The database represents the population of 23,510 students admitted for PhD study from 1917 to 1959 at 7 universities of the UK: are Cambridge, Edinburgh, Imperial College, London School of Economics, Manchester, Oxford, and University College London. It is a weighted version of the sample of 9,606 records, as defined on p223 of 'The development of the PhD' by Renate Simpson. The variables on the database include Sample ID, Sample Weight, University, Faculty, subject, previous University, overseas/home student, age, sex, staff status, full-time/part-time, year first registered, duration of studies, and outcome of studies. The variables were collected manually from the archives of each University, with systematic sampling.The database was the basis for the second, statistical, part of Renate Simpson's 'The Development of the PhD degree in Britain, 1917-1959 and since: an evolutionary and statistical history in Higher Education', published 2009 by Edwin Mellen Press. The author and book are referred to as RSS and DPhD respectively in documentation. The database contains extracts from student records from seven Universities which included nearly half of all candidates first admitted to doctoral studies during the period 1917-19. These Universities are Cambridge, Edinburgh, Imperial College, London School of Economics, Manchester, Oxford, and University College London. The author died in 2013. The contact for this database is her son and executor of her estate.

Systematic sample from student records in University archives. Manual copying of details from paper records.