Communicating Science and Engineering Data in the Information Age (2012) / Chapter Skim
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2 The Current Dissemination Program
2 The Current Dissemination Program
Pages 19-50
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From page 19... ...
; maintains an extensive website; makes its data available for retrieval from the consolidated FedStats database and through the Data.gov portal; provides access to confidential microdata in a protected environment for research purposes; and supports provision of three online communal tools that are used to retrieve data from the NCSES database: the Integrated Science and Engineering Resources Data System (WebCASPAR) , the Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System (SESTAT)
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From page 20... ...
Universities: Summary Report; Academic Institutional Profiles Survey of RTI International WebCASPAR; InfoBriefs; Graduate Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Students and Science and Engineering; Science Postdoctorates and Engineering Indicators; Women, in Science and Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities Engineering in Science and Engineering; Academic Institutional Profiles
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From page 21... ...
citizenship status at graduation; country licensing agreement. of birth and citizenship; disability A secure data access status; educational attainment of facility/data enclave parents; educational history in college; providing restricted field of degrees (N = 292)
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22 COMMUNICATING SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING DATA TABLE 2-1 Continued Current Database Retrieval Tool/ Survey Contractor Publication Survey of NORC SESTAT; InfoBriefs; Characteristics of Doctorate Doctoral Scientists and Engineers in the Recipients United States; Science and Engineering Indicators; Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering; Science and Engineering State Profiles National Mathematica Policy SESTAT; InfoBriefs; Characteristics Survey of Research, Inc. and of Recent Science and Engineering Recent College Census Bureau Graduates; Science and Engineering Graduates Indicators; Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering
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From page 23... ...
SEH field from a U.S. institution: age; interested in citizenship status; country of birth; analyzing microdata country of citizenship; disability status; can be arranged educational history (for each degree through a licensing held: field, level, when received)
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From page 24... ...
for Research and Development; Science for Research and and Engineering State Profiles; Science Development and Engineering Indicators; National Patterns of Research and Development Resources
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; primary work activity (e.g., teaching, basic research, etc.) ; publication and patent activities; race/ethnicity; salary; satisfaction and importance of various aspects of job; school enrollment status; sector of employment (academia, industry, government)
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From page 26... ...
and Engineering Indicators; National Patterns of Research and Development Resources Survey of ICF Macro WebCASPAR; InfoBrief; Academic Research and Research and Development Development Expenditures; Science and Engineering Expenditures at Indicators; National Patterns of Universities and Research and Development Resources; Colleges Science and Engineering State Profiles; Academic Institutional Profiles Survey of State Census Bureau InfoBrief; State Government R&D Research and Expenditures; Science and Engineering Development Indicators Expenditures
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Institution R&D expenditures by Data tables (selected 1972 (conducted source of funds (federal, state and items) annually, limited data local, industry, institutional, or other)
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From page 28... ...
We then review the NCSES user interface tools, including WebCASPAR, SESTAT, and IRIS, through which individuals are able to directly access and retrieve tailored outputs from the database. Then we discuss the structure of the databases and their current presentation on the web for downloading and use by third parties.
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From page 29... ...
engineering research space; current expenditures for projects to construct and repair/renovate research facilities; condition of research facilities; planned construction and repair/renovation of research facilities; source of funds (federal, state and local, institutional) for construction and repair/renovation of research facilities; research animal facilities; bandwidth speeds and high performance network connections; fiber; high performance computing; wireless connections Demographic, behavioral, and Data tables ICPSR, 1979-2001; attitudinal by how information about CD, 1979-2004; S&T is obtained; interest in science- (conducted biennially)
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From page 30... ...
At the same time, the NCSES approach to dissemination of standing data tables is largely a static electronic analog to its long-standing series of print publications. The approach the agency takes to the release of data tables is relatively unsophisticated when compared with approaches to table access used by other data organizations, such as the Census Bureau's American FactFinder (discussed below)
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From page 31... ...
The eBook program constitutes a step toward focusing additional public attention on federal agency publications and products, but it is less pertinent to the dissemination issues faced by NCSES than the POD program. TOOLS FOR ACCESSING THE DATABASE The principal database access tools made available by NCSES to its data users have been in place for some time, and, like many older systems, they are in need of updating.
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From page 32... ...
. Data are available for download or through the SESTAT Data Tool, which allows users to generate custom data tables.
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NCSES will explore the possibility of adding the baccalaureate institution variable to the tabulation engine in a future release.4 The tabulation engine includes a disclosure control mechanism that is intended to protect the identity of respondents when using the gender, citizenship, and race/ethnicity variables. It displays estimates that are intended not to disclose personally identifiable information and enables users to generate statistics using all of the SED variables previously available in WebCASPAR, except some institutional information.
