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Research-Doctorate Programs in the Biomedical Sciences: Selected Findings from the NRC Assessment (2011)

Chapter: APPENDIX C Definitions of Relevant Variables from the Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs

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Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX C Definitions of Relevant Variables from the Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs." National Research Council. 2011. Research-Doctorate Programs in the Biomedical Sciences: Selected Findings from the NRC Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13213.
×
Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX C Definitions of Relevant Variables from the Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs." National Research Council. 2011. Research-Doctorate Programs in the Biomedical Sciences: Selected Findings from the NRC Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13213.
×

Data: Research Activity T: Average Number of Publications (2000-2006) per Allocated Faculty, 2006 Data from the Thomson Reuters (formerly Institute for Scientific Information) list of publications were used to construct this variable. It is the average over seven years, 2000-2006, of the number of articles for each allocated faculty member divided by the total number of faculty allocated to the program. Data were obtained by matching faculty lists supplied by the programs to Thomson Reuters and cover publications extending back to 1981. For multi-authored articles, a publication is awarded for each author on the paper who is also on a faculty list.

 

U: Average Citations per Publication

The annual average of the number of allocated citations in the years 2000-2006 to papers published during the period 1981-2006 by program faculty divided by the allocated publications that could contribute to the citations. For example, the number of allocated citations for a faculty member in 2003 is found by taking the 2003 citations to that faculty member’s publications between 1981 and 2003. These counts are summed over the total faculty in the program and divided by the sum of the allocated publications to the program in 2003.

 

V: Percent of Faculty with Grants, 2006

The faculty questionnaire asks whether a faculty member’s work is currently supported by an extramural grant or contract. The total of faculty who answered affirmatively was divided by the total respondents in the program and the percentage was calculated.


Data: Student Support & Outcomes X: Percent of First Year Students with Full Financial Support, Fall 2005 For each program, question E8 reported the type of support that full-time graduate students received during the fall term each year of enrollment. For this variable the data for the first year were added for all types of support and divided by the total number of students.

 

Y: Avg. Completion Percentage: 6 Years or Less

Questions C16 and C17 reported for males and females separately the number of graduate students who entered in different cohorts from 1996-1997 to 2005-2006 and the number in each cohort who completed in 3 years or less, in their 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th years, and in 10 or more years. To compute the completion percentage, the number of doctoral students for a given entering cohort who completed their doctorate in 3 years or less and in their 4th, 5th, 6th years were totaled and the total was divided by the entering students in that cohort. This computation was made for each cohort that entered from 1996-1997 to 2000-2001. Cohorts beyond these years were not considered, since the students could complete in a year that was after the final year 2005-2006 for which data were collected. To compute the average completion percentage, an average was taken over 5 cohorts.

 

Z: Median Time to Degree (Full- and Part-time Graduates), 2006

Question C2 reported the median time to degree for full-time and part-time students. That reported number was used for this variable. The median was calculated from graduates who received doctoral degrees in the period 2003-2004 through 2005-2006. A negative coefficient means that shorter times are valued.

Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX C Definitions of Relevant Variables from the Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs." National Research Council. 2011. Research-Doctorate Programs in the Biomedical Sciences: Selected Findings from the NRC Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13213.
×

Data: Diversity AC: Non-Asian Minority Faculty as a Percent of Total Core and New Domestic Faculty, 2006 For each program the data reported for question B7, the race/ethnicity of core and new faculty in the program, was used to compute the ratio of non-Hispanic Blacks, Hispanic, and American Indians or Alaska Natives to that of all faculty with known race/ethnicity. “Core” faculty are those whose primary appointment is in the doctoral program. “New” faculty are those with tenure track appointments who were appointed in 2003-2006. Unknowns were excluded from the ratio, as were faculty who were neither American citizens nor permanent residents.

