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Project Title:
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NASA's National Aviation Operations Monitoring Service (NAOMS) Project: An Independent Assessment
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PIN:
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ASEB-J-08-01-A
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Major Unit:
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Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences
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Sub Unit:
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Aeronautics & Space Engineering Board
Board on Mathematical Sciences & Their Applications
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RSO:
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Jackson, Paul
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Subject/Focus Area:
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Project Scope
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The Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB), in conjunction with the Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics (CATS), will create an ad hoc study committee to make an independent assessment of NASA's National Aviation Operational Monitoring Service (NAOMS) project. The NAOMS project used a survey methodology to anonymously collect data from commercial and general aviation pilots over several years regarding aviation safety-related events. The NAOMS project contracted with Battelle Memorial Institute to design the survey and collect the data. The study committee will assess the NAOMS survey methodology, and, to the extent possible, analyze the survey data. This assessment will be based upon information in the public domain including the following items that will be provided to the committee by NASA: (1) a final report provided by the prime contractor, Battelle, that was released to the public on December 31, 2007; (2) a 13 November 1998 NAOMS briefing to the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System Advisory Subcommittee; and (3) the redacted set of survey responses that were released to the public on December 31, 2007. The study committee will also provide recommendations on the most effective ways to use the NAOMS data.
Specifically, as part of the assessment, the study committee shall:
(1) Assess the process used by the contractor and described in the contractor report to determine how to acquire a statistically meaningful data set representative of a variety of factors that may affect (or impact) the safety of the national airspace system and that would enable one to track how these factors change over time.
(2) Assess the advantages and disadvantages of using a survey method to collect such a statistically meaningful data set.
(3) Assess the survey methodology used by the contractor and described in the contractor report to include:
a) An analysis of specific details of the survey methodology such as the recall period, collection approach, sampling approach, questionnaire design and the use of non-aviation experts as interviewers.
b) An analysis of method or methods used to validate the survey methodology.
c) An identification of the various sources of error (both random and systematic) due to the survey methodology, along with estimates of the magnitudes of those errors, including an analysis of the adequacy of the sample size
d) Recommendations of how one might estimate appropriate error bars for the survey results.
e) Recommendations regarding any methods that might enable one to correct for errors introduced by the methodology.
(4) Conduct an analysis of the project survey data provided by NASA to determine its potential utility. (Note: The survey data will be a redacted data set also released to the public. This data set will be redacted in a manner that preserves the anonymity of the pilot respondents. Details of the redaction process will be provided.) This analysis may include an assessment of the data's validity using other known sources of information.
(5) Provide recommendations on the most effective ways to use the NAOMS data. Such recommendations can include the possibility of using the data in combination with other safety data.
This study is sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The starting date for the project was January 15, 2008. The final report is planned for release in June of 2009.
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Project Duration:
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15 months
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Provide FEEDBACK on this project.
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Contact the Public Access Records Office to make an inquiry, request a list of the public access file materials, or obtain a copy of the materials found in the file.
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Tel:
202.334.2000