Proposal Registration Form
Title:

Principal Investigator:

Date:

Prerequisites Checklist
1.	I have read these research proposal guidelines.
2.	I have corresponded with an FSRDC administrator about my prospective project.
3.	I understand that the predominant purpose of this project must benefit the Census Bureau data programs.
4.	I understand that there are usually lab fees for using an FSRDC.
5.	I understand that work is performed in a restricted access environment and only cleared results are allowed to leave the FSRDC.
6.	I understand that the approval process may take a considerable amount of time, for example, if review by other agencies or data owners is required or if data availability issues exist.

I have performed each checklist item above: Please initial  	

Duration:

Funding Source: Description:
Census Datasets:

Years of Data:

Primary FSRDC Location: Secondary FSRDC Locations: Benefits:

Research Team
Name	Affiliation	Email	Type	Involve- ment	Citizenship
/ Years in U.S.	FSRDC	

							

Instructions for Proposal Registration Form
These instructions provide some context for entering the information about your project in the Proposal Registration form. Note that it is not necessary to have all information exact to fill out this form, as the information can be updated any time up until the proposal is submitted for Census review. It is expected that you will update the information as you go along as part of the proposal development activity. The final version of this form will be submitted along with your proposal.

Title: The title of your proposal.

Principal Investigator: Researcher that will submit the proposal for Census review, and will be the central focal point of communication with Census on proposal and project affairs.

Date: Today’s date

Please perform each checklist item and type your initials to indicate agreement.

Duration (months): Number of months of access to the data in the FSRDC starting from the first day of logon (after project approval) to FSRDC project completion.

Funding Source: List sources of funding for the FSRDC lab fees, as well as funding for the research project overall.

Description: The description is intended to give Census staff a short idea of what your research project is about, as well as the potential Census benefits.

Census Datasets: A list of the internal census datasets requested in the proposal. Please list the acronyms for the datasets from the links in Appendix A. The acronyms are in parenthesis after the dataset names in the tables.

Years of Data: The time span of the data you will use for your research project.

Primary FSRDC Location: The main FSRDC location from which the project will be administered.

Secondary FSRDC Locations: Any additional FSRDC locations researchers from the project will use regularly.

Benefits: The relevant benefit criteria the project will address. Please list the benefit numbers as taken from the benefit criteria listed in Attachment 3. Please note that only benefit numbers #5 to #13 are valid for projects requesting economic (Title 26) data.

Research Team

List the full name, institutional affiliation, email address, and other requested information for all researchers affiliated with the project.

Name	Affiliation	Email	Type	Involve- ment	Citizenship/ Years in U.S.	FSRDC	

Type: PI = Principal Investigator, CI = Co-investigator, RA = Research Assistant.

Involvement: Indicate the expected involvement of each researcher (the level of involvement determines whether the researcher will need to undergo the Special Sworn Status (SSS) background check and whether the researcher needs a computer account on the project):
A = Directly accessing data in the lab (SSS and Computer Account),
B = Viewing undisclosed output in the lab (SSS, no Computer Account),
C = Advising on or coauthoring papers based only on disclosed output outside the lab (no SSS, no Computer Account)

Citizenship: Indicate country of citizenship. If not a U.S. citizen, indicate number of years of residence in the U.S.

FSRDC: Indicate the FSRDC the researcher is planning to use.

Example Proposal Registration Form

Title: R&D Investment and Plant Productivity Principal Investigator: Researcher #1
Date: 03/13/2017

Prerequisites Checklist
1.	I have read these research proposal guidelines.
2.	I have corresponded with an FSRDC administrator about my prospective project.
3.	I understand that the predominant purpose of this project must benefit the Census Bureau data programs.
4.	I understand that there are usually lab fees for using an FSRDC.
5.	I understand that work is performed in a restricted access environment and only cleared results are allowed to leave the FSRDC.
6.	I understand that the approval process may take a considerable amount of time, for example, if review by other agencies or data owners is required or if data availability issues exist.

