GSS Taxonomy Tool Prototype

Taxonomy Tool Prototype
The following example of the Taxonomy Tool is adapted from the initial Excel document that NSF reviewed and returned
to RTI. Comments and suggestions from the Excel document have been integrated into this version. This example is
intended to better represent the coordinator experience. The final web version of the Taxonomy Tool will address all
formatting, alignment, font, and spacing issues that have resulted from the limitations of Microsoft Word.

About the Taxonomy Tool Prototype:
• It is not advised to print this document as the following pages have been set to 11x17 to show as much
information as possible.
• The blue shaded boxes give comment to the page design and function and will not be shown to coordinators.
• Yellow highlights indicate a user has ‘clicked’ or interacted with an item.
• All impacted units listed are postdoc/NFR units
• Font sizes are purposefully inconsistent to limit each ‘webpage’ to one Microsoft Word document page.

Screen 1: Impacted Unit List

Institution
School Name (School ID)

Impacted Unit List

The Taxonomy Tool is an interactive version of the GSS code list that will guide you through the recoding of units impacted by the 2017 GSS Taxonomy Change. The only units shown below are those
effected by the Taxonomy change and reported postdocs or NFRs in 2016. Upon completion, a list of units and their new GSS codes will be available to download. This file will include all units at your
school and can be used to construct an upload file or assist in manual data entry. Note that you will be unable to download this list until you have recoded all impacted units.

When coordinators click the link (or are
otherwise directed to the taxonomy tool) they will
come to this screen. Yellow highlights indicate
selected items. This screen will continuously
update until they have completed their recoding.

There are 10 units that need to be recoded.

The purpose of this screen is to introduce
coordinators to the Taxonomy Tool and guide
them through the recoding process. The unit list
will update based on their selections. After each
unit is recoded they will be directed back to this
page and their efforts will be shown accordingly.

If you have any questions, please contact the GSS Helpdesk at 866-558-0781.
Below are previously reported units that need to be recoded to a different GSS code in 2017.
Please click a unit name to recode it to the new GSS Taxonomy.
Unit Name
Environmental Science
Wildlife & Wildlands Conservation
Biology
Food Science
Nutritional Science
Counseling Psychology
Instructional Psychology & Technology
School Psychology
Anthropology
Marriage, Family, and Human Development

2016 GSS Code and Field Title
501
501
603
612
612
802
802
802
902
920

Agricultural Sciences
Agricultural Sciences
Biology
Nutrition Science
Nutrition Science
Psychology, except Clinical
Psychology, except Clinical
Psychology, except Clinical
Anthropology
Family and Consumer Sciences, and Human Sciences

The following previously reported units are no longer eligible for the GSS in 2017.
Unit Name
Public Administration

2016
913

GSS code and Field Title
Public Administration

When a coordinator clicks on
a unit it will automatically
take them to the next screen

This screen will change once they recode all
impacted units (last two pages of this document).
It will only show the 2017 unit list and newly
ineligible units. They will be asked to submit
their changes and will then be able to download
the results.

Screen 2: Field of Study or Research List

Field of Study or Research Selection

Institution
School Name (School ID)

The purpose of this screen is to display all fields
of study or research within the GSS code that the
unit was coded as in 2016.

Unit: Counseling Psychology
Please select from the following field(s)within this unit.
Once your selections are made click ‘Submit’ at the bottom of this page.
☐ Applied Behavior Analysis
☐ Applied Psychology
☐ Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology, Other
☐ Cognitive Psychology and Psycholinguistics
☐ Community Psychology
☐ Comparative Psychology
☒ Counseling Psychology
☐ Developmental and Child Psychology
☐ Educational Psychology
☐ Environmental Psychology
☐ Experimental Psychology
☐ Family Psychology
☐ Forensic Psychology
☐ Geropsychology
☐ Health/Medical Psychology
☐ Industrial and Organizational Psychology
☐ Personality Psychology
☐ Personality Psychology
☐ Physiological Psychology/ Psychobiology
☐ Psychology, Other
☐ Psychometrics and Quantitative Psychology
☐ Psychopharmacology
☐ Research and Experimental Psychology, Other
☐ School Psychology
☐ Social Psychology
☐ OTHER

The submit button is what does the actual recoding.
It looks up the 2017 GSS Code for the CIP code
selected. The output is displayed on the next page.

