 International Standard Book Number 0-309-03299-7 Available from NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20418 Copyright ~ 1982 by the National Academy of Sciences First Printing, October 1982 Second Pr inting, November 198 4 2~_E~t gt his publication may be reproduced without permission of the National Academy of Sciences except for official use by the United States Government. Printed in the United States of America

Aclmowledgments 1 In conducting this assessment the committee has benefited from the support and advice of many individuals and organizations. The assessment was conducted under the aegis of the Conference Board of Associated Research Councils, and special thanks go to Roger Heyns, Robert M. Lumiansky, Jack W. Peltason, Frank Press, Kenneth Prewitt, Eleanor Sheldon, John William Ward, and the late Philip Handler for their efforts in overseeing the planning and execution of this project. Financial support was provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the National Institutes of Health {NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Academy of Sciences. Without the combined support from these organizations the project would not have been undertaken. The committee appreciates the excellent cooperation it received from the staff officers at these organizations--including John Sawyer and James Morris at Mellon; Mariam Chamberlain, Gladys Chang Hardy, and Sheila Biddle at Ford; Albert Rees and James Koerner at Sloan; Helen Gee at NIH; and Bernard Stein at NSF. Some supplemental funds to enhance the study were furnished by the Association of American Geographers, the American Psychological Association, and the American Psychological Foundation. . The committee is most appreciative of the cooperation it received from individuals in the 228 universities participating in the assessment. In particular we thank the university presidents and chancellors who agreed to participate and offered the assistance of staff members at their institutions; the graduate deans, department chairmen, and many other university personnel who helped to compile information about the research-doctorate programs at their own institutions; and the nearly 5,000 faculty members who took the time to complete and return reputational survey forms. This assessment would not have been feasible without the participation of these individuals. Nor would it have been complete without the suggestions from many individuals within and outside the academic community who reviewed the study plans and committee reports. The committee also acknowledges the contributions of Francis Narin and Paul R. McAllister, whose innovative work in the area of publication productivity in science and engineering fields has been a valuable resource. We thank H. Roberts Coward and his colleagues at iii

the Institute for Scientific Information for their help in compiling publications data as well as William Batchelor and John James at NIH and David Staudt at NSF for their help in acquiring data on individual research grant awards. Within the National Research Council many individuals have assisted in the planning and completion of this project. Robert A. Alberty, Harrison Shull, and W. K. Estes, former chairmen of the Commission on Human Resources, and William C. Kelly, Executive Director of the commission (now the Office of Scientific and Engineering Personnel), offered assistance and helpful all phases of the study. Lindsey R. Harmon and C. Alan Boneau counsel during contributed greatly to the planning of the assessment. To Porter E. Coggeshall, Study Director, the committee expresses thanks for a job extremely well done. His ability to translate the committee's directions into compiled data and analyses must be given a large share of the credit for the completion of this project. He has been ably assisted by Prudence W. Brown, who supervised the data collection activities; Dorothy G. Cooper, who provided excellent secretarial support; and George A. Boyce, whose programming expertise was invaluable. Committee on an Assessment of Quality-Related Characteristics of Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States iv

Preface The genius of American higher education is often said to be in the close association of training and research--that is, in the nation's research-doctorate programs. Consequently, we are not surprised at the amount of worried talk about the quality of the research doctorate, for deterioration at that level will inevitably spread to wherever research skills are needed--and that indeed is a far-flung network of laboratories, institutes, firms, agencies, bureaus, and departments. What might surprise us, however, is the imbalance between the putative national importance of research-doctorate programs and the amount of sustained evaluative attention they themselves receive. The present assessment, sponsored by the Conference Board of Associated Research Councils--comprised of the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Council on Education, the National Research Council (NRC), and the Social Science Research Council--seeks to correct the imbalance between worried talk and systematic study. In this effort the Conference Board continues a tradition pioneered by the American Council on Education, which in 1966 published An Assessment of Quality in Graduate Education, the report of a study conducted by Allan M. Cartter, and in 1970 published A Rating of Graduate Proarams. bv Kenneth D. Roose and Charles J. Andersen. The Cartter and Roose-Andersen reports have been widely used and frequently cited. Some years after the release of the Roose-Andersen report, it was decided that the effort to assess the quality of research-doctorate programs should be renewed, and the Conference Board of Associated Research Councils agreed to sponsor an assessment. The Board of Directors of the American Council on Education concurred with the notion that the next study should be issued under these broader auspices. The NRC agreed to serve as secretariat for a new study. The responsible staff of the NRC earned the appreciation of the Conference Board for the skill and dedication shown during the course of securing funding and implementing the study. Special mention should also be made of the financial contribution of the National Academy of Sciences which, by supplementing funds available from external sources, made it possible for the study to get under way. To sponsor a study comparing the quality of programs in 32 or

