ADDENDUM FOR PUBLIC RELEASE FILES SPECIAL INFORMATION FOR USE OF THE PUBLIC RELEASE FILE The 1991 Survey of 1989-90 College Graduates (RCG:91) data is now available as a public release file. This is in addition to the original restricted use file, available only under license from NCES. This section explains how the two files differ and is provided as a supplement to the Data File User's Manual for the Restricted Use File. Those using the public release file should consult this section prior to using the Users Guide file documentation. Users should note that all variables not listed in this section are the same on both types of files. All survey methodology procedures are the same for both files. Background In addition to survey data collection, the RCG:91 study involved collection of transcripts for sampled bachelor degree recipients. Since registrars processing the transcript request know the identity of sample members from their institution, original plans for file release for RCG:91 included only a restricted file available under license from NCES. However, due to interest in the file, NCES decided to prepare a public release version with some data modifications to protect the confidentiality of respondents. Other than sworn members of the project staff, registrars are the only ones to have access to the identity of sample members. Therefore, a confidentiality disclosure analysis was done from the perspective of protecting the confidentiality of respondents known to the registrars. In the disclosure analysis, variables likely to be known by registrars were first identified. These variables were then modified in such a way that no combination of these variables could produce a uniquely identifiable respondent. These modifications included recoding responses into broad categories and removing data for specific variables. Since only transcripts of bachelor's degree recipients were collected, only the bachelor's respondents are known to the registrars. Therefore, most changes on the file were made to bachelor's recipients' records. Below is a summary of the variables modified for the public release file. The following pages give a more detailed description of these changes and present the frequencies of these variables on the public release file. (In the Data File Codebook, included in appendix G, variables changed for public release are shaded.) This addendum documentation should be used in place of the Data File Codebook (Appendix G) for these variables. For all other variables, the Data File Codebook (Appendix G) file is applicable. þ Race/ethnicity (recoded to non-Hispanic white and all others) þ Age (recoded to age 24 or younger and 25 or older) þ Grade point average (recoded into 3 categories) þ Year began working toward bachelor's degree (recoded into before 1983 and 1983 or later) þ Major field of study (kept on file as an 11 category field) þ Minor and second major (removed from file for bachelor's recipients) þ Citizenship and year of birth (removed from file for bachelor's recipients) þ Exact date of degree (removed from file for bachelor's recipients) þ Institution control and institution ID (removed from file for bachelor's recipients) þ Whether respondent has a high school diploma or GED (removed from file for bachelor's recipients) þ Whether respondent has training in bilingual, ESL, LEP, or special education (removed from file for bachelor's recipients) It should be noted that most of the variables on the public release file remain the same as those in the restricted file. As indicated above, all variables not described in this section are the same on both files. Changes Made for Public Release File Changes to the file affected both questionnaire variables and derived variables. Derived variables were constructed from one or more questionnaire items for analysis purposes. The derived variables created for the restricted use file are discussed in section 8.2 of the manual. Two types of changes were made for the public release file: (1) recoding values into broad categories for some variables; and (2) coding some variables as missing for bachelor's degree recipients. Each of these types of changes are listed below. Bachelors and masters recoded into broad categories. The following variables were coded into broad categories. In order to maintain a consistent format for all records in the file, these changes were made to both bachelor's and master's recipients. XMAJ_12 Derived Variable: Major field of study for the 1989-90 degree (Q6) coded into categories. For the public release file, History majors were coded with Social Science. This is the only difference from the restricted use file. Listed below are the 1985 CIP codes for each of the RCG categories. Professional fields 1 = Business and management (1985 CIP code = 06-08) 2 = Education (CIP code = 13) 3 = Engineering (CIP code = 14-15) 4 = Health professions (CIP code = 17-18) 5 = Public affairs/social services, including: parks and recreation, public affairs and protective services (CIP code =31, 43-44) Arts and sciences fields 6 = Biological sciences, including: life sciences (CIP code = 26) 7 = Mathematics, computer sciences, and physical sciences (CIP code = 11, 27, 40-41) 8 = Social sciences including History (CIP code = 45 and 51 for 45.08) 9 = Humanities, including: foreign languages, letters, philosophy, religion, theology, visual and performing arts (CIP code = 16, 23, 38, 39, 50) 10 = Psychology (CIP code = 42) 11 = Other fields: All other fields are grouped into one category, and include the following: Agriculture and natural resources (CIP code = 01-03) Architecture and environmental design (CIP code = 04) Area and ethnic studies (CIP code = 05) Communication (CIP code = 09-10) Consumer, personal, and miscellaneous services (CIP code = 12) Home economics (CIP code = 19-20) Industrial arts (CIP code = 21) Law (CIP code = 22) Liberal/General studies (CIP code = 24) Library and archival sciences (CIP code = 25) Military sciences (CIP code = 28-29) Multi/Interdisciplinary studies (CIP code = 30) Personal and social development (CIP code = 32-37) Trade and industrial (CIP code = 46-49) XAGE2 Derived Variable: Category for respondent's age as of April 30, 1991. Based on Q90 month and year of birth. 1 = Age 24 or younger 2 = Older than 24 XRACE Derived Variable: Composite race/ethnicity variable that combines information on whether the respondent is of Hispanic origin (Q94) and the respondent's race (Q95). 1 = White, not of Hispanic origin 2 = All others Q10 Grade point average for undergraduate level 1 = GPA 3.25-4.00 (Mostly A's and About half A's and half B's) 2 = GPA 2.75-3.24 (Mostly B's) 3 = GPA 2.74 or less, or have not taken courses for which grades were given (About half B's and half C's or less, or have not taken graded courses) Q100 Year began working toward bachelor's degree 1 = Before 1983 2 = 1983 or Later Bachelors coded as missing. The following questionnaire variables were coded as missing (blank) on all bachelor's recipient records. The master's recipient records were not changed. Some variables have a value of blank because the respondent legitimately skipped over the item. On the public release file, this distinction between blank for legitimate skip and blank to protect confidentiality is not preserved. Therefore, for variables that are part of skip patterns, a blank means either the data were restricted (for bachelor's) or the question was inapplicable (for master's). Derived Variables XFICE Scrambled ID code of institution. CONTROL Institution control (public/private), copied from 1988-89 IPEDS file when the sample was drawn. NXAGE Respondent's age as of December 31, 1991 Date When Degree Was Received Q5AMM Date when degree was received - Month Q5AYY Date when degree was received - Year Major Field of Study (asked of all respondents) Q6 Major code as reported on questionnaire AQ6OS Major other (specify) text. Blanks can mean either restricted or inapplicable. Q6CODE 1985 CIP code for major field AQ6V Major field of study verbatim text Minor and Second Major Field of Study (asked only of bachelor's recipients) Note that minor and second major fields were collected separately for bachelor's and master's recipients. Questions Q7 and Q8 were only asked for bachelor's recipients. Since the bachelor's data is restricted, these variables are blank for all records in the public release file. For master's recipients, question 9 data, which is not restricted and contains the major, minor, and second major for master's recipients' undergraduate degrees, should be used. Q7A Whether bachelors recipient had a minor field of study. Q7B Minor field of study code as reported on questionnaire AQ7BOS Minor other (specify) text Q7BCODE 1985 CIP code for minor field AQ7BV Minor field of study verbatim text Q8A Whether bachelors recipient had a second major field of study. Q8B Second major field of study code as reported on questionnaire AQ8BOS Second major other (specify) text Q8BCODE 1985 CIP code for second major field AQ8BV Second major field of study verbatim text Teacher Training Note that these questions were asked of respondents whose principal job was teaching the week of April 22, 1991. Therefore, a blank means either the data were restricted (for bachelor's) or the question was inapplicable (for master's). Q75A Whether R received training - Bilingual Education (BE) Q75B Whether R received training - English as a Second Language (ESL) Q75C Whether R received training - Limited English Proficient Students (LEP) Q83 Whether R took special education courses for credit Q84A Whether R had training in special education Respondent Background Information Q90YY Respondent's year of birth Q92 Whether R was a U.S. citizen Q93 If R not a citizen, whether R was a resident. Blanks can mean either restricted or inapplicable. Q94 Whether R is of Hispanic origin Q95 Respondent race. Note that while Q95 is restricted for all bachelors, the derived variable XRACE (described above) contains codes for white/non-white for all respondents. Q98 Whether R received high school diploma, GED, or other AQ98OS Other (specify) for other high school education. Blank means either the data were restricted (for bachelor's) or the question was inapplicable (for master's).