1. An Introduction to Using DAS Online for Institutional Research Dr Daina Paupe Henry College of William & Mary VAMAP October 2007

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3. 3 Purpose Of Workshop To introduce DAS – NCES software tool “Data Analysis System” To access features of both DAS 1.0 and 2.0 To understand the wide range of information available To use DAS to analyze data To warn about quirks

4. VAMAP 2007 4 Goal Of This Workshop At the end of this workshop you will have accessed three different data sets of using DAS Done a rudimentary analysis on each Been able to print a report Been able to download a correlation matrix for use in further analysis with SPSS or SAS

5. VAMAP 2007 5 Data Sets To Be Accessed NCES IPEDS Institution Data (3 exercises) NSOPF data (National Study of Post- Secondary Faculty) (1 exercise) NPSAS data (National Post- Secondary Student Aid Study) (1 exercise)

6. VAMAP 2007 6 Why Use DAS? Going beyond your peer group Institutional RESEARCH

7. VAMAP 2007 7 Where Is It? http://nces.ed.gov/dasol/ Using your pc and your favorite browser, link to internet, and type in this address.

8. VAMAP 2007 8 NCES DAS Online Home Page Two Versions of DAS (2.0 and 1.0) each with different types of data available 2.0 is a beta version (lots of surveys) 1.0 is the “old” version – limited surveys – but it does have IPEDS. Start with 1.0 version – choose “Overview” on right side.

9. VAMAP 2007 9 DAS Web Site Tabs DAS Online Application User Help Center Tables Library Analysis Reports What’s New Homepage

10. VAMAP 2007 10 DAS Online “The Data Analysis System (DAS) is a software application that allows you to produce tables and correlation matrices from NCES data sets. There is a separate DAS for each data set, but all have a consistent interface and command structure.”

11. VAMAP 2007 11 DAS Online Each DAS can be run in two modes- Tables or Correlations. Each is available both in a web based format or a (cumbersome) windows format. We will be doing the on-line web based.

12. VAMAP 2007 12 DAS User Help Center 5 help topics: Tutorials. User Guide 2.0 User Guide 1.0 T-test Tools Technical Assistance

13. VAMAP 2007 13 The Tutorials Tutorials are good. Start with simple ones – using DAS 1.0 Overview of DAS is good Building a simple table Creating a lump tag

14. VAMAP 2007 14 The Users Guide 1.0 In it you will find some very useful information and examples. USERS GUIDE also found under the HELP menu option once you actually get in the online system. A copy of User’s Guide 1.0 is in the second section of your notebook.

15. VAMAP 2007 15 The Users Guide 2.0 Basically the same as 1.0. Has an added feature of Power Users.

16. VAMAP 2007 16 The DAS Lingo TAGS, TPFs and CPFs Rows, Columns Cats, Lumps Cuts Means, Averages Spans, Bys, Filters

17. VAMAP 2007 17 Quick Facts Mean includes 0, -1 Average excludes 0, -1 (gt 0) Columns are better than rows… Order of choices makes a difference

18. VAMAP 2007 18 Basic Process Specify a COLUMN variable Specify a ROW variable Select a weight variable if necessary Run the TPF

19. VAMAP 2007 19 The Window Pop Ups (follow the bouncing ball) Main Window Variable Information Window Tag Options Window Tag Specific Options Window TPF/CPF Window Verification Window Output Window

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21. VAMAP 2007 21 The First Step Need to get back to DAS Online Application. Choose “DAS Online Application” on Menu at top. Choose “To Create Tables” under “Access Application” (on the right) under version 1.0.

22. VAMAP 2007 22 DAS Online 1.0 Data Sets Early Childhood – (ECLS – Birth) Secondary (1972 seniors, 1980 Seniors) Post Secondary (IPEDS 2004, 2003, 2002) Early Childhood and Household Data (NHES 1995)

23. VAMAP 2007 23 Short Cuts On the top right is a short cut to the same groupings of data.

24. VAMAP 2007 24 Choosing A Data Set Choose “Post-Secondary Institution Data in 2004”. Use either the shortcut or scroll down.

