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The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) began its New Connections Program in 2005, motivated by the belief that high-quality research and evaluation that addresses the nation's health demands diverse perspectives. As of December 2011, New Connections has supported the career development of 100 grantees: junior researchers and mid-career professionals from historically disadvantaged and underrepresented communities. In addition, the program has provided overall support to a larger network of over 1,200 scholars from these same communities. This study comprises data from three surveys that were conducted as part of the evaluation of New Connections: the Grantee Process Survey, Grantee Network Survey, and Larger Network Survey.

The Grantee Process Survey interviewed New Connections grantees about their accomplishments and participation in professional activities, confidence in various abilities before and after they became grantees, satisfaction with support from New Connections, the extent to which New Connections improved their knowledge and skills, and the extent to which they agreed or disagreed that the program affected their ability to obtain their current position or made them more influential in their work settings.

The Grantee Network Survey questioned New Connections grantees about the persons from whom they would seek support, guidance, or information; expertise; work with; or communicate with about what they needed to be successful in their current positions and to advance in their careers (e.g., to get tenure, a promotion, or a leadership position).

The Larger Network Survey interviewed members of the larger network about their participation in New Connections activities, their interactions with New Connections grantees and the larger network, the extent to which the program improved their knowledge and skills, the extent to which they agreed or disagreed that New Connections affected their ability to obtain their current position, and their satisfaction with the program.

There is a separate data file for each survey. Together with the survey responses, all three files include information from the program's administrative records, such as the highest degree earned, institution type, field of work, race and Hispanic ethnicity, first generation college student status, and low income status. In addition, the Grantee Process Survey data file contains variables derived from the respondents' curriculum vitae that show the number of grantee presentations and publications before, during, and after the New Connection grants.

National and Local Profiles of Cultural Support collected data on public and private support for professional nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in three ways: a national mail survey of a random sample of arts organizations on their sources of revenue, more detailed mail surveys of the identified universe of arts and cultural organizations in ten specific communities, and in-person and telephone interviews with local government officials regarding public agency support (both financial and in-kind) in these ten communities. The ten communities are as follows: Amery, Wisconsin; Cleveland, Ohio; Los Angeles, California; Miami, Florida; Montgomery County, Maryland; Nashville, Tennessee; New Orleans, Louisiana; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Providence, Rhode Island; and San Jose, California. A collaborative effort of Americans for the Arts and the Arts Policy and Administration Program at The Ohio State University, the study was supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts and local arts agencies in ten communities across the country.

The National Survey collected data from professional nonprofit arts and cultural organizations on 22 revenue items for fiscal year 1998, across four categories--public contributed income, private contributed income, earned revenue, and interest and other investment income. Developed in close collaboration with the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS), the survey was designed to facilitate comparisons with currently available data on the nonprofit arts, particularly data sets from arts service organizations and NCCS data sets based on IRS Form 990 data. The Local Government Support Survey involved semi-structured interviews with local officials in non-arts government agencies across 13 service areas in the ten communities profiled in this study. Among the agencies represented in these service areas were Administrative Services, Community Planning/Economic Development, Convention and Visitors Bureau, Parks and Recreation, Public Works, Police/Public Safety, and others. Two sets of interview forms were used, one to document the agency's mission and level of current and future arts involvement and a case form to document specific instances of arts support. Further, the Local Surveys, conducted in each of ten communities, collected data from professional nonprofit arts and cultural organizations on a battery of revenue items for fiscal year 1998, across four categories-public contributed income, private contributed income, earned revenue, and interest and other investment income. Developed in close collaboration with the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS), the surveys were designed to facilitate comparisons with currently available data on the nonprofit arts, particularly data sets from arts service organizations and NCCS data sets based on IRS Form 990 data.

The number of respondents across data files ranges from 7 to 796.