PQDT As A Dataset

PQDT As A Dataset
ETD 2013 - 16th International Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations Hong Kong 2013
Scope of Dissertation Distribution Program
 Most top-ranked research universities – as defined by the
Carnegie Foundation – publish with ProQuest
 Includes works by authors from more than 1,700 graduate
schools and universities the world over
 The number of new dissertations and theses published annually
is nearly 90,000
 Universities such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton have
participated for more than 50 years
 Not just PhDs – Thousands of Master’s Degrees are published
each year
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ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Collection
 For 70 years, millions of researchers have looked at
PQDT to find the latest graduate research
 ProQuest provides dissertation citations to all major
field or subject specific indexes, for example
ChemAbstracts, PsycINFO, ERIC, ABI/INFORM, etc.
 Global access – ProQuest publishes the world’s most
widely used PhD and master’s theses research tools
 Maximizes discoverability – More than 200,000,000
searches in PQDT in 2012 alone!
 ProQuest is a non-exclusive publisher
 Author keeps their copyright
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Indiana University
Cassidy R. Sugimoto, PI Indiana University, Bloomington
Ying Ding, Co-PI Indiana University, Bloomington
Staša Milojević, Co-PI Indiana University, Bloomington
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “We are examining the contribution of doctoral students to social
science research and the impact of that research.”

“We will also examine an advisor's knowledge base, knowledge
diffusion practices, and whether they are involved in expanding
knowledge frontiers and how these are related to the career trajectories
and future success of their doctoral students.”

“The ultimate goal is to produce a viable framework and set of analyses
that would enable predicting advisee success based on advisor
qualities and student’s publication practices in the course of their
doctoral studies. “
Johns Hopkins University
United States Federal Trade Commission
Matthew Chesnes – Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Economics; Johns
Hopkins University
Douglas A. Herman – Nathan Associates
Project Goal: Characterize long-run trends in the supply of graduate degree
recipients
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Data can be used to analyze the observable characteristics of graduate degree
earners over time.

Explore the number of degrees granted each year by degree type, school, and
academic subject.

A similar detailed study will be performed for each discipline.
Johns Hopkins University
United States Federal Trade Commission
Matthew Chesnes – Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Economics; Johns
Hopkins University
Douglas A. Herman – Nathan Associates
Project Goal: Characterize long-run trends in the supply of graduate degree
recipients
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Explore variation in outcomes of graduate degree earners by observable
characteristics.

More sophisticated econometric methods will be employed to analyze these
data.
Pennsylvania State University
“Converting Dissertation to Patent Applications: A Study in Four
Disciplines”
Nancy Butkovich, Associate Librarian, Head Physical and Mathematical
Sciences Library
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Documenting the frequency which dissertations in chemical
engineering, chemistry, physics, and mathematics are converted into
U.S. patent applications

Investigating the relationship between dissertation approval data and
patent application filing dates.

Study was conducted because dissertations are usually considered
prior art in the patent examination process and she did not find any
previous studies that addressed conversion frequency from
dissertations to patents.
Brandeis University
Lincoln Mullen, PhD candidate in the History Department
-----------
Analyzing changes in history dissertations over time

Comparing dissertations in history to dissertations in other fields


How long are the average dissertations?
What years are dissertations written about?

Studies to date have been done at a single university. Want to broaden
it to multiple universities

Publish results in a journal read by history faculty
University of California - Berkeley
Jon Stiles, Executive Director, California Census Research Data Center
Director of Archive Services, UC Data Archive & Technical Assistance
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Researcher working with several staff in the UC Berkeley Library on a
project which looks at the resources cited in UC Berkeley doctoral
students’ dissertations.

Investigating the extent to which the citations are part of UC Berkeley’s
holdings.

Relying on the references identified in a search of doctoral dissertation
in ProQuest Dissertations and Theses
Thank you.