This list is the CIP Program Titles (without the
CIP Code shown).

The other category is included because
coordinators may have been incorrectly coding
CIP codes or research fields. This functionality is
demonstrated later.

Screen 3: Recode Results

Institution
School Name (School ID)

2017 GSS Code
2017 GSS code for the Counseling Psychology unit is:
804-Counseling and Applied Psychology

This screen displays the 2017 GSS code for the
selected unit.

Examples of 2016 units splitting across multiple
GSS codes due to the taxonomy change are
shown later.

Please return to the Impacted Unit List to continue recoding units.

Newly ineligible units are shown later.

The ‘Return to Impacted Unit List’ button will take them to what is labeled
‘First Screen’ in this word document. It will now update their unit list
depending their selections. For purposes of demonstration the next page in
the word document will be the ‘updated’ first screen.
Once they click this button, their selections are saved and displayed on their
unit listing.

Screen 1: Impacted Unit List

Institution
School Name (School ID)

Impacted Unit List

The Taxonomy Tool is an interactive version of the GSS code list that will guide you through the recoding of units impacted b y the 2017 GSS Taxonomy Change. The only units shown below are those
effected by the Taxonomy change and reported postdocs or NFRs in 2016. Upon completion, a list of units and their new GSS codes will be available to download. This file will include all units at your
school and can be used to construct an upload file or assist in manual data entry. Note that you will be unable to download this list until you have recoded all impacted units.
There are 9 units that need to be recoded.
If you have any questions, please contact the GSS Helpdesk at 866-558-0781.
Below are previously reported units that need to be recoded to a different GSS code in 2017.
Please click a unit name to recode it to the new GSS Taxonomy.
Unit Name
Environmental Science
Wildlife & Wildlands Conservation
Biology
Food Science
Nutritional Science
Instructional Psychology & Technology
School Psychology
Archeology
Marriage, Family, and Human Development

2016 GSS Code and Field Title
501 Agricultural Sciences
501 Agricultural Sciences
603 Biology
612 Nutrition Science
612 Nutrition Science
802 Psychology, except Clinical
802 Psychology, except Clinical
902 Anthropology
920 Family and Consumer Sciences, and Human Sciences

2017 Unit List
Recoded Units

2017 GSS Code and Field Title

Field of Study

Counseling Psychology

804

Counseling Psychology

Counseling and Applied Psychology

The following previously reported units are no longer eligible for the GSS in 2017.

Unit Name
Public Administration

2016 GSS code
913
Public Administration

This page has updated to show the ‘2017 Unit
List’.

The ‘Field of Study’ column is included in the
2017 unit list for when a unit splits across
multiple GSS codes. The coordinator will need to
know which major should be recoded as a
specific GSS Code within the unit. (Shown
Later).

