[Air-l] Two new opportunities for original data collection

[RG Lentz]

Dear colleagues, please excuse if this is has already been posted. RG 
Lentz, UT Austin

NSF-SPONSORED PROJECT OFFERS
NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR ORIGINAL DATA COLLECTION!

Time-sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences (TESS) is
a new National Science Foundation-supported project that is
designed to increase the speed and efficiency with which
scientific advances can be applied to social problems. TESS
accomplishes these goals by providing social scientists with
two new opportunities for original data collection. First,
TESS runs an ongoing national telephone survey to which
researchers can add their own original questions. Second,
TESS allows researchers to run their own studies on random
samples of the population that are interviewed via the Internet.

Technologically, TESS combines the proven power of computer-
assisted telephone interviewing with the new possibilities of
computer-assisted Internet interviewing. Each approach allows
researchers to capture the internal validity of traditional
experiments while realizing the benefits of contact with
large, diverse subject populations. With these technologies,
TESS gives a greater number of social scientists opportunities
to collect original data tailored to their own hypotheses, and
to increase the precision with which fundamental social,
political and economic dynamics are measured and understood.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Scholars across the social sciences compete for time on one
or both instruments. A comprehensive, on-line submission and
review process screens proposals for the importance of their
contribution to science and society. The co-PIs, Diana Mutz
and Arthur Lupia, assisted by a diverse team of leading
scholars from across the social sciences, oversee the review
process. Together, they base their evaluations on reviews
solicited from two to three referees in the researcher's
discipline.

WHAT KINDS OF PROPOSALS ARE APPROPRIATE?

The Internet-based and telephone-based data collection
platforms will allow faculty and graduate student researchers
to run novel experiments on representative samples drawn from
the United States population in order to examine substantive
and methodological hypotheses. Proposals may come from any
substantive area within any discipline in the social sciences
so long as they utilize experimental or quasi-experimental
designs and make a significant contribution to knowledge.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY?

All faculty and graduate students at universities within or
outside of the United States are eligible.

HOW AND WHEN CAN I APPLY?

TESS begins accepting proposals in January of 2002 and will
review them on a continuous basis over the next four years.
There are no limits on the number of times researchers may use
TESS. In fact, we encourage researchers to build on their
previous TESS findings for subsequent proposals.

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?

To facilitate a quick review process, proposal submission
and review are handled on-line through our website,
<www.ExperimentCentral.org/" target=_blank>http://www.ExperimentCentral.org/>
www.ExperimentCentral.org.
Proposals are limited to five pages to encourage fast turnaround.
Because our data collection instruments are in the field on a
continuous basis, accepted experiments can be moved into the field
just as soon as previous experiments come off.

WHO WILL BE COLLECTING THE DATA FOR TESS?

Data collection for the telephone survey is carried out by
the Indiana University Center for Survey Research. The
Internet survey data is collected through Knowledge Networks,
of Menlo Park, CA. These two organizations were selected to
work with TESS because they are leaders and innovators in the
world of survey research, and they are experienced in the
implementation of experiments within surveys. They also have
the capacity to gather and deliver data to researchers
promptly, so as to facilitate a quick turnaround time for
TESS researchers.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

Use of these instruments will be free to all social scientists
whose proposals are accepted through the review process. This
project is supported by funds from the National Science
Foundation through a grant to Professors Mutz and Lupia.
There are no additional costs borne by users, and no grant
applications to write.

WHERE DO I GO FOR MORE DETAILS?

Our website, <http://www.experimentcentral.org/>
www.ExperimentCentral.org, answers common questions about the
proposal submission and review process. For more information,
contact us at TESS at ExperimentCentral.org.


--

Diana Mutz
Arthur Lupia
Co-Principal Investigators
Time-sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences