Debriefing Survey Questions (from the 5/17/2013 Change Request)

Attachment 2

Debriefing Survey Questions

Note to OMB: These questions will be presented to respondents in a brief web instrument available to the respondent through clicking a link from the invitation email (see Attachment 3). Respondents will only see the questions that are relevant to their institution; subsets of items (e.g., A1-A6 , B1-B3, etc.) will be grouped to appear on separate pages.

As part of the methodological research on the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering (GSS), NSF is interested in learning more information about how the institutions define and identify doctorate-holding nonfaculty researchers (NFRs), other than postdocs.

We have a few questions that we would like to ask you about the NFR data was reported on the GSS in the past.

A1. Does your organizational unit have a commonly used definition for doctorate-holding nonfaculty researchers, other than postdocs?

__Yes (go to A2) __No

A2. [if Yes] What is the definition?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A3. Please see the job titles below and provide additional job titles for the research staff employed in your organizational unit.

Check the job title used to identify NFRs and provide any additional criteria used to report NFRs by each applicable job title.

	Job title	Check if this job title applies to NFRs	Comments or Additional criteria Used
A4a	Research scientist (any level – Principal, Senior, Full, Associate, Assistant)
A4b	Research associate (any level)
A4c	Research assistant
A4d	Visiting scholar or fellow
A4e	Postdoctoral fellow or researcher
A4f	Instructor (any level)
A4g	Research investigator
A4h	Other research staff – specify job title:

A5. How did you determine who to include in your count as a NFR (a nonfaculty doctorate-holding researcher, other than a postdoc)?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A6. Below is a table showing how you reported NFRs for your organizational unit in [year].

Doctoral degree type	Men 1	Women 2	Total 3
Number of nonfaculty researchers with a professional degree (such as MD, DVM, DO, or DDS)
Number of nonfaculty researchers with a doctoral degree (such as PhD, ScD, DEng)
Number of nonfaculty researchers with both a professional degree and a doctoral degree (such as MD-PhD, DVM-PhD)
Number of nonfaculty researchers with doctoral degree type unknown
Total nonfaculty researchers (sum rows A-D)

1. How easy or difficult was it to report this information?

__ Very difficult

__ Somewhat difficult

__ Somewhat easy

__ Very easy

2. [if VERY DIFFICULT OR SOMEWHAT DIFFICULT] What was the source of the difficulties involved in reporting NFRs’ doctoral degree type?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. How clear or confusing was it that the only professional degrees to be reported in the first doctoral type category were the doctorate-level professional degrees (eg, MDs)?

__ Very confusing

__ Somewhat confusing

__ Somewhat clear

__ Very clear

[If 2010 NFR # GTE (2009 NFR # * 1.15), go to Section B; or else go to section c]

B1. Over the last few years, the number of NFRs reported by your institution has increased, as shown below:

<2009 NFR #> NFRs in 2009

<2010 NFR #> NFRs in 2010

<2011 NFR #> NFRs in 2011

<2012 NFR #> NFRs in 2012

Has the definition and/or process you use to identify NFRs changed in the past few years?

__Yes (go to B2) __No (go to B3)

B2. [if Yes] Can you please explain what has changed? Please check all that apply.

__ More units were added that employ NFRs [only for coordinators)

__ The process for identifying NFRs changed, e.g., information was pulled from a central database

__ Institution adopted a new definition for NFRs

__ Other changes – please specify______________________________________________________________

B3. The number of NFRs reported by your institution increased from <2009 NFR #> in 2009 to <2010 NFR #> in 2010. Can you tell us what led to the increase?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[If 2010 NFR # is gT 2010 postdoc #, go to Section C; or else go to section d]

C1. In 2010, your institution reported having<2010 NFR #> NFRs and <2010 POSTDOC #> postdocs.

Were any individuals counted as both postdocs and NFRs, or were all individuals counted as one or the other?

__ Some individuals were counted as both postdocs and NFRs

__ All individuals were counted as either postdocs or NFRs

C1a. [IF COUNTED AS BOTH] Can you tell us what might have led to some individuals being counted as both postdocs and NFRs?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

C1b. [IF NO] Can you provide any information that may help explain the higher number of NFRs than postdocs at your institution?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[If zero NFRs reported, go to Section D]

D. Your school reported data on postdocs, but did not report other nonfaculty doctorate-holding researchers.

D1. Do you know whether your institution has other nonfaculty doctorate-holding researchers (NFRs)?

__Yes (go to D2) __No (go to D3)

D2. [if Yes] If your institution had NFRs in 2010, please explain why they were not reported.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

D3. [If school has GTE 40 postdocs] Most schools that report postdocs also report having NFRs. Although your institution reported <2010 POSTDOC #> postdocs in 2010, you did not report any NFRs. Can you provide any information that might be helpful to explain the differences?

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