Postdocs at Federally Funded R&D Centers: Fall 2019

Purpose. The Survey of Postdocs at Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC Postdoc Survey) is a census of all FFRDCs in the United States that employed postdoctoral researchers (postdocs) as of the survey reference date.

Data collection authority. The information collected in the FFRDC Postdoc Survey is solicited under the authority of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended, and the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number is 3145-0062 and expires on 31 October 2020.

Survey contractor. RTI International.

Survey sponsors. The FFRDC Postdoc Survey is conducted as part of the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, which is sponsored by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the National Science Foundation (NSF) and by the National Institutes of Health. The Department of Energy provided funding until 2010.

Frequency. Periodic.

Initial survey year. 2005.

Reference period. 1 October 2019.

Response unit. Establishment.

Sample or census. Census.

Population size. 42 FFRDCs.

Sample size. Not applicable.

Target population. The survey target population includes all FFRDCs that employed postdocs as of 1 October 2019.

Sample frame. The survey is a census of all FFRDCs in the Master Government List of FFRDCs in the United States as of May 2019. The list is maintained by NSF (https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/ffrdclist/). NCSES maintains the list by querying all federal agencies annually to determine changes, additions, or deletions to the list. FFRDCs are engaged in basic research, applied research, development, or management of R&D activities, either on direct request of the government or under a broad charter from the government—in both cases, under the monitorship of the government. FFRDCs are operated, managed, and administered as separate organizational units within a parent organization or as separately incorporated organizations. They receive the majority of their financial support (70% or more) from the federal government, usually from one agency, and are expected to have a long-term relationship with their sponsoring agency.

Sample design. Not applicable.

Data collection. On 4 February 2020, before starting data collection, prior survey coordinators were contacted via e-mail to confirm whether they were still the most appropriate contact. Additional follow-up contacts through e-mails and telephone calls were made to staff at those FFRDCs that did not immediately confirm the contact person. These efforts resulted in identifying a contact person for all returning FFRDCs. On 6 February 2020, FFRDC directors were sent a letter inviting their FFRDC to participate in the 2019 survey. On 12 February 2020, the FFRDC coordinators received a survey launch e-mail that provided them with their Web access information and indicated the due date of 27 March 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the deadline was extended to 30 April 2020. Coordinators received an e-mail informing them of the changed deadline and one additional reminder. All but six FFRDCs had replied by the extended due date. The survey was closed out on 14 May 2020, after determining that the two remaining nonresponse FFRDCs had reported zero postdocs in 2017 and were not planning to respond this cycle.

Mode. Self-administered online questionnaire (Web).

Response rates. All but two of the 42 FFRDCs responded to the survey, including all 23 FFRDCs that employed postdocs in 2017. One FFRDC that had previously not employed postdocs reported a postdoc in 2019. Thus, the overall FFRDC response rate was 95% and the response rate for FFRDCs that employed postdocs was 100%. The response rate calculations adhere to American Association for Public Opinion Research standards for computing response rates.^{​See response rate 1 calculation in American Association for Political Opinion Research (AAPOR). 2016. Standard Definitions: Final Dispositions of Case Codes and Outcome Rates for Surveys, 9th ed, page 61. Deerfield, IL: AAPOR.}

Data editing. All the data submitted by the FFRDCs were reviewed to ensure that all data fields were completed, and that data were internally consistent. Any FFRDC with cell counts that were more than 20% above or 20% below its corresponding prior-year data was flagged for edit verification. In cases where survey staff determined that confirmation was needed, FFRDC respondents were contacted by e-mail and asked to correct and resubmit the survey data.

Imputation. One FFRDC reported suppressing data for a small number of cells with counts less than 5 (reporting the counts as unknown); counts for the cells reported to be suppressed were imputed.

Weighting. Not applicable.

Variance estimation. Not applicable.

Sampling error. Not applicable.

Coverage error. There is no coverage error for this survey other than that, if any, from the Master Government List of FFRDCs maintained by NSF.

Nonresponse error. The nonresponse error is minimal. All responding FFRDCs reported data on every section of the Web survey instrument.

Measurement error. The most likely source of measurement error is from respondents’ misreporting of information. To minimize reporting errors, substantial changes in counts and inconsistent data in the survey responses are subject to follow-up contacts to verify changes and correct anomalies in the data. The survey Web instrument was also designed to allow respondents to indicate that they have postdocs but do not have the information about them for a particular grid, which allows missing information to be distinguished from the reporting of zero counts.

Changes in survey coverage and population. There were no changes in the population of FFRDCs since the 2017 survey cycle.

In 2012, the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNLCR) was reorganized and renamed from the National Cancer Institute at Frederick, and it revised its postdoc reporting to include only FFRDC contract employees. Consequently, the total number of postdocs reported by the FNLCR dropped from 286 in 2010 to 25 in 2012. All comparisons of FFRDC postdoc data spanning this period need to account for these differences.

Changes in questionnaire. None.

Changes in reporting procedures or classification. Not applicable.

Ethnicity. OMB provides guidance to collect Hispanic ethnicity separately from race. In this survey, Hispanic ethnicity refers to whether an individual is of Hispanic or Latino descent.

Federal financial support. Postdoctoral support provided by a federal agency such as the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health, or National Science Foundation.

Field of research. The area in which a postdoc’s research was focused. It may or may not be the field in which a postdoc received his or her degree.

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity. Individuals of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

Largest source of support. The source of funds that provides the largest amount (highest percentage) of financial support for postdocs.

Nonfederal financial support. Support from state and local government; support from institutions, such as stipends; support from foreign sources, such as foreign governments, foreign firms, and agencies of the United Nations; and support from other U.S. sources, such as support from nonprofit institutions, private industry, and all other nonfederal U.S. sources.

Postdoctoral researchers (postdocs). The definition of a postdoc varies by institution. Respondents were instructed to use their institution’s definition of a postdoc. NCSES defines a postdoc as meeting both of the following qualifications:

• Holds a recent doctoral degree, generally awarded within the last 5 years, such as a PhD or equivalent (e.g., ScD, DEng); a first professional degree in a medical or related field (e.g., MD, DDS, DO, DVM); or a foreign degree equivalent to a U.S. doctoral degree.
• Has a limited-term appointment, generally no more than 5–7 years, primarily for training in research or scholarship and working under the supervision of a senior scholar in a unit affiliated with the institution.

Temporary visa holders. Individuals in the United States on temporary U.S. resident visas.

U.S. citizens and permanent residents. U.S. citizens, including those from Puerto Rico and the U.S. territories, and permanent residents holding permanent U.S. resident visas (Green Cards).

U.S. territories. American Samoa, Guam, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.