Technical Reports
Up one levelWe are releasing a series of technical reports on survey methods and particular topics of interest. Coming soon: information on non-US citizen postdocs, postdoc salaries, and more.
- Postdoc Definitions (Tech Report 1)
- In reviewing our survey materials, a number of people raised the concern that "there is no standard definition of a postdoc". Our findings: (1) a close look at existing definitions shows that they are all basically equivalent, and (2) fewer than 1 in 4 postdocs surveyed satisfy all of the criteria, so the existing postdoc definition is of more theoretical than practical significance. We propose a useful alternative class of individuals for data gathering purposes.
- Survey Methods (Tech Report 2)
- An overview of the methods used in the Sigma Xi postdoc survey. Of particular interest are the procedures used to test for non-response bias.


