Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
41 C h a p t e r 7 additional Data reduction The current plan is to provide Project S08 researchers with data at the continuous and trip level, with the expectation that S08 researchers will be able to parse the data in a reasonable time frame to conduct their analyses. Some researchers may have more experience with naturalistic or other aggregated data sets than others. However, these same researchers may not nec- essarily be familiar with more complex analytical techniques. Alternatively, those who are familiar with more sophisticated data analysis techniques may not recognize the magnitude of work required to reduce video or parse vehicle kinematics data. Given these limitations and the immense quantity of data that will be collected for the NDS, the S02 team recommends that SHRP 2 consider additional data reduction that would ben- efit many researchers. Event-based data, which can be exceed- ingly useful, is a common requirement for many studies. Even though there is clearly a cost involved in obtaining these data, the additional cost of event-based data reduction might be much less if it is performed by a single entity and distributed rather than performed redundantly by different teams. More generally, it could be useful to require each S08 proposer to provide a data-sharing plan so that the effort in data reduction in SHRP 2 can benefit researchers in the future. timing of release of Work plans and expected Outcomes The first round of Project S08 RFPs were released in Decem- ber 2010. Given the availability of data, the team recommends that the first call for proposals be delayed until an adequate data quality check has been completed and an adequate amount of data is available for each S08 researcher to conduct temporal and spatial analysis, if desired. It is anticipated that each of the outcomes of the S08 studies will lead to imple- mentable safety interventions that can ultimately reduce fatalities. Such policy-relevant outcomes demand a sufficient amount of exceptionally high-quality data. Considerations for project Costs To date, there is approximately $3 million to spend on S08 studies. Therefore, the S02 team recommends that the funds be distributed across the projects to (1) address project ideas with high yield and (2) account for the needs of the stake- holders. Funds will more likely be directed toward research questions related to driver behavior rather than roadway features. For example, it may be reasonable to allocate 60% of funds for questions related to driver behavior and 40% for roadway-related questions. However, S08 proposers should recognize the intrinsic link between the two areas and account for it in their proposals. The final determination related to allocation of funds will ultimately reside with the Expert Task Group and will be based on scientific merit and contribution to the field. The S08 projects will address complex problems that will require a multidisciplinary approach. Hence, small grants to individual faculty members are not likely to have the greatest effects. Alternatively, if the team is too large, project manage- ment can be difficult. Costs associated with S08 projects will most likely need to account for a research team that consists of a human factors specialist with expertise in driver behav- ior, a traffic safety engineer knowledgeable in the particular roadway of interest, and a person with a strong background in the analytic tool being used. When necessary, the project team might also need an individual with expertise in GIS or spatial data manipulation. Specific research questions may require other areas of expertise, including team members who are knowledgeable in more than one field would be entirely reasonable. An individual could demonstrate his or her expertise in more than one area through relevant publi- cations, membership on expert panels, or some other recog- nized record of accomplishment. It will be up to the bidder to ensure that funds are allocated for each person and to justify each area of expertise. Recommendations for Project S08