 

AD: Female Faculty as a Percent of Total Core and New Faculty, 2006

For each program the data reported for question B5, the gender of core and new faculty in the program, were used to compute the ratio of core or new female faculty to the total of core and new faculty. Allocations were not used in the construction of this variable.

 

AE: Non-Asian Minority Students as a Percent of Total Domestic Students, Fall 2005

Question C9c reported the race/ethnicity of graduate students in the program. This was used to compute the ratio of non-Hispanic Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians or Alaska Natives to that of the total of students with known race/ethnicity. Respondents with Race/Ethnicity Unknown where excluded from the ratio, as were international students.

 

AF: Female Students as a Percent of Total Students, Fall 2005

Question C9 reported the gender of graduate students in the program. This was used to compute the percentage by taking the number of female graduate students divided by the total number of graduate students.

 

AG: International Students as a Percent of Total Students, Fall 2005

Question C9b reported the citizenship of graduate students in the program. These data were used to compute the percentage of international graduate students by taking the number with temporary visas and dividing it by the number of graduate students with known citizenship status.


Data: Other Overall Ranking Measures AH: Average Number PhDs Graduated, 2002-2006 Question C1 reported the number of doctoral degrees awarded each academic year from 2001-2002 to 2005-2006. The average of these numbers was used for this variable. If no data were provided for a particular year, the average was taken over the years for which there were data.

 

AJ: Average GRE Scores, 2004-2006

For each program, question D4 reported the average GRE verbal and quantitative scores for the 2003-2004, 2004-2005, and 2005-2006 academic years and the number of individuals who reported their scores. A weighted average was used to compute the average GRE, which was calculated by multiplying the number of individuals reporting scores by the reported average GRE score for each year, adding these three quantities and dividing by the sum of the individuals reporting scores.

Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX C Definitions of Relevant Variables from the Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs." National Research Council. 2011. Research-Doctorate Programs in the Biomedical Sciences: Selected Findings from the NRC Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13213.
×

 

AK: Percent of First-Year Students with External Fellowships, 2005

For each program question E8 reported the type of support full-time graduate students received during fall term each year of enrollment. For this variable the data for the first year were added for support by externally funded fellowships and combinations of external fellowships and other internal support and then divided by the total number of students.

 

AL: Is Student Work Space Provided? (1=Yes; -1=No)

Data from the program questionnaire were used for this variable. Question D12 reported the percentage of graduate students who have work space for their exclusive use. If reported percentage was 100 percent, then a value of 1 was given to this variable. Otherwise the value was -1.

 

AM: Is Health Insurance Provided? (1=Yes; - 1=No)

Data from the institutional questionnaire were used for this variable. Question A1 reported whether or not the institution provided health care insurance for its graduate students. If the response to this question was yes, then a value of 1 was given to this variable. If it was no, then the value was -1.

 

AN: Number of Student Activities (Max=18)

Question D8 listed 18 different kinds of support activities for doctoral students or doctoral education. This variable is a count of the number of student support activities provided by the program or the institution.


Data Not Used in Ranking AO: Total Faculty, 2006 Questions B1 and B2, total responses.

 

AP: Number of Allocated Faculty, 2006

Calculated as the number of program faculty corrected for association with multiple programs. For more detail on how these data were calculated, refer to footnote 46 in A Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States (2010), Chapter 3, “Study Design.”

 

AS: Number of Core and New Faculty, 2006

Total number of core and new faculty.

 

AT: Number of Students Enrolled, Fall 2005

Question C9 reported the total number of students enrolled in the fall of 2005.

 

AU: Average Annual First Year Enrollment, 2002-2006

Question C3 reflects the number of first-time enrolled for 2001-2002, 2002-2003, 2003-2004, 2004-2005, and 2005-2006. An average was taken over 5 years.

 

AV: Percent of Students with Research Assistantships, Fall 2005

Question E8 reported the number of students who received support as a research assistant in the fall of 2005. A percentage was calculated over the total number of students.

Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX C Definitions of Relevant Variables from the Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs." National Research Council. 2011. Research-Doctorate Programs in the Biomedical Sciences: Selected Findings from the NRC Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13213.
×

 

AW: Percent of Students with Teaching Assistantships, Fall 2005

Question E8 reported the number of students who received support as a teaching assistant in the fall of 2005. A percentage was calculated over the total number of students.

 

AX: Percent of First Year Students with Institutional Fellowships Alone

Question E8 reported the number of first year students who received support from an institutional fellowship in the fall of 2005. A percentage was calculated over the total number of first year students.

 

AY: Percent of First Year Students with a Combination of Fellowships and Traineeships

Question E8 reported the number of first year students who received support from a fellowship or from a traineeship. These quantities were added together and the percentage that this was of total first year students was calculated.

 

AZ: Percent of First Year Students with Both Internal Fellowships and Internal Assistantships

Question E8 reported the number of first year students who received support from an internal fellowship or from a traineeship. These quantities were added together and the percentage that this was of total first year students was calculated.

 

BA: Percent of First Year Students with Multiple Internal Assistantships

Question E8 reported the number of first year students who received support from more than one internal fellowship. The percentage that this was of total first year students was calculated.


Student Activities BB through BT Question D8 reports whether the institution and/or program provides support for doctoral students or doctoral education.
Key:
1= provided for by institution;
2= program support only;
3= both institutional and program support;
4= neither institutional nor program support

Note: This table is taken from the Guide in the Excel table for the Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs, www.nap.edu/rdp. The letters listed correspond to column labels for that table.

Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX C Definitions of Relevant Variables from the Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs." National Research Council. 2011. Research-Doctorate Programs in the Biomedical Sciences: Selected Findings from the NRC Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13213.
×

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Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX C Definitions of Relevant Variables from the Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs." National Research Council. 2011. Research-Doctorate Programs in the Biomedical Sciences: Selected Findings from the NRC Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13213.
×
Page 61
Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX C Definitions of Relevant Variables from the Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs." National Research Council. 2011. Research-Doctorate Programs in the Biomedical Sciences: Selected Findings from the NRC Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13213.
×
Page 62
Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX C Definitions of Relevant Variables from the Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs." National Research Council. 2011. Research-Doctorate Programs in the Biomedical Sciences: Selected Findings from the NRC Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13213.
×
Page 63
Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX C Definitions of Relevant Variables from the Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs." National Research Council. 2011. Research-Doctorate Programs in the Biomedical Sciences: Selected Findings from the NRC Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13213.
×
Page 64
Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX C Definitions of Relevant Variables from the Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs." National Research Council. 2011. Research-Doctorate Programs in the Biomedical Sciences: Selected Findings from the NRC Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13213.
×
Page 65
Suggested Citation:"APPENDIX C Definitions of Relevant Variables from the Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs." National Research Council. 2011. Research-Doctorate Programs in the Biomedical Sciences: Selected Findings from the NRC Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13213.
×
Page 66
Next: APPENDIX D Correlations in the Biomedical Sciences (Correlations greater than or equal to |0.3| are highlighted) »
Research-Doctorate Programs in the Biomedical Sciences: Selected Findings from the NRC Assessment Get This Book
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Research Doctorate Programs in the Biomedical Sciences: Selected Findings from the NRC Assessment examines data on the biomedical sciences programs to gather additional insight about the talent, training environment, outcomes, diversity, and international participation in the biomedical sciences workforce. This report supports an earlier publication, A Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States, which analyzes data and rankings from more than 5,000 doctoral programs, 982 of which were in the biomedical sciences. Research Doctorate Programs in the Biomedical Sciences explores questions about degrees and completion rates as they relate to GRE scores, student funding, program facilities, diversity among faculty members, and other variables. The report examines 11 biomedical science fields including cell and developmental biology, genetics and genomics, microbiology, nutrition, and physiology, among others.

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