Screen 2: Field of Study or Research List

Field of Study or Research Selection
Unit: Wildlife & Wildlands Conservation
Please select from the following field(s)within this unit.
Once your selections are made click ‘Submit’ at the bottom of this page.
☐ Agricultural and Horticultural Plant Breeding
☐ Agricultural Animal Breeding
☐ Agriculture, Agriculture Operations and Related Sciences
☐ Agriculture, Agriculture Operations and Related Sciences, Other
☐ Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture
☐ Agronomy and Crop Science
☐ Animal Health
☐ Animal Nutrition
☐ Animal Sciences
☐ Animal Sciences, Other
☐ Dairy Science
☐ Environmental Science
☐ Environmental Studies
☐ Fishing and Fisheries Sciences and Management
☐ Food Science
☐ Food Science and Technology
☐ Food Science and Technology, Other
☐ Food Technology and Processing
☐ Forest Management/Forest Resources Management
☐ Forest Resources Production and Management
☐ Forest Sciences and Biology
☐ Forestry
☐ Forestry, Other
☐ Horticultural Science
☐ International Agriculture
☐ Land Use Planning and Management/Development
☐ Livestock Management
☐ Natural Resources and Conservation, General
☐ Natural Resources and Conservation, Other
☐ Natural Resources Conservation and Research, Other
☐ Natural Resources Management and Policy
☐ Natural Resources Management and Policy, Other
☐ Ornamental Horticulture
☐ Plant Protection and Integrated Pest Management
☐ Plant Sciences
☐ Plant Sciences, Other
☐ Poultry Science
☒ Range Science and Management
☐ Soil Chemistry and Physics
☐ Soil Microbiology
☐ Soil Science and Agronomy
☐ Soil Sciences
☐ Soil Sciences, Other
☐ Urban Forestry
☐ Water, Wetlands, and Marine Resources Management
☒ Wildlife, Fish and Wildlands Science and Management
☐ Wood Science and Wood Products/Pulp and Paper Technology
☐ OTHER

Institution
School Name (School ID)

This is an example of a coordinator selecting
multiple fields of study or research within a
single unit. This screen guides them through
recoding each field of study/research.

Screen 2: Field of Study or Research List
(continued)

Field of Study or Research Selection

You have selected the following programs of study or research within Wildlife & Wildlands Conservation.
Field of study/Research___________________________
Range Science and Management
Wildlife, Fish and Wildlands Science and Management
Can you identify which students, postdocs, and/or NFRs are associated with the programs of study or research listed?
Yes, I can identify which postdocs and/or NFRs are associated with each field of research listed.
No, I cannot identify which postdocs and/or NFRs are associated with each field of research listed.

If ‘NO’ the following will appear on the same screen.
Which field of study or research is this unit predominantly focused?

Range, Science, and Management
Wildlife, Fish, and Wildlands Science Management
Neither

Institution
School Name (School ID)

When a coordinator selects multiple fields of
research for a postdoc or NFR unit this page
determines if the unit should be ‘split’ by GSS
code or coded as ‘980Multidisciplainary/Interdisciplinary Studies’

Screen 3: Recode Results
This screen displays the 2017 GSS code for the
selected unit.

2017 GSS Code
If ‘YES’ was selected on the previous screen.
This unit will be split into units with different GSS codes.
2017 GSS code for Range Science and Management is 501 Agricultural Sciences
2017 GSS code for Wildlife, Fish and Wildlands Science and Management is 511 Forestry, Natural Resources and Conservation

Institution
School Name (School ID)

This page is dynamic pending the selection of
the previous line of questioning resulting in three
outcomes.

1) They can identify which postdocs/NFRs are
associated with each program of study. This unit
will split and be reported multiple times
depending on how many qualifying CIP codes
they have selected.
If ‘NO’ and then a field of study/research was selected:

2017 GSS code for the Counseling Wildlife & Wildlands Conservation unit is:
501 Agricultural Sciences (Range Science and Management)

If ‘NO’ followed by ‘Neither’ was selected:

2017 GSS code for the Counseling Wildlife & Wildlands Conservation unit is:
980 Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Studies

2) They cannot identify which postdocs/NFRs are
associated with each program of study, but they
do know that most these individuals are
researching in a particular field. The unit will be
coded accordingly.
3) If they cannot identify which postdocs/NFRs
the individual fields they are researching or the
general field of research for the unit, the unit will
be coded as Multidisciplinary/Interdisciplinary
studies.

