NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATISTICS

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

Linking the Policy and Utility of 

Linked Data in Science and 

Engineering

John Finamore, Chief Statistician

October 26, 2023
Outline

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• Introduction to NCSES

• Linkage Motivation and Goals

• Current State

• Vision for the Future 

• Questions for Consideration 
Introduction to NCSES

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NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATISTICS 

https://ncses.nsf.gov

Located within NSF’s SBE Directorate, NCSES is 

one of 13 principal federal statistical agencies

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National Science Foundation

Directorate for Social, Behavioral, 

and Economic Sciences

National Center for Science 

and Engineering Statistics
NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATISTICS 

https://ncses.nsf.gov

NCSES Mandate

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Serve as a central Federal clearinghouse for 

the collection, interpretation, analysis, and 

dissemination of objective data on the U.S. 

science and engineering enterprise

Section 505 of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010
NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATISTICS 

https://ncses.nsf.gov

NCSES’s areas of interest

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Innovation and 

competitiveness

Science and 

engineering 

workforce

Research and 

development

Government 

R&D funding

Higher 

education 

R&D

STEM education
NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATISTICS 

https://ncses.nsf.gov

NCSES’s survey portfolio

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National 

Survey of 

College 

Graduates

Survey of 

Earned 

Doctorates

Survey of 

Postdocs 

at FFRDCs

Survey of 

S&E 

Research 

Facilities

Survey of 

Federal S&E 

Support to 

Universities, 

Colleges, and 

Nonprofits Nonprofit 

Research 

Activities 

Survey Early 

Career 

Doctorates 

Survey

Survey of 

Doctorate 

Recipients

Annual 

Business 

Survey of Survey

Grad 

Students 

and 

Postdocs in 

S&E

Business 

Enterprise 

R&D 

Survey

Survey of 

Federal 

Funds for 

R&D

FFRDC 

R&D 

Survey

Higher Ed 

R&D 

Survey

Survey of 

State 

Government 

R&D

National 

Training, 

Education, 

and 

Workforce 

Survey 

Education & 

Workforce

R&D Funding & 

Performance
NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATISTICS 

https://ncses.nsf.gov

Science & engineering 

grad students

Science and engineering 

college graduates Doctorate recipients Early career doctorate holders

Businesses Colleges and 

universities Nonprofits Federally funded R&D centers

Federal and state 

governments

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Our surveys collect information from 

people and organizations

INDIVIDUALS

ESTABLISHMENTS
Linkage Motivation and Goals

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NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATISTICS 

https://ncses.nsf.gov

Linkage Motivation

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• We have important research and policy questions

o Equity 

o Return on investment

o Prevalence 

• Some questions cannot be answered by existing survey data

• Evidence Act encourages the secure use of existing federal 

data to inform Federal decision-making (e.g., §3581)
NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATISTICS 

https://ncses.nsf.gov

Linkage Goals

• Increase the utility of our data products

o Data quality 

o Survey operations 

o Critical research and policy questions 

• Broaden the secure use of NCSES data 

o Linkage program

o Data access policy 

o Data infrastructure and documentation 

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Current State

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NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATISTICS 

https://ncses.nsf.gov

Current approach

• Linkage policy 

o Criteria

o Quality assessment 

o Secure use of linked data

• Infrastructure development 

o Partitioned space within the NCSES 

Virtual Data Enclave

o Data documentation 

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!
NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATISTICS 

https://ncses.nsf.gov

Current linkages – Survey operations

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• National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG)

o Examines the relationship of degree field and occupation for the nation’s collegeeducated population 

o Longitudinal biennial survey 

• Master Address File – Auxiliary Reference File (MAF-ARF)

o Contains residence information for individuals with an assigned Protected 

Identification Key (PIK)

• Findings for Respondent Locating

o MAF-ARF information suggests half of nonrespondents still reside at initial NSCG 

address

o Potential to enhance respondent retention approach 
NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATISTICS 

https://ncses.nsf.gov

Current linkages – Data quality

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• National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG)

o Examines the relationship of degree field and occupation for the nation’s collegeeducated population 

o Longitudinal biennial survey 

• Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD)

o Quarterly database of linked employer-employee data

o Tracks aggregate and individual level employment, earnings, and job flows

• Findings

o Annual earnings – Large differences in linked values among highest workers

o Employment history – The agreement rates indicate LEHD potentially useful for 

tracking employment status
NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATISTICS 

https://ncses.nsf.gov

Current linkages – Research and policy questions

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• Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED)

o Annual census of research doctorates from U.S. academic institutions 

o Collects information on educational history, demographic characteristics, and 

postgraduation plans

• UMETRICS (Universities Measuring the EffecTs of Research on 

Innovation, Competitiveness, and Science)

o Transactional data for federally funded grants to institutions 

o Allows the investigation of career outcomes (postdoc), employment placement, and 

research outcomes (e.g., publications, citations)

• Possible topics of interest

o Examine grant award rates, career pathways, and research production by 

demographic characteristics 
NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATISTICS 

https://ncses.nsf.gov

Current linkages – Continued

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• Skilled Technical Workforce 

o Examination of various administrative data sources for quality assessment, survey 

operations, and additional granularity

 National Student Clearinghouse

 Participant Individual Record Layout (PIRL)

o National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) to supplement or replace 

credential information

• Research outcomes 

o Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus are leading databases providing reference and 

citation data from academic journals, conference proceedings, and other 

documents in various academic disciplines 
NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATISTICS 

https://ncses.nsf.gov

Current linkages – Continued even more

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• National Secure Data Service Demonstration Project 

o Utilizing PPRL to link data from two statistical agencies (NCHS and NCSES)

o Utilizing PPRL to link data from with parent agency data and statistical agencies 

(NSF and NCSES) to inform programs and policies 
Vision for the Future

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NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATISTICS 

https://ncses.nsf.gov

Vision

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• Prioritize funding and resources for the establishment of a 

comprehensive NCSES linkage program

o Identify key NCSES research and policy questions (e.g., learning agenda)

o Prioritize linkage opportunities (e.g., STW measurement, PPRL research)

o Establish a secure compute environment for linkage activities 

o Coordinate data sharing agreements 

o Develop and implement linkage methodology and assessments 

o Establish a data infrastructure (inventory; standardization of variables)

o Other considerations (e.g., consent, privacy)
NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATISTICS 

https://ncses.nsf.gov

Vision Implementation 

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• It’s likely establishing a linkage program will NOT be a straight 

line
Questions for Consideration

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NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STATISTICS 

https://ncses.nsf.gov

Questions for Consideration 

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• How can the federal statistical system develop guidance or 

best practices to help agencies establish sustainable linkage 

programs?

• What linkage challenges have agencies faced and how have 

they overcome those challenges?
@NCSESgov

https://ncses.nsf.gov 24

John Finamore

jfinamor@nsf.gov