Data source

The Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) is the sole data source for Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities: 2016. The principal elements of the 2016 SED data collection are described in the sections that follow. More detailed information and related technical tables are available at www.nsf.gov/statistics/sed/.

Survey eligibility.

The SED collects information on research doctorate recipients only. Research doctorates require the completion of a dissertation or equivalent project, are oriented toward preparing students to make original intellectual contributions in a field of study, and are not primarily intended for the practice of a profession. The 2016 SED recognized 18 distinct types of research doctorates. In 2016, 98% of research doctorate recipients earned the PhD.

Survey universe.

The population eligible for the 2016 survey consisted of all individuals who received a research doctorate from an accredited U.S. academic institution in the 12-month period from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016. The total universe consisted of 54,904 persons in 436 institutions that conferred research doctorates in academic year 2016.

Data collection.

Institutional coordinators at each doctorate awarding institution distributed the SED Web survey link (or paper survey form) to individuals receiving a research doctorate. Nonresponding graduates were contacted by e-mail, mail, or phone to request response to the questionnaire. NORC at the University of Chicago conducted the 2016 SED data collection under contract to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.

Survey response rates.

In 2016, 92% of research doctorate recipients completed the survey instrument. Limited records (field of study, doctoral institution, and sex) are constructed for nonrespondents from administrative records of the university—commencement programs, graduation lists, and other public records—and are included in the reported total of doctorate recipients. Response rates for 2006–16 are provided in the technical tables.

Time series data changes.

After a multiyear review of Doctor of Education (EdD) degree programs participating in the SED, 143 programs were reclassified from research doctorate to professional doctorate over the 2010–11 period. No additional reclassifications of EdD degree programs are planned. SED data are no longer being collected from graduates earning degrees from the reclassified EdD programs, and this has affected the reporting of the number of doctorates awarded by sex, citizenship, race, and ethnicity. Several figures in this report show a decline in number of degrees awarded from 2009 to 2011 (in particular, see figures D and F in the Who earns a U.S. doctorate? section and figure B in the Which fields attract students? section). Readers should note that the declines from 2009 to 2010 and from 2010 to 2011 are at least partly attributable to the EdD reclassification.