What is the Analytics for Equity Initiative?
The Analytics for Equity Initiative builds on the Evidence-Based Policymaking Act and E.O.13985 by piloting a new way to support social, economic, and behavioral sciences research that leverages federal data assets (ensuring privacy is protected and data are secure) and scientific advances in researching equity-related topics for greater public benefit.
Led by the National Science Foundation and in partnership with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and other federal agencies, the Initiative links interested researchers directly with federal agencies seeking to answer research questions captured in their Learning Agendas in five equity-related research themes.
The goal of this effort is to fund researchers to produce rigorous empirical evidence and research in equity-related topics aligned to agency Learning Agendas, that federal agencies and other organizations can use to increase the impact of equity-focused evidence-based strategies.
To learn more, please review the summary provided below:
Who are the Participating Federal Agencies?
Federal partners participating in the Initiative (phase 1) include:
- National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Additional federal partners include:
- Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)
- Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
What are the Phase 1 Projects?
Theme 1: Equity of Access to STEM Research and Education Opportunities
Theme 2: Environmental Stressors and Equity
Theme 3: Equity in Human Services Delivery and Outcomes
Theme 4: Health Equity in the Wake of Climate Change
Theme 5: Equity Considerations for Workplace Safety and Workers
Where to Learn about Other Resources?
Potential participants are encouraged to learn about available data or additional information from each participating federal agency. Data.gov provides a searchable inventory of open-data resources, and ResearchDataGov provides an inventory of restricted-use data resources available through the federal government and instructions for how researchers can apply for access to these data. Other resources include:
- NSF’s statistical agency, the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), publishes the Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering report every two years. The NCSES data that inform this report are available in various formats (data tools, tables, microdata) and access levels (public use and restricted use).
- NSF by the Numbers: A dashboard of award, proposal and budget data.
- Merit Review Reports: Summary statistical data about the merit review process, including data on proposals (including awards and declines), funding rates for competitive and research proposals, and diversity of participation. The report shows data over the last 10 years for NSF as a whole and by Directorate.
- Award Search: A database of information about research projects that NSF has funded since 1989. Users have access to filters to provide targeted results, such as abstracts that describe the research, names of principal investigators and their institutions, and includes both completed and in-process research. Users can also download the full data set, by year, going back to 1968.
- NSF Public Access Repository: Searchable repository of peer-reviewed, published journal articles and juried conference papers associated with NSF-funded awards.
- Budget Internet Information System: Summary statistical data of the number of awards and the amount of funding by state and type of institution receiving an NSF award. Users can also access a complete history of NSF Budget Requests and Appropriations, from 1951 through the present.
- Child and Caregiver Outcomes Using Linked Data: This joint ACF-ASPE project expects to make available to researchers restricted-use research data files on Medicaid claims for children and families involved in child welfare systems in Florida and Kentucky. Data are anticipated to be available sometime during FY 2023. The dataset is now publicly-available, accessible through the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN), at this link: https://www.ndacan.acf.hhs.gov/datasets/dataset-details.cfm?ID=272.
- Superutilization of Child Welfare, Medicaid, and Other Services: This study used linked data in Tennessee and Florida to identify families using a relatively large amount of services from Medicaid and Child Welfare (report available here).
- Annual Survey of Refugees: This is the only nationally-representative survey of newly-arrived refugees (in the most recent 5 years). The data are publicly-available through ICPSR and can be used to provide insight into a number of integration measures of refugees. The survey items are mapped to those used on common nationally-representative household surveys, such as the Current Population Survey.
- Office of Refugee Resettlement Annual Reports to Congress: These annual reports to Congress provide a snapshot of refugee arrivals and service utilization.
- Health Insurance Coverage and Access to Care for Immigrants: Key Challenges and Policy Options.
- CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index: The Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) is a tool that uses U.S. Census data to determine the social vulnerability of census tracts. The SVI ranks each tract on 15 social factors, including poverty, lack of vehicle access, and crowded housing, and groups them into related themes.
- Office of Minority Health Social Vulnerability Index: The Minority Health Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) is an extension of the CDC SVI that combines the 15 social factors included in the original CDC SVI with additional factors known to be associated with COVID-19 outcomes.
- CDC Environmental Justice Dashboard: The Environmental Justice dashboard brings together data and information that can be used to identify communities vulnerable to environmental exposures.
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: This guide outlines the findings of the Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) Midwest/Southeast Collaborative on the evidence of effectiveness of various interventions for reducing the negative health impacts of climate change.
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- The Chief Evaluation Office (CEO): works with agencies across the Department of Labor (DOL) to conduct research on a variety of labor-related topic areas. Find studies based on program type, population, or priority area.
- Career Pathways: The career pathways approach to workforce development emerged to help less educated workers advance to better paying jobs by earning in-demand postsecondary credentials. The approach involves articulated steps of education, training, and employment within an industry sector, combined with other services, to support participant success.
- Public Use Datasets: Data files and documentation produced for DOL funded evaluations are available for researchers to use for their own analysis. Explore available files below and visit the Resources page for information about designing, conducting, and reporting research. Questions? Contact the Chief Evaluation Office.
- Restricted Use Datasets: CEO is currently developing a restricted use access program and have many other datasets we can make available to researchers. Researchers can inquire by emailing us at: ChiefEvaluationOffice@dol.gov
- EPA’s Open Data: Explore the public data repositories and catalogs to view or download datasets curated by the EPA.
- EPA’s Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool “EJ Screen”: EPA’s EJScreen is a tool based on nationally consistent data and an approach that combines environmental and demographic indicators into maps and reports.
- Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool: The CEQ-created geospatial Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool utilizes interactive mapping capabilities to identify communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution. Many federal agencies will use the tool in implementation of the Justice40 Initiative goal of directing 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments to disadvantaged communities.