Disciplinary Data: Critical Needs and Updated Priorities
Click here to view data
for 2003-2005.
Draft
departmental data collection form
The AAG has established an internal
committee which has been meeting
for the past year to examine existing
AAG data collection and dissemination
activities. The goal is to revamp the
processes to ensure that we collect the
most crucial data for the discipline of geography
while also minimizing the burden of
our data collection requests
on departments and AAG
members. The members of
our internal AAG data review
committee include myself,
Kavita Pandit, Michael
Solem, Megan Nortrup, Beth
Schlemper, Robert Andelman,
and Jan Monk.
The need for better data
about our discipline is critical.
Rarely does a week pass
that I do not receive multiple requests for
detailed and updated data from geography
departments proposing new geography
degree programs or defending existing
ones; from individuals for research,
dissertations, publications, or curiosity
driven research; and from governmental
agencies and the media. Responding to
these requests is time-consuming, and
sometimes more frustrating than necessary,
as the basic data needed to provide
accurate, up-to-date and speedy replies
are not always available.
There are many reasons why statistical
data collection and analysis for geography
as a discipline is difficult and complex. As a
rapidly evolving discipline, we are a moving
target. New subdisciplines,
programs, centers, and terminology
proliferate. We are
also a somewhat amorphous
entity. Geography departments
are often combined or“blended.” Academic geographers
are sometimes hidden
in interdisciplinary departments
with monikers varying
from “environmental studies”
to “urban spatial analysis.”
Private sector and governmental geographers
are disguised more often than not
under job titles that do not mention the
term geographer (though we have been
working closely with the Department of
Labor to change this and are having some
success). Standard or commonly used classifications
for demographic data such as
race and ethnicity also continue to evolve, as do federal standard occupational codes
(SOCs) for geography related employment.
Another challenge for data collection in
recent years is the increasing reluctance by
individuals and even organizations to
provide personal demographic or other
information. This much discussed “crisis”
in survey research has its roots in legitimate
concerns about identify theft,
commercial solicitations, Internet privacy,
junk mail and email, and other privacy
concerns, including those related to
government use or abuse of personal information.
Another major factor in the dropoff
of survey response rates is the sheer
proliferation of new requests for survey
information that has occurred in recent
years, especially on the Internet, and the
amount of time it consumes for busy individuals
or organizations to reply, however
worthy the cause may be.
Thus, in order to collect good quality,
high response rate disciplinary data we will
need to be “disciplined” about what and
how much we can reasonably ask for on our
membership forms and departmental
surveys. In revamping our disciplinary data
collection efforts, we are seeking to identify
the most critical information needed by
departments and individual researchers; to
update the categories of data collected by
the AAG to be consistent with and comparable
to current broader usage; and to
balance the near-infinite data collection
possibilities against the burden their collection
places on individual AAG members
and geography department administrative
staff.
With the above challenges in mind, I
would like to invite your input and ideas in
this process of evaluation and analysis of
AAG data collection needs, as we finalize
the process. Your comments might track the
four main areas we have identified below as
core to our current and proposed data collection
and dissemination efforts, plus any
others you might want to discuss:
1. AAG-collected Individual AAG
Membership Data.
The main vehicle for collecting this
data is the AAG membership form. This
form collects information such as gender, race/ethnicity, age, topical and area proficiencies,
and employment sector. We are
proposing to modify this form to conform
better to the race and ethnicity categories
used by the recent AAG Diversity Task
Force Survey of geography departments,
and to current Census Bureau categories.
We have consulted with geographers at
the Census Bureau to review these categories
and suggest any improvements. We
also will add a brief statement to the forms
(both paper forms and online forms) to
urge better data completion. A PDF copy
of the proposed new AAG membership
form is available for your reference by clicking here.
2. AAG-collected Data on Geography
Departments.
Our main vehicle for collecting this
data on an annual basis will be an
enhanced version of the AAG Guide data
collection request form for departments
which list in the Association of American
Geographers Guide to Geography Programs in
the Americas. This form will collect departmental
data on the type and number of
degrees granted, titles of theses and dissertations
completed, departmental specialties,
faculty salaries, and faculty demographic
data, including gender, race, and
ethnicity. We have prepared a draft modified
version of this data request form,
including an extension of it which will be
useable as a stand-alone survey form for
those departments which do not list in the
AAG Guide. A copy of this draft departmental
data collection form is available by clicking here. We will have the
new survey vehicle reviewed by survey
research specialists before launching it in
final form. Consistency with other federal
educational data collection efforts is also a
priority in the development of this new
survey of departments.
3. AAG-collected Supplemental Surveys
Data.
The AAG has undertaken several major
new data collection surveys during the past
four years. These include the AAG Diversity
Task Force Survey of geography departments;
three Enhancing Departments
Graduate Education (EDGE) surveys and
numerous EDGE focus group data collection
activities; one DOL-funded written employment
survey and two DOL employment
focus group workshops to gather additional
data; a lapsed member survey; Geography
Faculty Development Alliance surveys (in
conjunction with Ken Foote); an AAG Internationalization
Survey (conducted with
support from Carnegie Foundation and the
American Council on Education), and
others. These supplemental AAG surveys
have provided a wealth of focused and upto-date information on topics important to
the AAG and our discipline. Most of this
information has been made available to
AAG members already on the AAG website
or through newsletter articles.
4. Data Collected by Third Parties.
There is a great deal of data collected
by others on geography departments and
individual geographers, and on education
and employment issues of potential use to
our departments, our programs, and individual
members. This data is scattered and
often not easily available or understood. It
is frequently collected as part of larger data
collection efforts, and extracting, disaggregating,
and interpreting the geographyrelevant
information from it can be
challenging. Examples of such data include
the U.S. Department of Education’s
National Center for Educational Statistics
(NCES), the NRC Surveys of PhD
Programs; the PhD Five Years Out surveys;
the National Science Foundation compilations;
data collected or compiled on the
discipline by individual researchers or
departments; and many other sources. The
AAG will compile and summarize the most
pertinent of these third-party data collection
efforts.
We also propose to create a new
centralized AAG Data Clearinghouse
which would disseminate the data which
the AAG collects in the first three categories
above. The clearinghouse would
also summarize the nature (and limitations)
of the third-party data described above,
and provide links directly to the geography-relevant portions of the most important
of these third-party geography related data. This site would be available in early
2007.
As you can see, we have a substantial project before
us. Fortunately, the AAG has established a financial foundation that enables
us to provide these services to the discipline. Your help with comments
and suggestions will ensure that we do the best possible job of it, within
the constraints discussed above. We hope to have the AAG’s revised
data collection and dissemination system ready for launch by the beginning
of the 2007 calendar year. Thanks in advance for your advice and support.
US
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