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Data Notes

Click here for the Data Notes Table in pdf format

 

The raw data used for The Top American Research Universities project—obtained from federal agencies and national organizations—often contain information on single campus institutions, multiple campus institutions, and state university systems, without clearly identifying the distinctions. This makes national comparisons difficult and unreliable.

To increase the validity and usefulness of these data, TheCenter adjusts the original reported figures, when necessary, to ensure that all data represent the strength of a single-campus institution. Adjustments are based upon information gathered from the reporting agency or from the university itself. In cases where the published data represent a single campus, we do not adjust the data. When the data represent more than one campus, we first attempt to obtain a figure directly from NSF (for research expenditures and postdoctorates), from the institution itself, or from the university system office that submitted the data. If unavailable from those primary sources, we use an estimated or substitute figure derived from information found on the institution’s website. As a last resort, we will use prior year data as a substitute.

If the institution provides an estimate representing at least 97% of the originally published figure, we credit the full amount to the main campus. Otherwise, we use the estimate provided by the institution.

Every effort is made to find actual or estimated data for any institution with over $20 million in federal research that did not report to the original data source. For institutions below the $20 million cutoff, we typically do not use a substitute value and identify the measure as not reported (or NR).

TheCenter does not adjust the private university data because of multi-campus or system-wide reporting. We treat all private universities in this study as single campus institutions, because while some may have multiple campuses, they generally are in or around a single city and considered an integral part of the main campus. Furthermore, private institutions generally do not break out their data by regional, branch, or affiliated campus, as often happens with public institutions.

The following tables outline the various adjustments or substitutions that were made to the original data this year. Institutions are listed alphabetically and include both private and public universities. For the purpose of this study, TheCenter provides notes for institutions that reported any federal research in fiscal years 1990 through 2003.