Federal funding of doctoral recipients: What can be learned from linked data

• Published in: Research policy 2019-07, Vol.48 (6), p.1487-1492
• Main Authors: Chang, Wan-Ying, Cheng, Wei, Lane, Julia, Weinberg, Bruce
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Doctoral workforce; Linked survey transaction data; Research impact; Survey of earned doctorates; UMETRICS
• ISSN: 0048-7333; 1873-7625
• DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2019.03.001

•The value of linking survey and administrative datasets is described in the context of two important datasets for research policy.•The results of an initial pilot study are presented that link administrative records on both federal and non-federal sources of funds to comprehensive survey data on doctoral recipients.•The results show the complexity of research funding – that many doctoral recipients work on multiple grants from multiple agencies, and that the duration of support varies by discipline. This technical note describes the results of a pilot approach to link administrative and survey data to better describe the richness and complexity of the research enterprise. In particular, we demonstrate how multiple funding channels can be studied by bringing together two disparate datasets: UMETRICS, which is based on university payroll and financial records, and the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED), which is one of the most important US survey datasets about the doctoral workforce. We show how it is possible to link data on research funding and the doctorally qualified workforce to describe how many individuals are supported in different disciplines and by different agencies. We outline the potential for more work as the UMETRICS data expands to incorporate more linkages and more access is provided.