[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 103 (Tuesday, June 1, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29294-29295]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-11493]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Submission for OMB review; comment request.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) has submitted the 
following information collection requirement to OMB for review and 
clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This is the second 
notice for public comment; the first was published in the Federal 
Register and two were received. NSF is forwarding the proposed renewal 
submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance 
simultaneously with the publication of this second notice.

DATES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAmain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports Clearance

[[Page 29295]]

Officer, National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, 
Alexandria, VA 22314, or send email to [email protected]. Individuals 
who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the 
Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339, which is 
accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year (including 
federal holidays). Comments regarding this information collection are 
best assured of having their full effect if received within 30 days of 
this notification. Copies of the submission(s) may be obtained by 
calling 703-292-7556.
    NSF may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless 
the collection of information displays a currently valid OMB control 
number, and the agency informs potential persons who are to respond to 
the collection of information that such persons are not required to 
respond to the collection of information unless it displays a currently 
valid OMB control number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Summary of Comments on the Survey of Doctorate Recipients and NSF's 
Responses: As required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d), comments on the information 
collection activities as part of this study were solicited through the 
publication of a 60-Day Notice in the Federal Register on 5 February 
2021, at 86 FR 8384. We received two comments. The nature of each 
comment and our responses are summarized below.
    Comment: On 5 February 2021, Dr. Andrew Reamer of George Washington 
University sent an email to NSF on behalf of the American Economic 
Association's Committee on Economic Statistics. He requested the draft 
information collection request (ICR) materials for the 2021 SDR and 
asked whether any changes were proposed for the 2021 SDR compared to 
the 2019 SDR.
    Response: NSF responded to Dr. Reamer on 2 February 2021, 
explaining that the 2021 SDR ICR materials were in the process of being 
prepared and that there were no substantive changes planned. He was 
directed to the 2019 SDR questionnaires on the NSF website, which would 
be updated to reflect the survey year. He was also informed that the 
same instrument, with updates to reflect survey year and modifications 
to accommodate the circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic, will be 
used for the 2021 cycle.
    Comment: NCSES received a comment on 17 March 2021 from Dr. Jon 
Freeman representing the American Association for the Advancement of 
Science (AAAS) and the American Educational Research Association 
(AERA). The commenters requested that NCSES include measures of sexual 
orientation and gender identity on the SDR and on other NCSES surveys 
(specifically, the National Survey of College Graduates and the Survey 
of Earned Doctorates).
    Response: NCSES informed the commenters that it continues to 
actively engage on the Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology's 
(FCSM) Working Group on Measuring Sexual Orientation and Gender 
Identity and described its research efforts for development and 
fielding possible questionnaire additions to address the topic. NCSES 
informed the commenters that it does not intend to include these 
measures in the 2021 SDR.
    Title of Collection: 2021 Survey of Doctorate Recipients.
    OMB Approval Number: 3145-0020.
    Summary of Collection: The purpose of this panel survey is to 
collect data that will be used to provide national estimates on the 
doctoral science and engineering workforce and changes in their 
employment, education, and demographic characteristics. The SDR is 
sponsored by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics 
(NCSES) within the NSF and by the National Institutes of Health.
    The National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as subsequently 
amended, includes a statutory charge to ``. . . provide a central 
clearinghouse for the collection, interpretation, and analysis of data 
on scientific and engineering resources, and to provide a source of 
information for policy formulation by other agencies of the Federal 
Government.'' The SDR is designed to comply with these mandates by 
providing information on the supply and utilization of the nation's 
doctoral level scientists and engineers.
    Use of the Information: The NSF uses the information from the SDR 
to prepare congressionally-mandated reports such as Women, Minorities 
and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering and Science 
and Engineering Indicators. NCSES also produces, on a biennial basis, a 
set of statistical tables from the SDR, and publishes statistics from 
the SDR in other reports.
    Expected Respondents: A statistical sample of 130,938 individuals 
who had earned a research doctorate degree from a U.S. academic 
institution in the fields of science, engineering, or health (SEH) will 
be contacted in 2021; these individuals may reside in the U.S. or 
abroad. As with prior SDR data collection cycles, the sample consists 
of all eligible cases from the previous cycle, as well as a sample of 
new doctoral graduates, who received their doctorate between 1 July 
2017 and 30 June 2019. In addition, the sample may include 5,000 cases 
that will be part of a non-production bridge panel designed to quantify 
the potential impact of question wording modifications on key survey 
estimates. Another 9% of the production sample may submit an inter-
round updated contact form that takes about 3 minutes to complete.
    Estimate of Burden: NCSES expects the overall 2021 SDR response 
rate to be approximately 70 percent. The amount of time to complete the 
questionnaire may vary depending on an individual's circumstances; 
however, based on 2019 SDR completion times, NCSES estimates an average 
completion time of approximately 21 minutes. NCSES estimates that the 
average annual burden for the 2021 survey cycle over the course of the 
three-year OMB clearance period will be no more than 10,882 hours 
[(130,938 individuals x 70% response x 21 minutes) + (125,938 x 9% 
participation x 3 minutes)]/3 years/60 minutes.

    Dated: May 26, 2021.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2021-11493 Filed 5-28-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P