Screen 1: Impacted Unit List

Institution
School Name (School ID)

Impacted Unit List

The Taxonomy Tool is an interactive version of the GSS code list that will guide you through the recoding of units impacted by the 2017 GSS Taxonomy Change. The only units shown below are those
effected by the Taxonomy change and reported postdocs or NFRs in 2016. Upon completion, a list of units and their new GSS codes will be available to download. This file will include all units at your
school and can be used to construct an upload file or assist in manual data entry. Note that you will be unable to download this list until you have recoded all impacted units.
There are 8 units that need to be recoded.
If you have any questions, please contact the GSS Helpdesk at 866-558-0781.
Below are previously reported units that need to be recoded to a different GSS code in 2017.
Please click a unit name to recode it to the new taxonomy.
Unit Name

2016 GSS Code and Field Title

Environmental Science
Biology
Food Science
Nutritional Science
Instructional Psychology & Technology
School Psychology
Archeology
Marriage, Family, and Human Development

501
603
612
612
802
802
902
920

2017 Unit List
Recoded Units
Counseling Psychology
Wildlife & Wildlands Conservation
Wildlife & Wildlands Conservation

2017 GSS Code and Field Title
804 Counseling and Applied Psychology
501 Agricultural Sciences
511 Forestry, Natural Resources and Conservation

Agricultural Sciences
Biology
Nutrition Science
Nutrition Science
Psychology, except Clinical
Psychology, except Clinical
Anthropology
Family and Consumer Sciences, and Human Sciences

The following previously reported units are no longer eligible for the GSS in 2017.

Unit Name
Public Administration

2016 GSS Code and Field Title
913
Public Administration

Field of Study
Counseling Psychology
Range Science
Wildlife, Fish and Wildlands Science and Management

The 2017 Unit List has been updated. Notice that
Wildlife & Wildlands Conservation is listed twice
as a result of the previous recode. The ‘field of
study’ column is important for this coordinator
because now they know that Range Science is
associated with GSS Code 501 and Wildlife,
Fish, and Wildlands Science and Management is
associated with GSS Code 511.

Screen 2: Field of Study or Research Selection

This is an example of recoding an ineligible unit.

Field of Study or Research Selection
Unit: Food Science
Please select from the following field(s)within this unit.
Once your selections are made click ‘Submit’ at the bottom of this page.
☐ Nutrition Science
☒ Foods, Nutrition, and Wellness Studies, General
☐ Human Nutrition
☐ OTHER

Institution
School Name (School ID)

Screen 3: Recode Results

This is an example of recoding an ineligible unit.

2017 GSS Code
Food Science is no longer eligible for the GSS due to changes in the GSS Taxonomy.
For more information see: Link to text about the GSS taxonomy change

Please return to the Impacted Unit List to continue recoding units.

Institution
School Name (School ID)

Institution
School Name (School ID)

Impacted Unit List

The Taxonomy Tool is an interactive version of the GSS code list that will guide you through the recoding of units impacted by the 2017 GSS Taxonomy Change. The only units shown below are those
effected by the Taxonomy change and reported postdocs or NFRs in 2016. Upon completion, a list of units and their new GSS codes will be available to download. This file will include all units at your
school and can be used to construct an upload file or assist in manual data entry. Note that you will be unable to download this list until you have recoded all impacted units.
There are 7 units that need to be recoded.
If you have any questions, please contact the GSS Helpdesk at 866-558-0781.
Below are previously reported units that need to be recoded to a different GSS code in 2017.
Please click a unit name to recode it to the new taxonomy.

Unit Name
Environmental Science
Biology
Nutritional Science
Instructional Psychology & Technology
School Psychology
Archeology
Marriage, Family, and Human Development

2016 GSS Code and Field Title
501 Agricultural Sciences
603 Biology
612 Nutrition Science
802 Psychology, except Clinical
802 Psychology, except Clinical
902 Anthropology
920 Family and Consumer Sciences, and Human Sciences

2017 Unit List
Recoded Units
Counseling Psychology
Wildlife & Wildlands Conservation
Wildlife & Wildlands Conservation

2017 GSS Code and Field Title
804 Counseling and Applied Psychology
501 Agricultural Sciences
511 Forestry, Natural Resources and Conservation

The following previously reported units are no longer eligible for the GSS in 2017.
Unit Name
Food Science
Public Administration

