List of Changes During Last Clearance (GSS 2017-2019)

Attachment 9. Summary of Changes Introduced in GSS 2017-2019

1. Changes to the GSS code list and GSS-CIP crosswalk resulting from implementation of NCSES’ new Taxonomy of Disciplines

• Broad fields were reorganized, with a net reduction in the number of broad fields:

  • Communication and Family and consumer sciences and human sciences become ineligible and were dropped;

  • Natural resources and conservation sciences were split from Agricultural Sciences as a new broad field; and

  • Neurobiology and neuroscience became subfields under Biology and biomedical sciences.

• Subfields were reorganized, rendering some subfields ineligible, and leading to the addition of several newly eligible subfields:

  • These detailed fields were dropped: Anatomy 601; Biometry and epidemiology 604; Cell and molecular biology 607; Ecology 608; Entomology and parasitology 609; Sociology and anthropology 909; Public administration 913; Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 920 (except for the Human development subfields which will be moved under the Social sciences field); Communication 930; and Architecture 940.

  • These detailed fields were added: Environmental science and studies 510; Forestry, natural resources, and conservation 511; Biostatistics and bioinformatics 618; Cell, cellular biology, and anatomical sciences 619; Ecology and population biology 620; Epidemiology 621; Molecular biology 622; Biomedical sciences 623; and Human development 915.

  • These detailed fields previously reported under other fields are now collected separately: Biological and biosystems engineering 115; Nanotechnology 116; Materials sciences 205; Criminal justice - safety studies 911; International relations and national security studies 912; and Public policy analysis 914.

  • Some fields have name changes to better align with the CIP program titles. For example, Biological Sciences are now reported under Biological and Biomedical sciences; Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences are reported under Geoscience, atmospheric, and ocean sciences

2. Changes to data collection methods to improve data utility and mitigate response burden

• Separate reporting of graduate student enrollment, demographic, and financial data for master's and doctoral students

• Use of CIP codes, instead of GSS codes, for reporting GSS data; GSS codes are still allowed for reporting of postdocs and NFRs

• Expanded coordinator use of file uploads for data submission instead of manual data entry into the GSS Web Instrument

3. Changes to institutional eligibility

• To be consistent with HERD, for-profit institutions will be ineligible since they are typically not research institutions but rather focus on practitioner-oriented degrees.