Data Collection
SC&A’s subject matter experts and information specialists
support complex projects with a wide range of data collection
services, including:
- Literature searches – both scientific literature
and popular press
- Information gathering to populate databases
- Development of background reports
- Survey support – mail, in-person, and online
Sample Projects
- For the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office
of Radiation and Indoor Air, SC&A conducted a comprehensive
literature search to support an analysis of the environmental
impacts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the radiological
impacts of various technologies used for electricity production.
- For the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, SC&A
conducted a literature search and prepared a summary report to
answer crucial questions about the possible use of activated
charcoal as a countermeasure for ingested radionuclides.
- For a private client examining the effects of price fixing in
the vitamin market, SC&A compiled background reports on the
processes used in the manufacture of seven types of vitamins,
including the process, technology, and input factors, as well as
the way those production processes have changed over the past 20 years,
the influence of plant capacity on cost, and the sustainability of the
products during production and end use.
- For EPA, SC&A searched for literature related to the detonation
of a radiological dispersal device, radiological characteristics of the
device, resulting radioactive contamination, modeling techniques, and
response to the incident.
- In support of EPA’s revision of its proposed standards for waste
disposal at a potential Yucca Mountain repository, SC&A developed a
database and populated it with information we compiled on the nationwide
variations in annual radiation exposures due to various sources of radiation
in the environment.
- To calculate the GHG inventory of the U.S. Department of Energy
Headquarters (Forrestal Building) in Washington, DC, SC&A gathered
information on the use of stationary combustion and purchased electricity
energy, fleet data, employee information, waste production values, and the
use of refrigerants and production of wastewater.
- SC&A helped EPA track the effectiveness of its guidance on indoor
air quality for large commercial buildings through a survey of building
owners by developing and assessing the survey methodology and questions,
identifying survey candidates, preparing Federal Register notices
and the Information Collection Request required by the Office of Management
and Budget, and creating a survey database and database training for use by
an EPA partner organization.
