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Appendix C: Modernizing the Infrastructure of the National Science Foundation Federal Funds Survey: Summary of a Workshop
Pages 84-100

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From page 84...
... users of administrative data on grants and contacts, who focused on long-term opportunities to use federal government administrative data and other sources for measuring federal R&D spending. On the second day of the workshop, attention was directed toward issues associated with the classification of fields of science and engineering used in these and other NSF surveys.
From page 85...
... Marburger, III, explained the specific interest of OSTP in the data from the federal funds and other NSF surveys of research and development spending at the 30th Annual AAAS Forum on Science and Technology Policy in Washington, DC. He pointed out that indicators of the health of U.S.
From page 86...
... For example, the federal support survey has been mandated by Congress since 1950.3 James Wilson, then majority staff director of the Research and Science Education Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science and Technology, spoke on the interests of that committee, which has key authorization jurisdiction over the NSF portfolio of R&D surveys. Although there is an interest in R&D spending data by field of science and engineering with consistency over time in order to understand trends in funding, the interest of Congress also often has to do with program categories -- such as those defined by the administration's investment priorities -- rather than specific fields.
From page 87...
... This is a growing academic discipline and research area that is characterized by the application of computer science, cognitive science, economics, organizational behavior, human resources management, marketing, and operations research in support of understanding aspects of the service sector. Like nanotechnology and other categories that lump together various disciplines, the emerging service science field is very difficult to measure with current NSF data.
From page 88...
... The board is responsible for preparing the biannual Science and Engineering Indicators report, which provides a broad base of quantitative information about U.S. science, engineering, and technology for use by public and private policy makers and makes extensive use of the information from the federal funds and federal support surveys.
From page 89...
... The federal funds and federal support surveys, for example, have different definitions of fields. Lederhendler suggested the need for a federated system of information and ontology.
From page 90...
... SCIENCE OF SCIENCE POLICY: METRICS The science of science policy, first proposed by OSTP, has been institutionalized in NSF with a Science of Science Policy Program that is expected to use the data provided by the federal funds and support surveys. This information will be needed in response to new requirements for metrics to assess the progress of explanatory models, analytic tools, and datasets designed to inform the nation's public and private sectors about the processes through which investments in science and engineering research are transformed into social and economic outcomes.
From page 91...
... Her presentation stressed that the way to deal with the lack of metrics is tied to more extensive and intensive use of administrative record data, which have provided answers in other research, areas such as understanding business dynamics and the nature of work. QUALITY AND CONTENT ISSUES Against this backdrop of unfulfilled user needs and producer concerns, NSF collects, processes, and publishes the only source of information on federal expenditures for R&D based on the federal funds and support surveys.
From page 92...
... , broken down by R&D; R&D plant; fellowships, traineeships, and training grants; facilities and equipment for instruction in science and engineering; general support for science and engineering; and other activities related to science and engineering. Within the academic sector, totals can be derived for historically black colleges and universities, high Hispanic enrollment institutions, minority serving institutions, and tribal colleges and also by public or private academic institutions and for 1,323 individual independent nonprofit institutions (as of fiscal 2006)
From page 93...
... He suggested that the RaDiUS system could serve as a prototype for the FFATA effort. Mark Bussow reported on OMB activities with regard to improving the quality of and access to administrative data that would be useful for measuring federal R&D spending.
From page 94...
... • program source • award title that describes the purpose of the funding • location of recipient • city, state, congressional district, and country in which award per formance primarily takes place • unique identifier for entity receiving award and of the parent entity of recipient, if one exists • any other information specified by OMB OMB has elected to leverage existing systems, functionality, and available data to the fullest extent and has selected three major financial assistance databases as sources of information for the new website: the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) -- Next Generation (NG)
From page 95...
... He suggested some policy changes that could improve the quality and usability of the R&D spending data: the use of triangulation to identify and correct errors; better enforcement of consistent reporting policies; unified format standards and data architectures; and increased use of machine analysis. However, he did not support a unified taxonomy of fields of science and engineering because advances in information technology have created an environment in which multiple taxonomies are supported by such new technologies as text analysis, concept inference, and evolving semantic web programs.
From page 96...
... She has been responsible for an internal staff study of taxonomy issues that has reviewed prior Division of Science Resources Statistics (SRS) reports, interviewed NSF division directors and program officers, and interviewed outside researchers.
From page 97...
... The review of agency program management should include considering the existing agency administrative record systems and linkage mechanisms. As for the issue of modernizing the taxonomy, Mulrow suggested starting with the development of principles and guidelines for a classification system, reviewing the need for multiple classifications of the data, considering network representations of the information, and, in preparation for updating the taxonomy, developing ways to bridge the past with the current with the future classification system.
From page 98...
... Christopher Hill, Chair, George Mason University 9:00-10:30 a.m. Overview of User Requirements Diane DiEuliis, Senior Policy Analyst, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President James Wilson, Majority Staff Director, Research and Science Education Subcommittee, Committee on Science and Technology, U.S.
From page 99...
... Working Lunch 1:00-2:30 p.m. Strengths and Limitations of Federal Funds/ Support Surveys John Jankowski, National Science Foundation Using Administrative Data to Estimate Federal R&D Expenditures Julia Lane, National Science Foundation 2:30-2:45 p.m.
From page 100...
... Issues with the Collection of Taxonomy Data; Interface of S&E Taxonomy with Other Systems (CIP, SOC, etc)


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