disciplines and from more than 200 doctorate-granting universities is to invite critics, friendly and otherwise. Such was the fate of the previous studies; such has been the fate of the present study. Scholarship, fortunately, can put criticism to creative use and has done so in this project. The study committee appointed by the Conference Board reviewed the criticisms of earlier efforts to assess research-doctorate programs, and it actively solicited criticisms and suggestions for improvements of its own design. Although constrained by limited funds, the committee applied state-of-the-art methodology in a design that incorporated the lessons learned from previous studies as well as attending to many critics of the present effort. Not all criticism has thus been stilled; nor could it ever be. Additional criticisms will be voiced by as many persons as begin to use the results of this of fort in ways not anticipated by its authors. These criticisms will be welcome. The Conference Board believes that the present study, building on earlier criticisms and adopting a multidimensional approach to the assessment of research- doctorate programs, represents a substantial improvement over past reports. Nevertheless, each of the diverse measures used here has its own limitations, and none provides a precise index of the quality of a program for educating students for careers in research. No doubt a future study, taking into account the weaknesses as well as strengths of this effort, will represent still further improvement. One mark of success for the present study would be for it to take its place in a continuing series, thereby contributing to the indicator base necessary for informed policies that will maintain and perhaps enhance the quality of the nation's research-doctorate programs. For the more immediate future the purposes of this assessment are to assist students and student advisers seeking the best match possible between individual career goals and the choice of an advanced degree program; to serve scholars whose study site is higher education and the nation's research enterprise; and to inform the practical judgment of the administrators, fenders, and policymakers responsible for protecting the quality of scholarly education in the United States A remarkably hard-working and competent group, whose names appear on p. vii, oversaw the long process by which this study moved from the planning stage to the completion of these reports. The Conference Board expresses its warmest thanks to the members of its committee and especially to their co-chairmen, Lyle V. Jones and Gardner Lindzey. Conference Board of Associated Research Councils vi

Committee on art Assessment of Quality-Related Characteris~dcs of Research-Doctorate Programs In Me United Sates LYLE V. JONES (Co-Chairman), Director of the L. L. Thurstone Psychometric Laboratory, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill GARDNER LINDSEY (Co-Chairman), Director, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California PAUL A. ALBRECHT, Vice-President and Dean, Claremont Graduate School MARCUS ALEXIS, Department of Economics, Northwestern University ROBERT M. BOCK, Dean of the Graduate School, University of Wisconsin at Madison PHILIP E. CONVERSE, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan JAMES H. M. HENDERSON, Department of Plant Physiology, Tuskegee Institute of Alabama ERNEST S. KUH, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley WINFRED P. LEHMANN, Department of Linguistics, University of Texas at Austin SAUNDERS MAC LANE, Department of Mathematics, University of Chicago NANCY S. MILBURN, Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Jackson College for Women, Tufts University LINCOLN E. MOSES, Department of Statistics, Stanford University JAMES C. OLSON, President, University of Missouri C. K. N. PATEL, Director, Physical Research Laboratory, Bell Laboratories MICHAEL J. PELCZAR, JR., President, The Council of Graduate Schools in the United States JEROME B. SCHNEEWIND, Department of Philosophy , Johns Hopkins University DUANE C. SPRIESTERSBACH, Vice-President, Educational Development and Research, University of Iowa HARRIET A. ZUCKERMAN, Sociology Department, Columbia University Study Director PORTER E. COGGESHALL, Office of Scientific and Engineering Personnel, National Research Council vii