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The panel invited Census Bureau officials in charge of maintaining and upgrading these major tools -- American FactFinder and DataWeb -- to discuss them at the panel workshop. American FactFinder The American FactFinder is the Census Bureau's primary web-based data dissemination vehicle.
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From page 35... ...
The difficulties encountered in implementing the upgrades in the American Factfinder tool are also pertinent to consider when introducing a new tool to the user community. DataWeb In his introduction to the discussion of the Census Bureau's DataWeb network, Cavan Capps, chief of DataWeb applications, described the major tasks facing statistical agencies: how to present the right data with the right context to meet users' needs through effective data integration, how to ensure that the most recent and most correct data are displayed, and how to facilitate the efficient reuse of data for different purposes.
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From page 36... ...
DataFerrett is a data web browser that is targeted at sophisticated data users and can present multiple data sets in an integrated way. It speeds analytical tasks by allowing data manipulation, incorporating advanced tabulation and descriptive statistics, and its mapping and business graphics use statistical rules.
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From page 37... ...
a presentation describing a tool called Google Public Data Explorer by Jürgen Schwärzler, statistician, and Benjamin Yolken, project leader for this program; (c) a presentation by panel member Christiaan Laevaert on the practical aspects of using the Google Public Data Explorer tool and the significant improvements in the overall visibility of the data offerings of the Statistical Office of the European Union (EUROSTAT)
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From page 38... ...
Fusion Tables focuses on data sharing, linking, and merging. The Google Public Data Explorer is used for data publication, and the (now defunct)
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In contrast, Tableau handles data with tens of millions of rows (which is smaller than high-end SQL databases but far exceeds the capability of Google Public Data Explorer) , supports a wide variety of linked visualizations, and provides an easy-touse graphical user interface for nonexpert users to publish data.
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State of the Practice in Data Sharing Data sharing platforms go beyond data publication to allow the wider user community to comment and correct data provided through the system, add value through integrated visualizations or tags, and even provide additional data for comparison and integration. At the time our report was being prepared, there was one open-source data sharing platform, the Dataverse Network.
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From page 41... ...
It is closed source, runs as a proprietary service, and handles only moderatesized databases. It extensively supports collaborative data manipulation in such functions as data linking, aggregation, and filtering, and it has extensive mashup support, with Google RESTful and Java JSON APIs for extraction and interrogation of data sets.
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From page 42... ...
. Trends in Data Access Tools and Infrastructure Data dissemination is a rapidly developing area, in which players, technologies, and vocations are changing rapidly.
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From page 43... ...
It would benefit from exploring mashups (a mashup occurs when a web page or application uses and combines data, presentation, or functionality from two or more sources to create new services) with ongoing public-sector dissemination tool sets, such as DataWeb, in order to quickly transform its electronic dissemination platforms and refine its participation in government-wide portals (see Recommendation 3-4)
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From page 44... ...
It is a one-stop website for free access to data produced or held by the federal government, designed to make it easy to find, download, and use, including databases, data feeds, graphics, and other data visualizations. Vander Mallie reported that, at its inception in 2009, Data.gov consisted of 47 raw data sets and 27 tools to assist in accessing the data in some of the complex data stores.
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From page 45... ...
, and enhancing data visualization across agencies. In short, the idea is to give agencies a powerful new tool for disseminating their data and a one-stop locale for the public to access them.
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From page 46... ...
EXPANDING ACCESS TO THE NCSES DATABASE In addition to making its database available to the public through use of the SESTAT, WebCASPAR, and IRIS tools as well as through FedStats and Data.gov, NCSES makes the microdata available under carefully controlled circumstances for download and use by outside organizations and developers. NCSES, like all federal agencies, is bound by the Privacy Act of 1974 to protect the confidentiality of the records it maintains about individuals and other statutory requirements for the protection of confidential statistical information under Title V of the 2002 E-Government Act, the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA)
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From page 47... ...
The enclave seeks to implement technological security, statistical protections, legal requirements, and researcher training in one package. The NORC Data Enclave intends to aid in preserving data for the long term by documenting the data using Data Documentation Initiative– compliant metadata standards.
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From page 48... ...
These have successfully put the major data series in the hands of users more quickly than in the past. However, users still have to wait too long after the reference period to get access to the detailed publication tabulations that are necessary for sophisticated analysis from a major NCSES survey; for example, detailed data from the new Survey of Industrial Research and Development for the years 2006 and 2007 were released in June 2011, a year after less detailed summaries of data from the BRDIS for 2008 were released in May 2010.
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From page 49... ...
Another source of the timeliness problem stems from the fact that NCSES has largely shifted to electronic dissemination but without systematic machine-understandable metadata and change control. This means that a great deal of NCSES time still must be spent in painstakingly checking data and formatting the data for print and electronic publication in order to check the accuracy and reliability of the published products.
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