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Appendix A.4. Sources: Other Government Agencies
- Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Census Bureau
- National Institute on Drug Abuse
- National Science Foundation
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) represents changes in prices of all goods and services purchased for consumption by urban households. Indexes are available for two population groups: a CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) and a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Price indexes are available for the United States, the four Census regions, size of city, cross-classifications of regions and size-classes, and for 26 local areas. The major uses of the CPI include the CPI as an economic indicator, as a deflator of other economic series, and as a means of adjusting income payments.
Further information on consumer price indexes may be obtained from:
Consumer Price Indexes
Bureau of Labor Statistics
U.S. Department of Labor
2 Massachusetts Avenue NE
Washington, DC 20212
http://stats.bls.gov/cpi/
Statistics on the employment status of the population and related data are compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) and other surveys. The monthly CPS survey of households is conducted for BLS by the Census Bureau through a scientifically selected sample designed to represent the civilian noninstitutional population. Respondents are interviewed to obtain information about the employment status of each member of the household 16 years of age and over. Each month, about 60,000 occupied units are eligible for interview. Some 4,500 of these households are contacted, but interviews are not obtained because the occupants are not at home after repeated calls or are unavailable for other reasons. This represents a non-interview rate for the survey that ranges between 7 and 8 percent. In addition to the 60,000 occupied units, there are 12,000 sample units in an average month that are visited, but found to be vacant or otherwise not eligible for enumeration.
The current sample design, introduced in July 2001, includes about 72,000 households from 754 sample areas and maintains a 1.9 percent coefficient of variation (c.v.) on national monthly estimates of unemployment level. This translates into a change of 0.2 percentage points in the unemployment rate being significant at a 90 percent confidence level. For each of the 50 states and for the District of Columbia, the design maintains a c.v. of at most 8 percent on the annual average estimate of unemployment level, assuming a 6 percent unemployment rate.
Further information on unemployment surveys may be obtained from:
Bureau of Labor Statistics
U.S. Department of Labor
2 Massachusetts Avenue NE
Washington, DC 20212
cpsinfo@bls.gov
http://www.bls.gov/bls/proghome.htm#OEUS
Census Bureau
Census of Population–Education in the United States
This report is based on a part of the decennial census which consists of questions asked of a one-in-six sample of persons and housing units in the United States. This sample was asked more detailed questions about income, occupation, and housing costs in addition to general demographic information.
School Enrollment Persons classified as enrolled in school reported attending a "regular" public or private school or college. Questions asked were whether the institution attended was public or private, and level of school in which the student was enrolled.
Educational Attainment Data for educational attainment were tabulated for persons 15 years and over, and classified according to the highest grade completed or the highest degree received. Instructions were also given to include the level of the previous grade attended or the highest degree received for persons currently enrolled in school.
Poverty Status To determine poverty status, answers to income questions were used and compared to the appropriate poverty threshold. All persons except institutionalized persons, persons in military group quarters and in college dormitories, and unrelated persons under 15 years old were considered. If total income of each family or unrelated individual in the sample was less than the corresponding cutoff, that family or individual was classified as "below the poverty level."
Further information on the 1990 Census and 2000 Census of population may be obtained from:
Population Division
Census Bureau
U.S. Department of Commerce
Washington, DC 20233
http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/decenial.html
http://www.census.gov/main/www/cen2000.html
Current Population Survey
Prior to July 2001, estimates of school enrollment rates, as well as social and economic characteristics of students, were based on data collected in the Census Bureau's monthly household survey of about 50,000 dwelling units. Beginning in July 2001, this sample was expanded to 60,000 dwelling units. The monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) sample consists of 754 areas comprising 2,007 geographic areas, independent cities, and minor civil divisions throughout the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The samples are initially selected based on the decennial census files and are periodically updated to reflect new housing construction.
The monthly CPS deals primarily with labor force data for the civilian noninstitutional population (i.e., excluding military personnel and their families living on post and inmates of institutions). In addition, in October of each year, supplemental questions are asked about highest grade completed, level and grade of current enrollment, attendance status, number and type of courses, degree or certificate objective, and type of organization offering instruction for each member of the household. In March of each year, supplemental questions on income are asked. The responses to these questions are combined with answers to two questions on educational attainment: highest grade of school ever attended, and whether that grade was completed.