25. VAMAP 2007 25 NCES Usage Agreement A pop up window appears. NCES Data Usage Agreement (you must agree or you go nowhere). Each DAS has a separate agreement. “I agree to the terms above…”

26. VAMAP 2007 26 IPEDS Post-Secondary Institution 2004 Main Page Tabs on top are standard options for every NCES data set. TPF (table parameter file) Show Save New Import Run Help (find users guide here) About

27. VAMAP 2007 27 IPEDS Post-Secondary Institution 2004 Information Major categories of variables have a circle in front. Subcategories of variables have a plus sign in front. Clicking on the circle or plus sign expands or contracts the list. “Frequently used variables” are at the beginning for a reason.

28. VAMAP 2007 28 IPEDS Post-Secondary Institution 2004 Information Major categories: (each has subcategories) Frequently Used/Derived Variables Institutional Characteristics Admissions Student Charges Enrollment (Fall 2004 and Year 2003-04) Completions Graduation Rates Student Financial Aid Finance Faculty Salaries Employees by Assigned Position

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30. VAMAP 2007 30 Post Secondary Institution Data 2004 Exercise 1. ?? Of the institutions in IPEDS-land, how many are accredited by a regional accrediting agency and what is their type of control (public, private etc.)?? Caution – think beyond your peer group.

31. VAMAP 2007 31 Choosing Our Variables Choose under the major category “Institutional Characteristics” the sub category “Accreditation”. Choose “Regional Accrediting Agency”.

32. VAMAP 2007 32 Variable Pop Up Window Variable information pop up provides a general description of the variable. It is the best way to look at definition and parameters. Are you getting what you think you are getting? There is no one concise spot that describes all the variables that IPEDS holds. The Codebooks tab under 2.0 does provide info for certain surveys, but not for these surveys.

33. VAMAP 2007 33 Hint How do you know which variable to choose under a major or sub category? Trial and error, common sense, reading the pop-ups and saved TPFs.

34. VAMAP 2007 34 Choosing What To Do With Your Variable Two tabs on top – “Variable Information” (default) and “Select a TAG”. What are TAGs? TAGs are shortcuts to what you want done with the variable – will it be a row or column; will it be used to lump or cut, etc. Understanding TAGs are crucial to DAS.

35. VAMAP 2007 35 Choosing Column Variable Choose “Select a Tag”. Choose “Column Cat” for the variable “Regional Accrediting Agency”.

36. VAMAP 2007 36 Variable Label Window This window allows you to change the labels or keep them as they appear. We will keep the default. Click on SAVE.

37. VAMAP 2007 37 Confirmation Window Wait for original page of variables to appear with your choice. The displayed variable list has added your Col-Cat tag next to “Regional Accrediting Agency”.

38. VAMAP 2007 38 Choosing Row Variable In this exercise, we are going to use control of institution. Choose “Control” (fourth option) under “Institutional Characteristics”. Choose “Institutional Control or Affiliation” the first option under “Control”.

39. VAMAP 2007 39 Selecting Row TAG Variable information pops up and provides a general description of the variable. Scroll to the bottom. Note the distribution. Choose “Select a TAG”. Choose “Row Cat”. Note that you do not have as many options as you did the first time.

40. VAMAP 2007 40 Variable Label and Confirmation Windows A label window appears again. We will keep the default. Choose “SAVE”. Original variable list will be revised. Scroll up to see revised list. Scroll to top to see TPF menu.

41. VAMAP 2007 41 Processing the TPF Show – shows TPF of variables just used Save – saves this TPF to your pc New – resets everything Import – pulls in a TPF from your pc RUN – produces a listing from this TPF Help – provides short cut to USER GUIDE

42. VAMAP 2007 42 Run the TPF… Choose Run.

43. VAMAP 2007 43 TPF Title Window Pop up window for title. Hint: Make it descriptive – use data source and variables in title. Be as specific as possible. “IPEDS 2004 – Institutional Control by Accrediting Agency (your initials)” for example. Choose “Run”.

44. VAMAP 2007 44 Run Confirmation Window Confirm the RUN request. You may receive a “Processing” page. Production of results depends on the type of analysis and what else is happening at NCES. Pop up window for results.

45. VAMAP 2007 45 Output Window Options View printer friendly version Download comma separated format Download printer friendly web page Or RETURN.

