Statistics Canada strikes working group to improve key indicator for higher ed R&D

Statistics Canada has struck a working group to examine the accuracy and inclusiveness of its higher education R&D (HERD) survey, the benchmark indicator for R&D in post-secondary institutions. Revisions stemming from the working group would mark the first time in 10 years that the HERD indicator was the focus of a review and revisions.

Since the last review in 2000, the federal government and other governments and organizations have introduced new programs to boost post-secondary research spending, including Indirect Costs Program, the recent Knowledge Infrastructure Program and the College and Community Innovation Program of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. Colleges and polytechnics (degree granting colleges and technology institutes) have also been pushing for their role in higher education R&D to be recognized and included in future HERD surveys.

The use of HERD in making international comparisons of support for post-secondary R&D was also discussed at the technical workshop, as was StatsCan's use of administrative data generated by the Canadian Association of University Business Officers (CAUBO).

"The significant changes in the last decade to the means of support and performance of R&D in the higher education sector pose a threat to the quality of the estimates used in the public discourse."

— StatsCan HERD workshop report

The 18-member working group was struck following a workshop held October 16/09 and chaired by Dr Fred Gault, representing the UNU-MERIT, a joint research and training centre of United Nations University (UNU) and Maastricht University, The Netherlands. (Gault is the former director of StatsCan's Science, Innovation and Electronic Information Division — now the Business Special Surveys and Technology Statistics division).

The working group will review recommendations stemming from the workshop with a particular view to simplifying the estimation procedure for HERD and examine that procedure in light of the changes that have impacted the indicator.

The final report of the working group will include cost estimates and options for revising the method of estimation. It should also include work plans of different time durations for the recommendations, if they are to be implemented.

"Statistics Canada hasn't revised the methodology of HERD in 10 years and it needs to freshen it up because of the new funding mechanisms," says Ken Doyle, policy director of Polytechnics Canada and one of three college representatives to participate in the workshop. "We want to ensure that everything is being captured."

The inclusion of colleges and polytechnics, while not the biggest change to occur over the past decade, will make HERD far more complete in terms of capturing the breadth of higher education R&D. Previous attempts by StatsCan to estimate R&D output failed due to shortcomings on both sides.

"Statistics Canada tried to collect data from the polytechnics and colleges in the past but they didn't have the proper forms. Also, the colleges weren't collecting the necessary data," says Doyle. "I'm very confident that it will be able to capture our research once changes are made and we've undertaken to generate our own statistics. I'm looking forward to the revisions."

One of the enduring challenges in accurately estimating HERD is the development of a framework that allows the teaching and R&D components of university budgets to be broken down. StatsCan acknowledges that existing surveys are not adequate, with one workshop presentation suggesting that StatsCan work with CAUBO and a sample of Canadian universities to develop an appropriate accounting framework.

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