Introduction 



The National Science Board is charged by the 

 Congress with providing an annual report of the 

 status of science in the United States.' In this, its 

 seventh report, the Board continues the 

 development of a series of indicators assessing 

 the condition of the Nation's scientific endeavor. 

 These indicators are intended to measure and to 

 reflect U.S. science — to demonstrate its 

 strengths and weaknesses and to follow its 

 changing character. 



Indicators such as these, updated regularly, 

 can provide early warnings of events and trends 

 which might impair the capability of science — 

 and its related technology — to meet the needs of 

 the Nation. The indicators can also assist those 

 who set priorities for the enterprise, allocate 

 resources for its functions, and guide it toward 

 change and new opportunities. In these ways, 

 communication about the issues of science is 

 facilitated and considerations of new areas of 

 public policy can be explored. 



The internal characteristics of science provide 

 the most readily available data for indicators, 

 including the human and financial resources 

 involved, the education of research scientists, 

 changes in the institutional structures which 

 support research and development, advances m 

 the fundamental understanding of science and 

 the transfer of technology. Of equal importance 

 are measures of the external impact of science, 

 often called "output indicators". These in- 

 dicators are difficult to devise because the 

 translation of science into technology and the 

 genesis of science in technological advances are 

 both deeply embedded among complex economic 

 and social variables. In addition, many of the 

 applications of science are not immediately 

 realized, occurring long after and often appear- 

 ing unrelated to their origins in research. 

 However, the present report represents an 

 advancement in the development of indicators of 

 the outputs of the research and development 

 enterprise. 



The establishment of a comprehensive system 

 of science indicators involves the investigation 

 of potential indices, expansion of the underlying 



' Section 4(g) of the National Science Foundation Act as 

 amended by Public Law 90-407. 



2 Science Indkaion— 7972, National Science Board (NSB 73- 

 1). 



data base, improvement of methods for measur- 

 ing the impacts of science and technology, 

 development of analytic approaches for inter- 

 preting the measures, and demonstration of 

 their utility across several audiences. 



The effort to develop a system of effective 

 indicators should be regarded as a long-term 

 process. A central concept of the effort is, 

 therefore, an evolving set of indicators derived 

 from continuing exploration, testing, and 

 design. The set will be evaluated, expanded, 

 refined, and updated regularly as new data 

 become available, as our understanding of their 

 nature improves, and as the science enterprise 

 itself changes. 



Quantitative indicators are not a substitute 

 for the experience and judgment of the scientific 

 community. Indices, at their best, can only serve 

 as supplements. The interpretation of indicators 

 themselves — what they mean for the present 

 and the future of the enterprise — requires the 

 participation of the scientific community. 



The Report 



Indicators in this report include measures of 

 basic research activity and industrial R&D, 

 indices of scientific and engineering personnel 

 and institutional capabilities, indicators of 

 productivity and the U.S. balance of trade in 

 high-technology products, and other aspects of 

 the Nation's science and engineering activities. 



Compared to the first Science Indicators 

 report of the National Science Board, ^ the 

 present report contains substantially more 

 indicators, expanded to fill some of the major 

 gaps and reorganized to present a more current 

 and integrated coverage of science and related 

 technology. A new chapter discusses industrial 

 R&D in the United States, and includes the 

 results of a survey on the innovative process. 

 Additions to other portions of the report provide 

 new information on the role of basic science in 

 advancing technology, international aspects of 

 technological innovation, and changing attitudes 

 of the public toward science. 



These indicators of the scientific enterprise 

 are presented in six chapters, generally with a 

 time span beginning in the early 1960's and 