2016 GSS Code and Field Title
612 Nutrition Science
913 Public Administration

Field of Study
Counseling Psychology
Range Science
Wildlife, Fish and Wildlands Science and Management

Screen 2: Field of Study or Research Listing-OTHER

Field of Study or Research Selection
Unit: Marriage, Family, and Human Development
Please select from the following field(s)within this unit.
Once your selections are made click ‘Submit’ at the bottom of this page.
☐ Adult Development and Aging
☐ Business Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences
☐ Child Development
☐ Consumer Economics
☐ Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences, General
☐ Family Systems
☐ Housing and Human Environments
☐ Human Development and Family Studies
☐ Textile Science
☒ OTHER

This box will only appear on the field of study/research selection screen if they click other.

Please type a keyword describing this unit:

Family

Please select from the following field(s) associated with this unit:
☐ Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences, General
☐ Family Systems
☒ Family Psychology
☐ None of these

If “None of These” is chosen, the complete list of 2017 GSS codes will be displayed in alphabetical order, and users can click to expand the program titles list.
If "None of These” is chosen at the end of this step the unit will be ineligible.

Institution
School Name (School ID)

In this example the coordinator has not identified
a field of study or research that they understand
to be included in this unit.
The ‘Other’ option allows them to search for the
field of study they are looking for based on
keywords. This gives us the opportunity to
recode units that were historically coded
incorrectly.
If they are unable to locate the field of
study/program based on key word (‘None of
These’) we redirect them to the full CIP Program
Title names (including ineligible CIP codes). We
then code their selection accordingly. If they
indicate they still cannot find the program of
study and “None of these” is selected again, the
unit is ineligible.

Screen 3- Recode Results

2017 GSS Code
2017 GSS code for the Marriage, Family, and Human Development unit is:
804- Counseling and Applied Psychology

Institution
School Name (School ID)

In the Impacted Unit List Marriage, Family, and
Human Development was coded as GSS Code
920. Even though this unit was not directly
impacted by the Taxonomy change we were
able to increase data accuracy by allowing the
coordinator to look up this field of study.

Screen 1- Impacted Unit List

Institution
School Name (School ID)

Impacted Unit List

The Taxonomy Tool is an interactive version of the GSS code list that will guide you through the recoding of units impacted by the 2017 GSS Taxonomy Change. The only units shown below are those
effected by the Taxonomy change and reported postdocs or NFRs in 2016. Upon completion, a list of units and their new GSS codes will be available to download. This file will include all units at your
school and can be used to construct an upload file or assist in manual data entry. Note that you will be unable to download this list until you have recoded all impacted units.
There is 1 unit that needs to be recoded.
If you have any questions, please contact the GSS Helpdesk at <>.
Please click a unit name to recode it to the new taxonomy.

Unit Name
Archeology

2016 GSS Code and Field Title
902
Anthropology

2017 Unit List
Recoded Units
Biology
Counseling Psychology
Environmental Science
Instructional Psychology & Technology
Marriage, Family, and Human Development
Nutritional Science
School Psychology
Wildlife & Wildlands Conservation
Wildlife & Wildlands Conservation

2017 GSS Code and Field Title
603 Biology
804 Counseling and Applied Psychology
510 Environmental Science and studies
804 Counseling and Applied Psychology
804 Counseling and Applied Psychology
612 Nutrition Science
804 Counseling and Applied Psychology
501 Agricultural Sciences
511 Forestry, Natural Resources and Conservation

The following units are no longer eligible for the GSS and will not appear in your 2017 unit list.
Unit Name

2016 GSS Code and Field Title

Public Administration
Food Science

913
612

Public Administration
Nutrition

Field of Study
Biology
Counseling Psychology
Environmental Science
School Psychology
Family Psychology
Nutritional Science
School Psychology
Range Science
Wildlife, Fish and Wildlands Science and Management

Please note this would not be the typical
outcome of the previous recoding exercise. We
have jumped ahead to code the last impacted
unit.

