AAPA

In an effort to promote and facilitate research about PAs and the PA profession, the AAPA operates a formal data-sharing program. Through this program, investigators are able to obtain data that were collected by the AAPA.  Researchers interested in collecting primary data from PAs are directed to contact AAPA's mailing list vendor:

• MMS (800/633-5478)

To participate in the data sharing program, an investigator or team of investigators is required to submit a brief proposal to the Data Services and Statistics Division of AAPA.  The proposals are to be organized as follows and contain all of the requisite information:

1. Overview - this section should clearly articulate the research question to be addressed.
2. Approach - this section should briefly present the proposed analytic approach;
3. Workplan & Schedule - this section should delineate all major tasks and project the schedule for each in terms of a start and end date.
4. Data Request - this section needs to identify the type of data that are needed, the specific variables wanted for the investigation, the preferred format of the data file, and the data transfer procedure (i.e., emailed attachment or diskette).  Cross-sectional PA Census data and New PA Student Census data for 1996 through 2006 are currently available.  Data can be provided either as SPSS system files or tab-delimited ASCII files.
5. Personnel - this section should identify all of the people, including advisors, who are expected to play a significant role in the project, and specify a single researcher who will serve as the principal investigator. The principal investigator will be accountable for ensuring compliance with all conditions of use, will serve as the primary contact for the AAPA, and will be responsible for all charges incurred.
6. Funding - this section must disclose the source and amount of funding that has been received or is being sought to conduct the study.  No funds will be supplied by AAPA under this program.

Approval will be decided primarily on the feasibility of using AAPA data to study the proposed topic.  The potential contribution of the study to the knowledge base about PAs, the PA profession, and/or health care services will also be considered.  However, except in cases where frivolous investigations are proposed, the relative importance of the study will not be used as a selection criterion but rather used to prioritize requests and determine the schedule for the preparation and delivery of the requested data.  Approval will also require explicit acceptance of the following conditions:

1. Data may be used only for analyses related to the study approved by the AAPA; written approval from the Data Services and Statistics Division of AAPA must be obtained before the data can be used to study any other issue.
2. Data may be reported only in aggregate form and only if the aggregation involves five or more cases, even though personal identifiers will have been stripped from the records.
3. Any publication or public presentation that represents the data or results of analyses of the data must be reviewed in advance by the Data Services and Statistics Division of AAPA to ensure appropriate use of the data and compliance with the aforementioned requirements.

Subject to negotiation, the principal investigator of an approved project will be billed at the rate of $100 per hour for the time AAPA staff spend preparing data and will also be expected to reimburse AAPA for the costs of any additional materials and/or services used.