Technical Information

SESTAT is a database of the employment, education, and demographic characteristics of the nation's scientists and engineers. The data are collected from the following three surveys, which have been sponsored every two years since 1993 by the National Science Foundation (NSF):

• National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG)
• National Survey of Recent College Graduates (NSRCG)
• Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR).

Only the NSRCG and SDR were conducted in 2001.

Information from these surveys has been integrated into the SESTAT database. The SESTAT database allows for analyses of different components of the science and engineering workforce. When accessing SESTAT, the user may select the integrated database for 1993, 1995, 1997, or 1999. In addition, data from the individual surveys maybe accessed for special analytical purposes. Access to some data may be restricted due to confidentiality considerations.

SESTAT Survey Design and Methodology

Contains detailed information about the SESTAT target population, component surveys, data collection and processing, and weighting strategy.

• Target Population and Coverage
• Component Surveys
• Sample Designs
• Data Collection
• Editing Guidelines and Procedures
• Missing Data Imputation
• Weighting Strategy

Sampling Errors for SESTAT

Information about sampling errors for the combined SESTAT surveys:

• Understanding Sampling Errors
  An overview of standard errors and the resulting confidence intervals.
  
  
• Generalized Variance Functions: A Methodology for Estimating Standard Errors
  Discussion of methods used to derive generalized variance functions for estimating standard errors.
  
  
• Calculating Standard Errors
  Description of how users can calculate standard errors for estimates from SESTAT. Also includes a description of the GVFs used for SESTAT.

You can also download the full report in PDF format.