The estimation procedure employed for monthly CPS data involves inflating weighted sample results to independent estimates of characteristics of the civilian noninstitutional population in the United States by age, sex, and race. These independent estimates are based on statistics from decennial censuses; statistics on births, deaths, immigration, and emigration; and statistics on the population in the armed services. Generalized standard error tables are provided in the Current Population Reports. The data are subject to both nonsampling and sampling errors.
Caution should also be used when comparing data from 1993 to 2001, which reflect 1990 census-based population controls, with data from March 1993 and earlier years, which reflect 1980 or earlier census-based population controls. This change in population controls had relatively little impact on summary measures such as means, medians, and percentage distributions. It did have a significant impact on population counts. For example, use of 1990-based population controls results in about a 1 percent increase in the civilian noninstitutional population and in the number of families and households. Thus, estimates of levels for data collected in 1994 and later years will differ from those for earlier years by more than what could be attributed to actual changes in the population. These differences could be disproportionately greater for certain subpopulation groups than for the total population.
Further information on CPS may be obtained from:
Education and Social Stratification Branch
Population Division
Census Bureau
U.S. Department of Commerce
Washington, DC 20233
http://www.bls.census.gov/cps/cpsmain.htm
Each October, the Current Population Survey (CPS) includes supplemental questions on the enrollment status of the population 3 years old and over as part of the monthly basic survey on labor force participation. In addition to gathering the information on school enrollment, with the limitations as noted under “School Enrollment,” the survey data permit calculations of dropout rates. Both status and event dropout rates are tabulated from the CPS Survey. The Digest provides information using the status rate calculation. Event rates describe the proportion of students who leave school each year without completing a high school program. Status rates provide cumulative data on dropouts among all young adults within a specified age range. Status rates are higher than event rates because they include all dropouts ages 16 through 24, regardless of when they last attended school.
In addition to other survey limitations, dropout rates may be affected by survey coverage and exclusion of the institutionalized population. The incarcerated population has grown more rapidly than the general population, and they have a higher dropout rate than the general population. Dropout rates for the total population might be higher than those for the noninstitutionalized population if the prison and jail populations were included in the dropout rate calculations. On the other hand, if military personnel who tend to be high school graduates were included, it might offset some or all of the impact from the theoretical inclusion of the jail and prison population.
Another area of concern with tabulations involving young people in household surveys is the relatively low coverage ratio compared to older age groups. CPS under-coverage results from missed housing units and missed persons within sample households. Overall CPS under-coverage is estimated to be about 8 percent. CPS under-coverage varies with age, sex, and race. Generally, under-coverage is larger for males than for females and larger for Blacks and other races combined than for Whites. For example, the under-coverage ratio for Black 20- to 29-year-old males is 34 percent. Ratio estimation to independent age-sex-race-Hispanic population controls partially corrects for the bias due to under-coverage. However, biases exist in the estimates to the extent that missed persons in missed households or missed persons in interviewed households have different characteristics from those of interviewed persons in the same age-sex-race-origin-state group. Further information on CPS methodology may be obtained from: http://www.bls.census.gov/cps/cpsmain.htm.
Further information on calculation of dropouts and dropout rates may be obtained from the NCES Dropout Rates in the United States: 2001 at: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005046 or by contacting:
Chris Chapman
Early Childhood Longitudinal and Household Studies Program (ECICSD)
National Center for Education Statistics
1990 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20006
Chris.Chapman@ed.gov
Data on years of school completed are derived from two questions on the Current Population Survey (CPS) instrument. Reports documenting educational attainment are produced by the Census Bureau using March CPS supplement (Annual Demographic Survey) results. The latest release is Educational Attainment in the United States: 2004, which may be downloaded at:
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/education/cps2004.html.
In addition to the general constraints of CPS, some data indicate that the respondents have a tendency to overestimate the educational level of members of their household. Some inaccuracy is due to a lack of the respondent's knowledge of the exact educational attainment of each household member and the hesitancy to acknowledge anything less than a high school education. Another cause of nonsampling variability is the change in the numbers in the armed services over the years.
For the March 2004 basic CPS, the response rate was 91.5 percent and for the supplement the response rate was 91.8 percent for a total supplement response rate of 84.0 percent.
The variability in estimates for subgroups (region, household relationships, etc.) can be estimated using the tables presented in Current Population Reports. Further information on the Current Population Survey and its Supplements may be obtained from the CPS website at:
http://www.bls.census.gov/cps/cpsmain.htm.
