Title: Census RDC Research Proposal Guidelines
Author: G1fxL00
Last saved by: jdavis
Company: University of Minnesota

Instructions for Preliminary Proposal
These instructions provide some context for entering the information about your project in the Preliminary Proposal form. Note that it is not necessary to have all information exact to fill out this form, as the information can be updated any time up until the proposal is submitted for Census review. It is expected that you will update the information as you go along as part of the proposal development activity. The final version of this form will be submitted along with your proposal.

Title: The title of your proposal. 

Principal Investigator: Researcher that will submit the proposal for Census review, and will be the central focal point of communication with Census on proposal and project affairs. 

Date: Today’s date

Please perform each checklist item and type your initials to indicate agreement. 

Duration (months): Number of months of access to the data in the RDC starting from the first day of logon (after project approval) to RDC project completion. 

Funding Source: List sources of funding for the RDC lab fees, as well as funding for the research project overall. 

Description: The description is intended to give Census staff a short idea of what your research project is about and the potential Census benefits. 

JEL Code(s): Enter appropriate JEL subject codes from the JEL code list at:  http://www.aeaweb.org/jel/jel_class_system.php

Census Datasets: A list of the internal census datasets requested in the proposal. Please list the acronyms for the datasets from the links in Appendix A. The acronyms are in parenthesis after the dataset names in the tables. 

Years of Data: The time span of the data you will use for your research project. 

Primary RDC Location: The main RDC location from which the project will be administered. 

Secondary RDC Locations: Any additional RDC locations researchers from the project will use regularly. 

Benefits: The relevant benefit criteria the project will address. Please list the benefit numbers as taken from the benefit criteria listed in section I.C.2 above on page 6-7.

Research Team

List the full name, institutional affiliation, email address and phone number of all researchers affiliated with the project. 

Name | Affiliation | Email/Phone | Type | SSS | US

Type: PI = Principal Investigator, CI = Co-investigator, RA = Research Assistant. 

SSS: Y/N. Indicate if the researcher is expecting to undergo the Special Sworn Status background check to enter and use the RDC. 

US: Y/N. Indicate if the researcher is a U.S. citizen. 

Example Preliminary Proposal

Title: R&D Investment and Plant Productivity

Principal Investigator: Jane Smith

Date: 03/20/2012

Prerequisites Checklist
1. I have read these research proposal guidelines.
2. I have corresponded with an RDC administrator about my prospective project.
3. I understand that the predominant purpose of this project must benefit the Census Bureau data programs.
4. I understand that there are usually lab fees for using an RDC.
5. I understand that work is performed in a restricted access environment and only cleared results are allowed to leave the RDC.
6. I understand that the approval process may take a considerable amount of time, for example, if review by other agencies or data owners is required or if data availability issues exist. 

I have performed each checklist item above:  Please initial __JBS_______

Duration (months): 36 months

Funding Source: National Science Foundation

Description: The project will investigate the effect of investment in research and innovation on the evolution of plant productivity over time. Benefits to Census include linking external patent data to explore the extent to which R&D activity is captured in the BRDIS and SIRD surveys. 

JEL Code(s): O30, D24

Census Datasets: BRDIS, SIRD, ASM, CMF, LBD, SSEL

Years of Data: 1992-2009, and if available 2010-2012

Primary RDC Location: Boston

Secondary RDC Locations: N/A

Benefits: 5, 11

Research Team
Name | Affiliation | Email/Phone | Type | SSS | US

Jane B. Smith

Somerville University

smithj@somerville.edu
617-555-1234

PI

Y

Y

John F. Parker

Somerville University

parkerj@somerville.edu
857-555-1234

RA

Y

N