Transparency in Statistical Information for the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics and All Federal Statistical Agencies (2022) / Chapter Skim
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6 Making the Practices of the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics More Transparent
6 Making the Practices of the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics More Transparent
Pages 131-146
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From page 131... ...
Ten of the ongoing surveys are performed under competitive commercial contract, and the remaining five are performed under negotiated interagency agreements with the Census Bureau. In addition to data tables and other data products (see below)
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From page 132... ...
Education nsf.gov/statistics/srvyherd/#sd Research and census Development Survey (HERD) National Census https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvygrads/; https://www.
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Survey of Synectics/ https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvyfedsupport/; https:// Federal www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvyfedsupport/#sd; Science and census Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions (Fed Support) Survey of RTI https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvygradpostdoc/; https:// Graduate International/ www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvygradpostdoc/#sd; Students and Postdoctorates census in Science and Engineering (GSS)
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From page 134... ...
• InfoBriefs, which highlight findings from recently completed s urveys1 or reports on narrowly defined topics; • Congressionally mandated reports, such as Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering and Science and Engineering Indicators. For the latter report, NCSES produces the congressionally mandated Indicators Summary Report and cycle-specific thematic reports; • Special recurring reports, such as Doctorate Recipients, based on the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED)
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From page 135... ...
In the near future, the interactive data tool will publish the metadata application programming interface that drives this site, adding a translation layer that publishes the metadata to the Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) standards, with automated updates to Data.gov.
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From page 136... ...
For these data, NCSES may grant secure access to restricted-use microdata files through the Secure Data Access Facility.
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Publication Standards Utilized By NCSES NCSES currently operates in accordance with its publication standards, as represented in their internal (not publicly available) document, "Statistical Standards for NCSES Publications." Below is the current list of standards regarding documentation of data treatments, methods, and dissemination.
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From page 138... ...
TRANSPARENCY FOR EXTERNAL USERS OF NCSES SURVEY OUTPUT To assess NCSES's transparency, the panel was interested in the extent to which NCSES provided information on its own Website, over and above its publication standards, to inform NCSES's external user community about various details concerning its statistical programs. Such details could include information about survey designs, the survey instruments used to collect responses, details about how to instruct the field interviewers, the extent of nonresponse and failed edits, how the survey weights were computed, the estimation methodology used, and the variability of those estimates.
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From page 139... ...
First, for SED data from 1958 onward there is an interactive data tool that can create custom tables of the number of doctorate recipients by demographics, discipline, and institutional characteristics. Researchers can also access SED microdata through the Secure Data Access Facility and the FSRDC.
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From page 140... ...
The questionnaire is available on the NCSES ECDS Web page. Data treatments include editing and logical and hot-deck imputation for item nonresponse.
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From page 141... ...
In addition, Knott noted that when she was working from the publicly available estimates from the NCSES Web page, like many users of such data she was interested in examining trends over time. To carry out the desired time-series analysis, she had to merge various tables over time and then link the merged file with other covariates over time to try to relate various trends to certain explanatory variables.
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From page 142... ...
When a user needs to view institutionallevel data or data on specific funding by federal agency, the tables are not particularly useful. She sees a need for more user involvement in the development of appropriate data tables and user interfaces.
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From page 143... ...
Second, as expressed in our statement of task, the panel has been asked to address many of the same questions for the entire federal statistical system that it has been asked to address for NCSES. As a result, in Chapter 7, as well as in previous chapters, we present a number of recommendations for ways the federal statistical agencies can more comprehensively document methods and archive their official statistics and input data.
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From page 144... ...
from the program's Website, to the extent possible consistent with confidentiality protections. As is true for most of the federal statistical agencies, NCSES has made only modest use of shared metadata standards, in particular in its data documentation and in its exchange of official statistics and the associated methods.
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From page 145... ...
Recommendation 6.7: Given the varying needs and expertise of dif ferent users, transparency is enhanced when all National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) data programs take steps to help users interact with the data used to develop official statistics.
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From page 146... ...
146 TRANSPARENCY IN STATISTICAL INFORMATION • Organize regular meetings with broad user community represen tation; and • Through surveys and direct interactions with users, identify ways to improve the transparency, accessibility, and usability of N CSES estimates, data products, documentation, and dis semination systems, including the structure and navigation of the agency's Website.
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