Proposed Questions for a Web Survey of Users of Products from the Survey of Earned Doctorates

ATTACHMENT 2

Proposed Questions for a Web Survey of Users of Products from the

Survey of Earned Doctorates

DRAFT

These are draft questions for the web survey of the users of products from the Survey of Earned Doctorates (Race/Ethnicity/Gender Tabulations and SED Summary Report). Please note that the question wording, type, order, and other aspects of the survey design may change. A web link will be provided to assist respondents in viewing the data products as they complete the survey.

Questions for all users:

Introduction-Welcome screen

1. What is the name of your institution/organization?

2. What is the name of your department/group/office?

3. What is your title?

4. Which of the following Survey of Earned Doctorates data products do you use? (check all that apply)

1. Race/Ethnicity/Gender Tables (REG)

2. SED Summary Report

Depending on which product the respondent uses, the questionnaire will branch out into 2 different paths. If they use both reports, REG table questions will be asked first, followed by SED Summary Report questions.

3. Other SED products (BA origin tables, Science and Engineering Awards)

If only c, ask

4c. What other SED products do you use?

4c1. BA Origin Tables

4c2. Science and Engineering Awards

4c3. SED in WebCASPAR

For each product checked in 4c, ask

Do you have any feedback or suggestions about this product? (Open-ended)

Then, thank the respondent and end the survey.

Questions for the users of the REG Tables

REG-5. How many years have you used the REG tables?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 or more

REG-6. The present REG tables provide data on research doctorates for the last ten years by fine field of study and race/ethnicity and gender for: a) U.S. citizens and b) U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Which of these two sets of tabulations have you used? (Please select one)

1. U.S. citizens

2. U.S. citizens and permanent residents

3. Both sets (a and b)

REG-7. Do you use these REG data to fulfill a specific institutional, state, or federal requirement? (check all that apply)

a. Institutional requirement

2. State requirement

3. Federal requirement

4. Other types of requirements, please specify

5. No requirement (skip to REG-8)

REG-7a. If respondent checks one or more categories ‘a’-‘d’ in REG-7--Can you elaborate on the nature of requirement and the type of data you need in order to fulfill this requirement? If possible, please provide the title of the regulation or legal requirement [Open-ended]

REG-7b. For each type of requirement mentioned in REG-7-

How frequently do you need to fulfill these requirements?

1. Every year or more frequently

2. Every 2 years

3. Every 3 years

4. Every 4 years

5. Every 5 years

6. Less frequently

REG-8. Do you aggregate the tabular data from the REG tables into broader field of study categories?

a. Yes

b. No (skip to REG-9)

REG-8a. If yes—

How do you aggregate the REG tabular data? (Please specify/Open-ended)

REG-9. Do you average the REG tabular data across years?

1. Yes

2. No (skip to REG-10)

REG-9a. If yes—

How do you average the REG tabular data? (Please specify/Open-ended)

REG-10. Do you aggregate the REG tabular data across years?

3. Yes

4. No(skip to REG-11)

REG-10a. If yes—

How do you aggregate the REG tabular data? (Please specify/Open-ended)

REG-11. Do you use the REG data to look at: (check one)

a. Particular field(s) of study by race/ethnicity and gender

b. All fields of study by race/ethnicity and gender

c. Both a and b

d. Neither a nor b

If response b or d, skip to REG-12

REG-11a. If a or c, ask

Which field(s) of study? (Please specify/Open-ended)

REG-12. Do you use the REG data to look at:

a. Particular groups (gender, race/ethnicity) by field of study

b. All the gender and race/ethnicity groups by field of study

c. Both a and b

d. Other, specify (open ended)

If b or d, skip to REG-13

REG-12a. If responses a or c--

Which group(s) in particular? Select all that apply

1. Males

2. Females

3. Black/African American

4. American Indian/Alaska Native

5. Asian

6. Hispanic/Latino

7. Underrepresented minority total (Black/African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic/Latino)

If response f, ask REG-12b. Otherwise skip to REG-13

REG-12b. If they respond f. (look at Hispanics/Latino by field of study),

Often when data are provided with detail for fine field as well as Hispanic subgroup (Cuban, Mexican, and Puerto Rico), the data cells are very small and the confidentiality of the respondent is compromised. Which of these options would be more useful to you?

a. Combining the 3 Hispanic subgroups for all 279 fine fields of study

b. Combining very small fields of study while still providing as much detail as possible on the 3 separate Hispanic subgroups

c. Other (Specify)

REG-13. If the REG tables were to be aggregated across years in order to provide meaningful data to the users while still protecting the confidentiality of the respondents, what type of aggregation would you prefer?

a. Every 2 years

b. Every 3 years

c. Every 4 years

d. Every 5 years

Note: Respondents will be able to click a link to see examples of how a table section corresponding to one of the broad fields would look depending on how the data are aggregated by year.

