Survey of Natural and Social Scientists and Engineers, 1972-1978
UNIQUE FILE IDENTIFIER: AH-008-005-1-1-United States-DPLS-1972
TITLE: Survey of Natural and Social Scientists and Engineers, 1972-1978. Also known as the National Survey of Experienced Scientists and Engineers.
ORIGINATING ORGANIZATION OR RESEARCHER: Conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census for the National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resource Studies, Manpower Characteristics Studies Group.
DPLS SOURCE: National Science Foundation..
METHODOLOGY: In 1972, a sample of scientific, technical, and professional occupation categories was drawn from the 1970 Census of Population. Included were individuals reported as members of the 1970 experienced civilian labor force and classified in 63 professional and technical occupations. For the sample, these 63 occupations were collapsed into 41 occupation groups. The sample consisted of two samples: 1) 108,000 individuals classified with the 41 occupation groups. Groups 1-31 included persons classified as scientists, engineers, and science and engineering technicians (primary target occupations). Groups 32-40 included individuals in related occupations who, by training or other qualifications, could be classified as scientists or engineers (secondary target occupations). Group 41 was a residual control group of individuals with four or more years of college education but not classified in any of the 63 specific occupations. 2) 58,000 persons falling within groups 1-25. The purpose of sample two was to create a reserve to maintain sufficient panel size for annual or biennial reinterviews. Individuals for the 1974 survey were selected from the 1972 sample, and were chosen on the basis of of responses to the 1972 survey and on educational criteria established by the National Science Foundation. Those same individuals were reinterviewed for the 1976 and 1978 surveys. The 1978 survey was conducted from February through August 1978; the earlier surveys typically followed the same model. One four-page survey instrument (in 1978 -- PMS-26D) was used for all individuals. Questionnaires were mailed to 50,093 persons and all individuals are included as respondents in the public use file (data are zero-filled for nonrespondents). Respondents were then classified, based on educational criteria established by the National Science Foundation, into a field of science, or engineering, or the category "not in a field of science or engineering in 1978". Nonresponse resulted from individuals who refused to participate, returned incomplete questionnaires, or were deceased. The 1978 adjusted weight equals the 1972 weight (derived using a ratio estimation procedure) multiplied by a factor that account for nonresponse in 1978 and for an estimate of the number of deceased person in the subject population. There are 834 variables.
SUMMARY OF CONTENTS: The 1978 survey is the fourth in a a series of biennial surveys designed to gather detailed data on the nation's scientific and technical human resources. This series provides three main inputs to assessing these resources: 1) a nationwide inventory of the characteristics of individuals employed and/or trained in scientific, engineering or technical fields, 2) analysis of career patterns of those individuals and 3) a comprehensive and basic statistical benchmark for evaluating scientific and technical personnel data obtained from a variety of sources. The 1974, 1976, and 1978 surveys are primarily concerned with updating the educational and work experience data collected in the 1972 survey. Data for the 1978 file include selected characteristics for the 1970 Census of Population (race, marital status, employment, industry, occupation, income) as well as the full set of data for the 1972, 1974, 1976, and 1978 surveys (age, sex, marital status, family background, military service; formal education and training and/or vocational or technical training histories; and employment history).
GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE: United States.
DESCRIPTORS: demographic characteristics, natural scientists, social scientists, engineers, technicians, work history, labor force participation, occupational mobility.
TECHNICAL NOTES: The file is rectangular, with a logical record length of 1,482 characters. users should be aware that the published reports and data differ in sample size.
TERMS OF AVAILABILITY: There are no restrictions on access to the public file.
CITED REFERENCES: Results of analyses have been published in various reports issued by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Census Bureau. See Appendix E in the User's Guide for a short bibliography of publications.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF DONATION: These data were deposited at the DPLS by Morris Cobern, Utilization Studies Group, Division of Science Resource Studies, National Science Foundation, Washington D.C. Funding support for acquisition of the data was provided under a grant (Grant No. SRS-7923292) to the Data and Program Library Service from the Division of Science Resources Studies, National Science Foundation.