Comparability
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Population and Education, Social StatisticsLene Riberholdt
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The statistics are comparable over time for the core variables relating to PhD students and awarded PhD degrees, as the population and main definitions have been consistent since 1996. Information on main fields of study may in some years be affected by changes in the organisational structure of universities; such changes have been addressed through recoding to preserve the time series. The statistics are comparable with international statistics on PhD programmes but differ from statistics on the educational attainment of the population in countries where individuals with PhD degrees obtained abroad are included.
Comparability - geographical
Comparability with international statistics on PhD students is assessed to be good, as the compilation follows international standards for the delineation and definition of PhD programmes. Differences between countries may, however, occur due to the use of different data sources, as some countries base their statistics on sample surveys, while the Danish statistics are register-based.
In countries with sample-based compilations, persons who have obtained a PhD degree abroad may to a greater extent be included in the statistics. This group is not fully covered in the Danish PhD statistics unless the degree is formally recognised in Denmark.
Comparability over time
There is comparable data series from 1996. The definition of the population, number of PhD students and PhD graduates has been consistent over the years. Comparability on main areas is on a whole good but are influent by the changes in the institutional structure . this is due to the changes in faculty structure made by some of the big universities as well as fusions by some of the institutions. In these period of change recoding has been made so that the original structure is showed by the statistics.
The statistics also contains information on education schemes, research topics, financing, stays abroad and employment. the content of these variables has changed over the years, but have been consistent since 2009.
Coherence - cross domain
Universities Denmark publish yearly data on number of PhD-students , new entrants and number of obtained PhD-degrees. The comparability is very good. The small discrepancies are due to the fact that the data collections takes place at different times, and the data is updated in different degrees.
Coherence - internal
Not relevant for these statistics.