Data on Federal Research and Development Investments A Pathway to Modernization (2010) / Chapter Skim
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3 Improving the Current System in the Short Term
3 Improving the Current System in the Short Term
Pages 31-47
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From page 31... ...
, like other federal agencies, has a limited budget for its statistical activities, most of which must be devoted to accomplishing the day-to-day tasks associated with collecting, processing, and disseminating data to users. The panel therefore advises SRS to make only a few modest improvements to the current system of surveys in the short term (over the next four years)
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From page 32... ...
However, for purposes of collecting data on research and development statistics in a consistent manner across federal government agencies, it is necessary to establish a common taxonomy that will be useful to the largest number of data providers and users. In the longer term, a provision can be made for tailoring structures that meet the specific needs of providers and users by flexibly categorizing administrative records as outlined in Chapter 5.
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From page 33... ...
IMPROVING THE CURRENT SYSTEM IN THE SHORT TERM BOX 3-1 Issues in Creating a Taxonomy of Activity in Research and Development A taxonomy groups together entities according to their common char acteristics. The English word derives from the Greek τάξις, taxis (mean ing order or arrangement)
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DATA ON FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INVESTMENTS BOX 3-1 Continued an independent social science. Geography, history, psychiatry, law, and linguistics present similar complications for taxonomy.
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From page 35... ...
The academic community is most often organized around departments for the purpose of instruction, but research activities are often multidisciplinary, engaging more than one discipline and department. Federal mission agencies tend to organize their applied R&D activities around broad national challenges, such as energy efficiency or space exploration, or around technology areas, such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, or information technology.
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From page 36... ...
Like OMB Directive 16, the UNESCO fields have not been updated since 1978. However, these old taxonomies were considered when the international community developed the more recent OECD Frascati manual classification, which uses the most current categories in its taxonomy of fields of S&E.
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From page 37... ...
IMPROVING THE CURRENT SYSTEM IN THE SHORT TERM BOX 3-2 UNESCO Fields of Science and Technology Natural sciences, including astronomy, bacteriology, biochemistry, biology, botany, chemistry, computer sciences, entomology, geology, geophysics, mathematics, meteorology, mineralogy, physical geogra phy, physics, zoology, other allied subjects. Engineering and technology, including engineering proper, such as chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering, and specialized subdivisions of these; forest products; applied sciences such as geodesy, industrial chemistry, etc.; architecture; the science and technology of food production; specialized technologies or interdisciplinary fields, e.g., systems analysis, metallurgy, mining, textile technology, other allied subjects.
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DATA ON FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INVESTMENTS BOX 3-3 Frascati Manual Taxonomy of Fields of Science and Technology 1. Natural Sciences 1.1.
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IMPROVING THE CURRENT SYSTEM IN THE SHORT TERM 3.3. ealth sciences (public health services, social medicine, hygiene, H nursing, epidemiology)
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From page 40... ...
0 DATA ON FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INVESTMENTS BOX 3-4 National Research Council Taxonomy of Fields Life Sciences Animal Sciences Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology iology/Integrated Biology/Integrated Biomedical Sciences B (Note: Use this field only if the degree field is not specialized.) Cell and Developmental Biology Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Entomology Food Science Forestry and Forest Sciences Genetics and Genomics Immunology and Infectious Disease Kinesiology Microbiology Neuroscience and Neurobiology Nursing Nutrition Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Environmental Health Physiology Plant Sciences Public Health Emerging Fields: Bioinformatics Biotechnology Systems Biology Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering Applied Mathematics Astrophysics and Astronomy Chemistry Computer Sciences Earth Sciences Mathematics Oceanography, Atmospheric Sciences, and Meteorology Physics Statistics and Probability Aerospace Engineering Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Chemical Engineering
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IMPROVING THE CURRENT SYSTEM IN THE SHORT TERM Civil and Environmental Engineering Computer Engineering Electrical and Computer Engineering Engineering Science and Materials (not elsewhere classified) Materials Science and Engineering Mechanical Engineering Operations Research, Systems Engineering, and Industrial Engineering Emerging Fields: Computational Engineering Information Science Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Nuclear Engineering Social and Behavioral Sciences Agricultural and Resource Economics Anthropology Communication Economics Geography Linguistics Political Science Psychology Public Affairs, Public Policy, and Public Administration Sociology Emerging Fields: Criminology and Criminal Justice Science and Technology Studies Urban Studies and Planning Arts and Humanities American Studies Classics Comparative Literature English Language and Literature French and Francophone Language and Literature German Language and Literature continued
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From page 42... ...
2 One process involves examining data from the IPEDS completion survey to identify insti tutions that produced the largest number of completions for a specific CIP code. The course catalogs for these institutions are then mapped onto the existing CIP and examined to find instructional programs that did not fit into the existing CIP.
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From page 43... ...
The CIP taxonomy includes a greater number of categories than are needed for the SRS surveys, so the SRS taxonomy might need to select and combine CIP categories. The burden of this task should be minimal, since SRS currently provides respondents to another of its R&D surveys -- the academic R&D expenditures survey -- with a cross-walk between the CIP taxonomy and the taxonomy of fields of S&E.
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From page 44... ...
Furthermore, the panel observes that SRS would have benefited from the social professional capital that can be built through an ongoing program of having its own staff conduct structured in-depth interviews and discussions with agency staff about the surveys, data, and reporting issues. Building relationships between SRS staff and agency respondents is critical to ensuring goodwill, understanding how the agency internal reporting systems interface with the survey questionnaire, improving reporting, and ultimately obtaining high-quality data.
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From page 45... ...
Recommendation 3-2: The Division of Science Resources Statistics should devote staff and resources to managing relationships with responding agencies directly, relying less on contractors to maintain those relationships. ADEQUACY OF THE DATA COLLECTION AUTHORITIES We considered whether SRS needs more explicit statutory authority to collect data from federal agencies in a way that would improve reporting.
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From page 46... ...
Alternatives include reporting incomplete information earlier, providing a preliminary report with imputation for late respondents, or designing a simple schedule to the form that could be completed more easily and quickly as the basis for publishing a preliminary report. The panel reluctantly concludes that SRS should stick with current practice.
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From page 47... ...
Some possibilities for process improvement include the automatic entry of zero values to subquestions when a response to one broad question is "no." For example, if the agency respondent reports that it does not support research in nonprofit institutions, the subsequent subquestions should automatically be populated with zero values, instead of requiring the respondent to enter a zero for each item. At the same time, SRS could consider tailoring the web survey for each agency based on prior knowledge and prior reports and with extensive collaboration with the agency.
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