Summary of Changes made to the GSS

Attachment 4
Summary of Changes Made to the GSS
Since last OMB Clearance
1.

The GSS has been divided into two distinct parts with a separate deadline
established for each part.
Part 1, the listing form for GSS organizational units (departments/programs and
research centerslhealth-care facilities), is due at the end of November.
Part 2 is due at the end of February, which is considered the survey deadline.
The purpose of the two deadlines is to emphasize the importance of updating the
list of organizational nnits and to identify problems with respondents early in the
data collection cycle, instead of waiting until the survey deadline. One of the
major findings of the research conducted nnder the Generic Clearance was that
GSS respondents often skipped over the task of updating the list of organizational
units because insufficient emphasis, visual and otherwise, was placed on the task.

2.

New terminology is being used.
The term organizational units (units) rather than departments/programs and
research centerslhealth-care facilities was introduced to refer to all elements of the
definition instead of just departments. Research showed that our respondents
thought we were only interested in departments and programs and they tended to
ignore the research centers and health care facilities.
In addition, the term Foreign Nationals is being used rather than Foreign to
designate non-U.S. citizens on temporary visas.

3.

Updated crosswalk between Classification oflnstructional Programs (eIP) and
GSS codes.
NSF performed a comprehensive review of the 2000 CIP codes to identify GSSrelevant CIP codes. (See Attachment 6.5.) As a result of this effort, the crosswalk
between the GSS codes (formerly called Discipline Codes) and the U.S.
Department of Education's 2000 CIP codes was updated. In addition, in previous
GSS cycles, not all relevant CIP codes were listed; only some were listed as
examples. In response to requests from respondents, the crosswalk was expanded
to include all relevant CIP codes. (See Attachment 1, subparts 1.4 through 1.6.)

4.

Five new GSS codes have been added.
As a result of a comprehensive review of pertinent subject areas, NSF decided to
add Commnnication, Family and Consumer ScienceslHuman Sciences, and
Multidisciplinary/Interdisciplinary Studies to its list of GSS-eligible fields.
Additionally, Architecture and Neuroscience were designated as separate (new)
GSS codes; they had been combined into other programs (civil engineering and
neurology, respectively) in previous rounds ofGSS. (See Attachment 1.5.)

5.

Programs added and moved for existing GSS-eligible fields.
As a result of its comprehensive review of the 2000 CIP codes, NSF added 132
new programs to the list of GSS-eligible programs. An additional 13 existing
programs were moved from one GSS code to a new or different GSS code, which
more adequately described the program. (See Attachment 1.5.)

6.

Provided 2 documents for finding GSS fields of study.
In response to respondents' requests, the CIP Code/GSS Code crosswalk was
sorted 2 different ways for easier use. The document titled, "GSS code list,"
shows the list sorted by survey field of study and the document titled, "GSS
Crosswalk" shows the list sorted by CIP code for respondents who are more
familiar with those codes. The GSS-relevant CIP list was also made available as
an Excel spreadsheet as a convenience to institution personnel for merging
institutional data sources. (Sce Attachments 1.4 and 1.6.)

7.

Some GSS-eligible programs now exclude master's programs.
The GSS subset of Classification ofInstructional Programs (CIP) codes included
are those in science, engineering, and health disciplines that appear to have a
research-oriented basis and are not primarily practitioner-preparation or "how-to"
programs. Within 25 CIP codes, the master's degree program is practitioner-based
and the PhD program has a thesis or dissertation and may result in research and
therefore is considered GSS-eligible. These 25 include many health fields
including 15 nursing programs, and some engineering and psychology fields. If an
institution does not award PhDs for these programs, they should include them in
their organizational units listing only to report postdoctoral researchers and
doctoral-holding nonfaculty researchers. The 25 programs appear in the GSS code
list with the designation "(excludes master's)."

8.

Expanded Glossary.
The glossary has been expanded to provide definitions for more terms and some
previous definitions have been updated. (See Attachment 1.7.)

9.

Clarified Survey Instructions.
The definition for first-time students was clarified to make it clearer to
respondents what NSF wanted reported. In addition, respondents were instructed
to include students enrolled for credit doing dissertation research away from
campus, but to exclude foreign students living in foreign countries.

10. Enhanced web features.
The 2008 GSS includes several enhanced web features to improve quality of
reporting and reduce survey burden. These include an online glossary,
confidential IDs and passwords for each survey respondent that they can use to
access all units they are responsible for, a search capability in the help menu, and
a button to automatically calculate totals.

11. Part 2 Survey worksheet follows the same sequence as the Web screen.
The paper worksheet and Web screens now have the same question order.
Previously the question numbers did not match between the worksheet and the
Web screens. (See Attachments I and 2.)
12. Use of question format.
Previously, questions were referred to as "items" and not all were phrased as
questions. All items now use a question fonnat. In addition, question fonnats and
instructions were made consistent across questions. (See Attachment 2.)
13. Improved format.
Research undertaken under the Generic Clearance resulted in an improved fonnat
and navigation of Part 1. (See Attachment 6.1.) The prototype was further
developed and extended and new Web pages, including a new navigation bar and
menu bar were developed using a similar style. Similar steps have been taken to
improve the fonnat and navigation of the Part 2 Web worksheet.
14. Rows added for men.
For questions 2-4, additional rows were added to explicitly collect infonnation for
men. Previously there were only rows for women on some items and the total for
men was deduccd from subtracting the counts for women from the totals.
However, respondents found it easier to report counts for both women and men,
so NSF made this change in response to respondents' feedback. (See Attachment
2.)

15. Teaching assistantships for NIH.
The NIH does not offer teaching assistantships. As a result, Column A, row 4 has
been blocked out on question 3 per NIH's request. (See Attachment 2.)
16. Added a Survey Changes page.
As a result of respondent requests, both the survey fonn and the Web system have
been revised to include a survey changes page at the beginning of the survey
instruments. This page highlights the main survey features, notes any changes for
the current year, and reminds respondents how to submit the survey online. (See
Attachments 1.3 and 2.)