Further information on CPS "Educational Attainment in the United States" may be obtained from:
Education and Social Stratification Branch
Census Bureau
U.S. Department of Commerce
Washington, DC 20233
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/educ-attn.html
Each October, the Current Population Survey (CPS) includes supplemental questions on the enrollment status of the population 3 years old and over, in addition to the monthly basic survey on labor force participation. Prior to 2001, the October supplement consisted of approximately 47,000 interviewed households. Beginning with the October 2001 supplement, the sample was expanded by 9,000 to a total of approximately 56,000 interviewed households. The main sources of non-sampling variability in the responses to the supplement are those inherent in the survey instrument. The question of current enrollment may not be answered accurately for various reasons. Some respondents may not know current grade information for every student in the household, a problem especially prevalent for households with members in college or in nursery school. Confusion over college credits or hours taken by a student may make it difficult to determine the year in which the student is enrolled. Problems may occur with the definition of nursery school (a group or class organized to provide educational experiences for children), where respondents' interpretations of "educational experiences" vary.
For the October 2003 basic CPS, the response rate was 92.7 percent; and for the school enrollment supplement, the response rate was 93.7 percent for a total supplement response rate of 86.9 percent.
Further information on CPS methodology may be obtained from:
http://www.bls.census.gov/cps/cpsmain.htm
Further information on CPS "School Enrollment" may be obtained from:
Education and Social Stratification Branch
Census Bureau
U.S. Department of Commerce
Washington, DC 20233
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school.html
The Census Bureau conducts an annual survey of Government Finances as authorized by law under Title 13, United States Code, Section 182. This survey covers the entire range of government finance activities: revenue, expenditure, debt, and assets. Revenues and expenditures comprise actual receipts and payments of a government and its agencies, including government-operated enterprises, utilities, and public trust funds. The expenditure reporting categories comprise all amounts of money paid out by a government and its agencies with the exception of amounts for debt retirement and for loan, investment, agency, and private trust transactions.
Most of the federal government statistics are based on figures that appear in The Budget of the United States Government. Since the classification used by the Census Bureau for reporting state and local government finance statistics differs in a number of important respects from the classification used in the United States budget, it was necessary to adjust the federal data. For this report, federal budget expenditures include interest accrued, but not paid, during the fiscal year; Census data on interest are on a disbursement basis.
The state government finances are based primarily on the annual Census Bureau survey of state finances. Census staff compiles figures from official records and reports of the various states for most of the state financial data.
The sample of local governments is drawn from the periodic Census of Governments and consists of certain local governments taken with certainty plus a sample below the certainty level.
The statistics in Government Finances that are based wholly or partly on data from the sample are subject to sampling error. State government finance data are not subject to sampling error. Estimates of major United States totals for local governments are subject to a computed sampling variability of less than one-half of l percent. The estimates are also subject to the inaccuracies in classification, response, and processing which would occur if a complete census had been conducted under the same conditions as the sample.
Further information on Government Finances may be obtained from:
Governments Division
Census Bureau
U.S. Department of Commerce
Washington, DC 20233
http://www.census.gov/govs/www/
National Institute on Drug Abuse
The National Institute on Drug Abuse of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is the primary supporter of the long-term study entitled "Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of the Lifestyles and Values of Youth," conducted at the University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research. One component of the study deals with student drug abuse. Results of a national sample survey have been published annually since 1975. With the exception of 1975, when about 9,400 students participated in the survey, the annual senior samples are comprised of roughly 16,000 students in 133 schools. They complete self-administered questionnaires given to them in their classrooms by University of Michigan personnel. Each year 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders are surveyed (12th-graders since 1975, and 8th- and 10th-graders since 1991). The 10th-grade samples involve about 17,000 students in 140 schools each year, while the 8th grade samples have approximately 18,000 students in 150 schools. In all, approximately 50,000 students from 420 public and private secondary schools are surveyed annually. Over the years, the response rate has varied from 77 to 84 percent.
Understandably, there will be some reluctance to admit illegal activities. Also, students who were out of school on the day of the survey were nonrespondents. The survey did not include high school dropouts. The inclusion of these two groups would tend to increase the proportion of individuals who had used drugs. A 1983 study found that the inclusion of the absentees could increase some of the drug usage estimates by as much as 2.7 percentage points. (Details on that study and its methodology were published in Drug Use Among American High School Students, College Students, and Other Young Adults, by Lloyd D. Johnston, Patrick M. O'Malley, and Jerald G. Bachman, available from the National Clearinghouse on Drug Abuse Information, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857.)