Field of Study or Research Selection
Unit: Archeology
Please select all following of the following fields of study or research within this unit.
Once your selections are made press ‘Submit’ at the bottom of this page.
☐ Anthropology
☒ Archeology
☐ Cultural Anthropology
☐ Medical Anthropology
☐ Physical and Biological Anthropology
☐ Anthropology, Other
☐ OTHER

Institution
School Name (School ID)

2017 GSS Code
2017 GSS code for Archeology unit is:
910- Social Sciences, not elsewhere classified

Institution
School Name (School ID)

Screen 1- Impacted Unit List

Institution
School Name (School ID)

Impacted Unit List

You have completed recoding your impacted units to the 2017 GSS taxonomy. If you need to make any changes, click the unit name and recode the unit again. Once you have completed this review
select ‘Submit’ at the bottom of this screen. Once your data is submitted it will be available to download but you will be unable to make any additional changes.

This is the second to last screen in the
Taxonomy Tool. Coordinators are given the
chance to correct any errors that may have
occurred in the recoding process.
In those cases a coordinator will click the unit
and begin coding the unit as if they had never
coded it to begin with.

If you have any questions, please contact the GSS Helpdesk at 866-558-0781.
2017 Unit List
Recoded Units

2017 GSS Code and Field Title

Field of Study

Archeology
Biology
Counseling Psychology
Environmental Science
Instructional Psychology & Technology
Marriage, Family, and Human Development
Nutritional Science
School Psychology
Wildlife & Wildlands Conservation
Wildlife & Wildlands Conservation

902
603
804
510
804
804
612
804
501
511

Anthropology
Biology
Counseling Psychology
Environmental Science
School Psychology
Family Psychology
Nutritional Science
School Psychology
Range Science
Wildlife, Fish and Wildlands Science and Management

Anthropology
Biology
Counseling and Applied Psychology
Environmental Science and studies
Counseling and Applied Psychology
Counseling and Applied Psychology
Nutrition Science
Counseling and Applied Psychology
Agricultural Sciences
Forestry, Natural Resources and Conservation

The following units are no longer eligible for the GSS and will not appear in your 2017 unit list.
Unit Name
Public Administration
Food Science

2016 GSS Code and Field Title
913 Public Administration
612 Nutrition Science

Once they are satisfied with their 2017 unit list,
they click submit and the Taxonomy Tool will not
allow for any changes after the page reloads.

Screen 1- Impacted Unit List
This is the last screen of the Taxonomy Tool and
the only view that is available if they were to
come back to this webpage.

Institution
School Name (School ID)

Impacted Unit List

The postdoc and NFR units impacted by the GSS Taxonomy change have been updated to reflect the new GSS Taxonomy. The recoded unit list is available for download below. This file can help you
in construct an upload file using GSS Code or entering your data into the survey manually.
If you have any questions, please contact the GSS Helpdesk at 866-558-0781.

2017 Unit List
Recoded Units

2017 GSS Code and Field Title

Field of Study

Archeology
Biology
Counseling Psychology
Environmental Science
Instructional Psychology & Technology
Marriage, Family, and Human Development
Nutritional Science
School Psychology
Wildlife & Wildlands Conservation
Wildlife & Wildlands Conservation

902
603
804
510
804
804
612
804
501
511

Anthropology
Biology
Counseling Psychology
Environmental Science
School Psychology
Family Psychology
Nutritional Science
School Psychology
Range Science
Wildlife, Fish and Wildlands Science and Management

Anthropology
Biology
Counseling and Applied Psychology
Environmental Science and studies
Counseling and Applied Psychology
Counseling and Applied Psychology
Nutrition Science
Counseling and Applied Psychology
Agricultural Sciences
Forestry, Natural Resources and Conservation

The following units are no longer eligible for the GSS and will not appear in your 2017 unit list.
Unit Name
Public Administration
Food Science

2016 GSS Code and Field Title
913 Public Administration
612 Nutrition Science

They are now able to download the output from
the Taxonomy Tool to assist in constructing their
upload file.
The helpdesk would have to be involved in
allowing them to change any GSS Unit coding.