Contents I IT ELI IV V V] VII VIII IX A ORIGINS OF STUDY AND SELECTION OF PROGRAMS Prior Attempts to Assess Quality in Graduate Education, 3 Development of Study Plans, 7 Selection of Disciplines and Programs to be Evaluated, 9 METHODOLOGY Program Size, 16 Characteristics of Graduates, 17 Reputational Survey Results, 20 University Library Size, 25 Research Support, 26 Publication Records, 27 Analysis and Presentation of the Data, 29 CHEMISTRY PROGRAMS COMPUTER SCIENCE PROGRAMS GEOSCIENCE PROGRAMS MATHEMATICS PROGRAMS PHYSICS PROGRAMS STATISTICS/BIOSTATISTICS PROGRAMS SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION Summary of the Results, 160 Analysis of the Survey Response, 171 Interpretation of Reputational Survey Ratings, 183 Comparison with Results of the Roose-Andersen Study, 185 Future Studies, 191 MINORITY STATEMENT APPENDIXES Letter to Institutional Coordinators and Accompanying Survey Form (Measures 01-03) viii 1 13 33 59 75 95 117 141 159 193 195 197

B Survey of Earned Doctorates (Measures 04-07) C Letter to Evaluators and Specimen of the Instrument Used in the Reputational Survey (Measures 08-11} D The ARL Library Index (Measure 12) E Data on Faculty Research Support and R&D Expenditures (Measures 13 and 14) F Data on Publication Records (Measures 15 and 16) G Conference on the Assessment of Quality of Graduate Education Programs--Participants and Summary H Planning Committee for the Study of the Quality of Research-Doctorate Programs I Region and State Codes for the United States and Possessions LIST OF FIGURES 3.3 6.3 7.1 204 207 213 215 220 238 242 243 Mean rating of scholarly quality of faculty (measure 08) versus number of faculty members (measure 01~--14S programs in chemistry, 54 Mean rating of program effectiveness in educating research scholars/scientists {measure 09) versus number of graduates in last five years (measure 02~--144 programs in chemistry, 55 Mean rating of scholarly quality of faculty in 145 programs in chemistry, 57 4.1 Mean rating of scholarly quality of faculty (measure 08) versus number of faculty members (measure 01~--57 programs in computer sciences, 70 Mean rating of program effectiveness in educating research scholars/scientists (measure 09) versus number of graduates in last five years (measure 02~--56 programs in computer sciences, 71 Mean rating of scholarly quality of faculty in 57 programs in computer sciences, 73 Mean rating of scholarly quality of faculty (measure 08) versus number of faculty members (measure 01~--91 programs in geosciences, 90 Mean rating of program effectiveness in educating research scholars/scientists (measure 09) versus number of graduates in last five years (measure 02~--91 programs in geosciences, 91 Mean rating of scholarly quality of faculty in 91 programs in geosciences, 93 6.1 Mean rating of scholarly quality of faculty {measure 08) versus number of faculty members (measure 01~--114 programs in mathematics, 112 6.2 Mean rating of program effectiveness in educating research schoIars/scientists {measure 09) versus number of graduates in last five years measure 02~--114 programs in mathematics, 113 Mean rating of scholarly quality of faculty in 114 programs in mathematics, 115 Mean rating of scholarly quality of faculty (measure 08) 1X