Further information on the Monitoring the Future drug abuse survey may be obtained from:
National Institute on Drug Abuse
Division of Epidemiology and Statistical Analysis
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
http://www.monitoringthefuture.org
National Science Foundation
Federal Obligations to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions
Each year, the National Science Foundation collects data on obligations to colleges and universities from federal agencies. Obligations differ from expenditures, in that funds obligated during one fiscal year may be spent by the recipient in later years. Obligation amounts include direct federal support, so that amounts subcontracted to other institutions are included. Those funds received through subcontracts from prime contractors are excluded. Also excluded from the data are certain types of financial assistance, such as the U.S. Department of Education's Federal Family Education Loans and obligations to the U.S. service academies. For purposes of tabulations in this publication, university-administered federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) are now excluded from state totals.
The universe of academic institutions for this survey is based on the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (see above). Institutions without federal support were excluded and some systems were combined into single reporting units.
Further information on Federal Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions may be obtained from:
Science and Engineering Activities Program
Division of Science Resources Studies
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22230
http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/fedsuppt/
Survey of Earned Doctorates Awarded in the United States
The Survey of Earned Doctorates Awarded in the United States has collected basic statistics from the universe of doctoral recipients in the United States each year since 1958. It has been supported by five federal agencies: the National Science Foundation, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education; the National Endowment for the Humanities; the U.S. States Department of Agriculture; and the National Institutes of Health.
A survey form is distributed with the assistance of graduate deans, to each person completing the requirements for a doctorate. Of the 40,710 new research doctorates granted in 2003, the response rate was 91 percent. The questionnaire obtains information on sex, race/ethnicity, marital status, citizenship, handicaps, dependents, specialty field of doctorate, educational institutions attended, time spent in completion of doctorate, financial support, educational debt, postgraduation plans, and educational attainment of parents.
Further information on the Survey of Earned Doctorates Awarded in the United States may be obtained from:
Science and Engineering Education and
Human Resources Program
Division of Science Resources Studies
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22230
http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/ssed/
http://www.norc.uchicago.edu/issues/docdata.htm
Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering
The Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, also known as the graduate student survey (GSS), is an annual survey at the academic department level of all U.S. institutions offering graduate programs in any science, engineering, or health field. It is an establishment-based survey that provides data on the number and characteristics of graduate science and engineering students enrolled in approximately 600 U.S. academic institutions.
Data for the 2002 GSS were collected at the beginning of academic year 2002–03. The survey collected data from all branch campuses, affiliated research centers, and separately organized components, such as medical or dental schools, nursing schools, and schools of public health. Only those graduate students enrolled for credit in an S&E master's or doctoral program in the fall of 2002 were included in the survey. M.D., D.O., D.V.M., or D.D.S. candidates, interns, and residents were counted if they were concurrently working on a science and engineering master's or doctoral degree or were enrolled in a joint M.D./Ph.D. program.
The final 2002 survey universe consisted of 715 reporting units (schools) at 594 graduate institutions: 234 master's-granting institutions and 481 reporting units associated with 360 doctorate-granting institutions.
Further information on the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering may be obtained from:
Julia Oliver
GSS Survey Manager
Division of Science Resources Statistics
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 965
Arlington, VA 22230
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/showsrvy.cfm?srvy_CatID=2&srvy_Seri=2
http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/sseeuc/
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
National Survey on Drug Use and Health
Conducted by the Federal Government since 1971, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) is an annual survey of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States age 12 years old or older. It is the primary source of information on the prevalence, patterns, and consequences of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drug abuse. The survey collects data by administering questionnaires to a representative sample of the population (since 1999 the NSDUH interview has been carried out using computer-assisted interviewing). NSDUH collects information from residents of households, noninstitutional group quarters, and civilians living on military bases. The main results of the NSDUH present national estimates of rates of use, numbers of users, and other measures related to illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco products.
Prior to 2002, the survey was called the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). Because of improvements to the survey in 2002, the data from 2002 and 2003 should not be compared with 2001 and earlier NHSDA data to assess changes in substance use over time. The 2003 NSDUH screened 130,605 addresses and 67,784 completed interviews were obtained. The survey was conducted from January through December 2003. Weighted response rates for household screening were 90.72 percent and 77.39 percent for interviewing.
Further information on the 2003 NSDUH may be obtained from:
SAMHSA, Office of Applied Studies
1 Choke Cherry Road, Room 7-1044
Rockville, MD 28057
http://oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh.htm