46. VAMAP 2007 46 Output to local printer For this exercise – choose “view printer friendly version”. Print.

47. VAMAP 2007 47 Continuing the exercise After printing choose “Return to Specifications”.

48. VAMAP 2007 48 Main Menu Options “Show TPF” – shows you the variables you have chosen – good to print this off, because it gives exact variable names – which can be important when re-running the table. Right click for print option of that window. Hint: attach the printed TPF to your printed output. That way you will know how you got this. At this point you can Save the TPF to your pc, Edit the TPF, or do a New one.

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50. VAMAP 2007 50 Reversing The Axis We are going to choose the exact same variables BUT reverse row and column variables. Exercise 1a – do the exact same process, but reverse the axis. Remember to use the NEW tab to reset variables. Run the TPF, review the results. Print output and TPF.

51. VAMAP 2007 51 Reversing The Axis Exercise 1a – do the exact same process, but reverse the axis. Institutional Control or affiliation as column cat, then Regional accrediting agency as row cat.

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53. VAMAP 2007 53 Average Does Not Equal Mean. Exercise 2. ??What are the average room charges for public institutions?? Definition of average tag – (p23 of users guide) creates a column of average estimates. Start with a NEW TPF.

54. VAMAP 2007 54 Average – choosing columns Choose “Academic Year” under “Student Charges”. Choose “Room and Board Charges”, second option. Choose “typical room charge for academic year” as an AVERAGE. Label window, then save.

55. VAMAP 2007 55 Average – choosing rows Choose “Control” under “Institutional Characteristics”. Choose “Control of Institution”, last option, as the row cat. Label window. Confirm and “Save”.

56. VAMAP 2007 56 Average Scroll to top. Show TPF (print TPF). Choose Run. Title window. Titles typically should have (at the very least) the row and column variables specified, and the source data. Print output.

57. VAMAP 2007 57 Mean Using Same Data Rather than starting from scratch we are going to “EDIT” the TPF to do the mean rather than the average. Return to specifications. Exercise 2a. ??What are the mean room charges for public institutions??

58. VAMAP 2007 58 Editing a TPF to get Mean Keep same Row Cat, change from average to mean for the room charge. Choose SHOW TPF. Delete Average Room Charge. Now only the row cat should be displayed. Close the TPF

59. VAMAP 2007 59 Mean Under Student charges choose Typical Room Charge for academic year. Choose Mean as the TAG. Run. Note that Title Window has the title from previous TPF (this happens whenever you do not do a NEW TPF). Need to modify title to specify MEAN.

60. VAMAP 2007 60 Average vs Mean Note the differences. This difference can mean a lot when you are doing analysis of student financial aid. Be careful when choosing your analysis, if 0 is not the same as missing.

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62. VAMAP 2007 62 Cuts Cuts are user defined intervals for the continuous variables. Exercise 3. ?? What is distribution of institutional control for small, medium and large institutions?? We are going to define small, medium and large.

63. VAMAP 2007 63 Cutting the data – column variable Still using IPEDS Postsecondary Institution 2004 data. Create NEW TPF. Choose “Control” under “Institutional Characteristics”. Choose “Control of institution” as column cat.

64. VAMAP 2007 64 Cutting the data – row variable Choose sub category “12 month unduplicated headcount” under major category “Enrollment Academic Year 2003- 2004”. Choose “Grand total”. Choose row cut.

65. VAMAP 2007 65 Specifying the cuts Use the cut points of 999.5 and 9999.5 for determining small, medium and large. Cut points require a decimal. Note the default value is -0.5. Click on the box to its right – a default label will be created.

66. VAMAP 2007 66 Specifying the cuts Accept the default -.5 for the first value. Create a default label for this row by just clicking in the box to the right. Under the -.5 column enter 999.5 cut point. Click on second column to get a default label. Under the 999.5 enter the 9999.5 cut point. Click on second column to get a default label.

67. VAMAP 2007 67 Specifying the cuts Change the labels to small, medium and large. For this variable note that there are further choices about what to cut. Be careful that you always read to the bottom of a popup window!!!

68. VAMAP 2007 68 Cutting the data For this exercise choose “All Students total” for level of analysis at the bottom of the cut window. SAVE. Run. Title. Note that the results are in percents and not in number.