versus number of faculty members {measure 01~--121 programs in physics, 136 Mean rating of program effectiveness in educating research scholars/scientists (measure 09) versus number of graduates in last five years {measure 021--118 programs in physics, 137 Mean rating of scholarly quality of faculty in 121 programs in physics, 139 8.1 Mean rating of scholarly quality of faculty (measure 08) versus number of faculty members (measure 011--63 programs in statistics/biostatistics, 154 8.2 Mean rating of program effectiveness in educating research scholars/scientists (measure 09) versus number of graduates in last five years (measure 02~--60 programs in statistics/ biostatistics, 155 8.3 Mean rating of scholarly quality of faculty in 63 programs in statistics/biostatistics, 157 9.1 Mean rating of scholarly quality versus mean rating of faculty in study--103 programs in chemistry 9.2 Mean rating of scholarly quality versus mean rating of faculty in programs in geosciences, 188 9.3 Mean rating of scholarly quality of faculty (measure 08) versus mean rating of faculty in the Roose-Andersen study--86 programs in mathematics, 189 9.4 Mean rating of scholarly quality of faculty (measure 08) versus mean rating of faculty in the Roose-Andersen study--90 programs in physics, 190 LIST OF TABLES 3.3 of faculty (measure 08) the Roose-Andersen 187 of faculty (measure 08) the Roose-Andersen study--57 1.1 Number of Research Doctorates Awarded in the Mathematical and Physical Science Disciplines, FY1976-78, 10 1.2 Number of Programs Evaluated in Each Discipline and the Total FY1976-80 Doctoral Awards from These Programs, 12 2.1 Measures Compiled on Individual Research-Doctorate Programs, 15 2.2 Percentage of FY1975-79 Doctoral Recipients with Definite Commitments for Employment Outside the Academic Sector, 20 2.3 Survey Response by Discipline and Characteristics of Evaluator, 22 3.1 Program Measures (Raw and Standardized Values) in Chemistry, 36 3.2 Summary Statistics Describing Each Program Measure--Chemistry, S2 Intercorrelations Among Program Measures on 145 Programs in Chemistry, 53 3.4 Characteristics of Survey Participants in Chemistry, 56 4.1 Program Measures (Raw and Standardized Values) in Computer Sciences, 62 4.2 Summary Statistics Describing Each Program Measure--Computer Sciences, 68 x

4.3 4.4 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 9.9 Tntercorrelations Among Program Measures on 58 Programs in Computer Sciences, 69 Characteristics of Survey Participants in Computer Sciences, 72 Program Measures (Raw and Standardized Values) in Geosciences, 78 Summary Statistics Describing Each Program Measure- Geosciences, 88 Intercorrelations Among Program Measures on 91 Programs in Geosciences, 89 Characteristics of Survey Participants in Geosciences, 92 Program Measures (Raw and Standardized Values) in Mathematics, 98 Summary Statistics Describing Each Program Measure- Mathematics, 110 Tntercorrelations Among Program Measures on 115 Programs in Mathematics, 111 Characteristics of Survey Participants in Mathematics, 114 Program Measures (Raw and Standardized Values) in Physics, 120 Summary Statistics Describing Each Program Measure--Physics, 134 Tntercorrelations Among Program Measures on 123 Programs in Physics, 135 Characteristics of Survey Participants in Physics, 138 Program Measures (Raw and Standardized Values) in Statistics/ Biostatistics, 144 Summary Statistics Describing Each Program Measure--Statistics/Biostatistics, 152 Intercorrelations Among Program Measures on 64 Programs in Statistics/Biostatistics, 153 Characteristics of Survey Participants in Statistics/ Biostatistics, 156 Mean Values for Each Program Measure, by Discipline, 161 Correlations of the Number of Program Graduates (Measure 02) with Other Measures, by Discipline, 164 Correlations of the Survey Ratings of Scholarly Quality of Program Faculty (Measure 08) with Other Measures, by Discipline, 166 Correlations of the University Research Expenditures in a Discipline (Measure 14) with Other Measures, by Discipline, 169 Correlations of the Influence-Weighted Number of Publications (Measure 16) with Other Measures, by Discipline, 170 Distribution of Responses to Each Survey Item, by Discipline, 172 Survey Item Response Rates, by Discipline and Mean Rating on Measure (08), 173 Correlations Between Two Sets of Average Ratings from Two Randomly Selected Groups of Evaluators in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 17S Comparison of Mean Ratings for 11 Mathematics Programs Included in Two Separate Survey Administrations, 176 X1

9.10 9.11 9.12 9.13 9.14 9.15 Mean Ratings of Scholarly Quality of Program Faculty, by Evaluator's Familiarity with Work of Faculty, 178 Item Response Rate on Measure 08, by Selected Characteristics of Survey Evaluators in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 179 Mean Ratings of Scholarly Quality of Program Faculty, by Type of Survey Form Provided to Evaluator, 180 Mean Ratings of Scholarly Quality of Program Faculty, by Evaluator's Proximity to Region of Program, 181 Mean Ratings of Scholarly Quality of Program Faculty, by Evaluator's Institution of Highest Degree, 182 Mean Ratings of Scholarly Quality of Program Faculty, by Evaluator's Field of Specialty Within Physics or Statistics, B iostatistics, 184 X11 /

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