REG-14. Which format(s) of the REG data do you prefer? (check all that apply)

a. PDF file

b. Downloadable Excel tables

c. Hard copy

d. CD-ROM with Excel tables

If the Summary Report was checked in Question 4, continue with the next path.

If not,

REG-15. Do you have any additional comments you would like to provide? (Open-ended)

Then, thank respondent and end the survey.

Questions for SED Summary Report Users

SR-5. For how many years have you used the SED Summary Report?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 or more

SR-6. Do you use these Summary Report data to fulfill a specific institutional, state, or federal requirement? (check all that apply)

a. Institutional requirement

b. State requirement

c. Federal requirement

d. Other types of requirements, please specify

e. No requirement (skip to SR-7)

SR-6a. If respondent checks one or more categories ‘a’-‘d’ in SR-6--Can you elaborate on the nature of requirement and the type of data you need in order to fulfill this requirement? If possible, please provide the title of the regulation or legal requirement [Open-ended]

SR-6b. For each type of requirement checked in SR-6

How frequently do you need to fulfill these requirements?

a. Every year or more frequently

2. Every 2 years

3. Every 3 years

4. Every 4 years

5. Every 5 years

6. Less frequently

SR-7. Do you aggregate the SED Summary Report tabular data into broader field of study categories?

a. Yes

b. No (skip to SR-8)

SR-7a. If yes—How do you aggregate the Summary Report tabular data? (Please specify/Open-ended)

SR-8. Do you average the SED Summary Report tabular data across years?

1. Yes

2. No (Skip to SR-9)

SR-8a. If yes—How do you average the Summary Report tabular data? (Please specify/Open-ended)

SR-9. Do you aggregate the REG tabular data across years?

1. Yes

2. No (Skip to SR-10)

SR-9a. If yes—

How do you aggregate the REG tabular data? (Please specify/Open-ended)

SR-10. Which Summary Report data table(s) do you use most?

1. All the data tables

2. Selected data tables

3. None

Skip to SR-11 if a or c.

SR-10a. If b, please list which tables you use from the SED Summary Report (Specify/Open-ended)

SR-11. Do you use the Summary Report data to look at:

a. Particular groups (gender, race/ethnicity) by field of study

b. All the gender and race/ethnicity groups by field of study

c. Both a and b

d. Other, specify (open ended)

If b or d, skip to SR-12

SR-11a. If responses a or c--

Which group(s) in particular? Select all that apply

1. Males

2. Females

3. Black/African American

4. American Indian/Alaska Native

5. Asian

6. Hispanic/Latino

7. Underrepresented minority total (Black/African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic/Latino)

If response f, ask SR-10b. Otherwise skip to SR-12

SR-11b. If they respond f (look at Hispanics/Latino by field of study)--

Often when data are provided with detail for fine field as well as Hispanic subgroup (Cuban, Mexican, and Puerto Rico), the data cells are very small and the confidentiality of the respondent is compromised. Which of these options would be more useful to you?

a. Combining the 3 Hispanic subgroups for all 279 fine fields of study

b. Combining very small fields of study while still providing as much detail as possible on the 3 separate Hispanic subgroups

c. Other (Specify)

SR-12. If the Summary Report tables were to be aggregated across years in order to provide meaningful data to the users while still protecting the confidentiality of the respondents, what type of aggregation would you prefer:

a. Every 2 years

b. Every 3 years

c. Every 4 years

d. Every 5 years

Note: Respondents will be able to click a link to see examples of how a table section corresponding to one of the broad fields would look depending on how the data are aggregated by year.

SR-13. Which format(s) of the Summary Report data do you prefer? (check all that apply)

a. PDF file

b. Downloadable Excel tables

c. Hard copy

d. CD-ROM

e. Flash drive

SR-14. What sections of the Summary Report do you use the most? (Rank order)

1. Main text

2. Figures in the text

3. Main data tables

4. Appendix tables

SR-15. Do you have any additional comments you would like to provide? (Open-ended)

This completes our questions. Thank you for helping us with this survey!

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