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70. VAMAP 2007 70 DAS 2.0 Back to DAS On line home page by clicking on BACK TO DAS SITE on the blue DAS menu bar on top right. Left side of page. Major categories of surveys are: B&B, BPS,NELS, NHES, NPSAS, NSOPF and SASS. DAS categorizes these as elementary/ secondary; post-secondary; and household surveys.

71. VAMAP 2007 71 DAS 2.0 and NSOPF 2004 Choose To Create Tables from left side. Choose NSOPF 2004 from shortcuts. Agree to disclosure statement, different data set, new agreement. Note different variables, but same tabs on top. Note the search feature for variables.

72. VAMAP 2007 72 NSOPF 2004 Salary info Exercise 4. ??What is the average salary of men versus women faculty in 2 year vs 4 year institutions?? In this exercise note that the order you choose variables effects the options you are given!!!

73. VAMAP 2007 73 NSOPF 2004 row cat, average and by-cat Choose “Amount of income from basic salary from institution” under “Frequently used variables” as an average. Choose “Gender” under “Frequently used variables” as a row cat. Choose “2000 Carnegie, 2 yr vs 4 yr” under “Frequently used variables” as a by-cat.

74. VAMAP 2007 74 NSOPF 2004 processing TPF Label, confirm, run. Title. View output. Try this exercise again, choosing the variables in a different order. See what options appear. What effect do you think ‘Full-time vs Part-time’ would have on the results?

75. VAMAP 2007 75 NSOPF 2004 output as html Two ways to save the listing electronically. Choose “Download printer friendly Web page”. Pop up window appears with an option to open or save the results. Choose save. Browser will ask where you want to save it. Suggestion: rename it something you will understand. The default name is DASTABLE.html. Not very helpful. Put all output in one spot to help you find the latest try. Save as an “html” file.

76. VAMAP 2007 76 NSOPF 2004 output as csv The other option is to “Download comma delimited file”. Pop up window asks to open or save. Save. Browser will ask where you want to save it. Suggestion: rename it and put it in a folder so that you can easily find it. Default name is DASTABLE.csv. Extension will be “.csv”, which can be opened through Microsoft Excel.

77. VAMAP 2007 77 NSOPF 2004 on your own Choose an analysis of your own as Exercise 4a. Run the analysis and download the listing and the TPF, if you so desire.

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79. VAMAP 2007 79 NPSAS and Correlation Matrices Go Back to DAS On Line by clicking on menu bar. Choose “To Estimate covariance analysis” (on 1.0 side it is called “to create correlations”). Choose “NPSAS 2004 Undergraduates” from shortcuts. Accept disclosure statement again.

80. VAMAP 2007 80 NPSAS 2004 and correlation matrices Note that the tabs are once again the same and there is a search feature. The variables are different. But the grey bar starts with CPF and not TPF.

81. VAMAP 2007 81 NPSAS 2004 and correlation matrices Choose under the “Borrowed” major category and the “Cumulative” sub category, the variable “Cumulative borrowed for undergraduate education” as a continuous variable. Choose under the same two categories, the variable “cumulative PLUS loans” as a continuous variable. Choose under “Education” major category and the “Program” sub category,the variable “Field of Study: undergraduate (12 cat)” as EACH.

82. VAMAP 2007 82 NPSAS 2004 Choose Run. Make sure you choose the type of file you want – SAS or SPSS before you run. (I use SAS.) Create a title. Confirm.

83. VAMAP 2007 83 NPSAS 2004 WAIT. When completed, there will be a pop up window asking for you to download.

84. VAMAP 2007 84 NPSAS 2004 Browser will ask where you want to save it. Suggestion: rename it and put it in a folder so that you can easily find it. Extension will be “.txt.” This is basically a SAS program with the card information for running a regression.

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86. VAMAP 2007 86 Summary Introduced DAS 1.0 and 2.0 Accessed a number of features of DAS Began to get an understanding of the wide range of information available Used DAS to analyze data

87. VAMAP 2007 87 Goal of this workshop At the end of this workshop we have accessed three different sets of DAS information, Done a rudimentary analysis on each, Been able to print a report, Been able to download correlation matrices for further analysis.

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89. VAMAP 2007 89 An Introduction to Using DAS Online for Institutional Research Any questions? dphenr@wm.edu 757-221-2571