I have performed each checklist item above: Please initial    RES 	

Duration (months): 36 months

Funding Source: National Science Foundation

Description: The project will investigate the effect of investment in research and innovation on the evolution of plant productivity over time. Benefits to Census include linking external patent data to explore the extent to which R&D activity is captured in the BRDIS and SIRD surveys.

Census Datasets: BRDIS, SIRD, ASM, CMF

Years of Data: 1992-2016, and if available 2017-2019 Primary FSRDC Location: Boston
Secondary FSRDC Locations: Chicago Benefits: 5, 11

Research Team
Name	Affiliation	Email	Type	Involve- ment	Citizenship/ Years in U.S.	FSRDC	
Researcher #1	University #1	researcher1@university.edu	PI	A	USA	Boston	
Researcher #2	University #2	researcher2@university.edu	CI	A	Brazil / 7 years	Chicago	

Attachment 3 - Benefits to Census Bureau Programs
Proposals must provide benefits to data programs the Census Bureau conducts under Title 13
U.S. Code. The Census Bureau developed the 13 criteria below for assessing this potential. Researchers must consult with an FSRDC administrator to determine whether the data they propose to use contains Federal Tax Information (FTI). All business data and some kinds of household data contain FTI. Projects using FTI must demonstrate that the project’s predominant purpose is to benefit Census Bureau programs by meeting at least one of criteria 5 through 13 below, which are the same criteria as listed in the Criteria Document of September 15, 2000. Projects using data that have no FTI must show that the project will provide benefits under one or more of criteria 1 through 13.
1.	Evaluating concepts and practices underlying Census Bureau statistical data collection and dissemination practices, including consideration of continued relevance and appropriateness of past Census Bureau procedures to changing economic and social circumstances;
2.	Analyzing demographic and social or economic processes that affect Census Bureau programs, especially those that evaluate or hold promise of improving the quality of products issued by the Census Bureau;
3.	Developing means of increasing the utility of Census Bureau data for analyzing public programs, public policy, and/or demographic, economic, or social conditions; and
4.	Conducting or facilitating census and survey data collection, processing or dissemination, including through activities such as administrative support, information technology support, program oversight, or auditing under appropriate legal authority.
5.	Understanding and/or improving the quality of data produced through a Title 13, Chapter 5 survey, census, or estimate;
6.	Leading to new or improved methodology to collect, measure, or tabulate a Title 13, Chapter 5 survey, census, or estimate;
7.	Enhancing the data collected in a Title 13, Chapter 5 survey or census. For example: improving imputations for non-response; developing links across time or entities for data gathered in censuses and surveys authorized by Title 13, Chapter 5;
8.	Identifying the limitations of, or improving, the Business Register, Master Address File, and industrial and geographical classification schemes used to collect the data;
9.	Identifying shortcomings of current data, collection programs and/or documenting new data collection needs;
10.	Constructing, verifying, or improving the sampling frame for a census or survey authorized under Title 13, Chapter;
11.	Preparing estimates of population and characteristics of population as authorized under Title 13, Chapter 5;
12.	Developing a methodology for estimating non-response to a census or survey authorized under Title 13, Chapter 5;
13.	Developing statistical weights for a survey authorized under Title 13, Chapter 5.

Appendix A: FSRDC Data

Census Datasets

Center for Economic Studies (CES) Data Products: https://census.gov/programs-surveys/ces/data.html

Economic Data: https://census.gov/programs-surveys/ces/data/restricted-use-data/economic-data.html

Demographic Data: https://census.gov/programs-surveys/ces/data/restricted-use-data/demographic-data.html

Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) Data: https://census.gov/programs-surveys/ces/data/restricted-use-data/lehd-data.html

UMETRICS Data: https://census.gov/programs-surveys/ces/data/restricted-use-data/umetrics-data.html