it difficult and in some cases meaningless to 

 classify individual projects as either basic or 

 applied; it is usually more meaningful to speak 

 of research as having basic and applied aspects. 

 Most agencies indicated that the same research 

 project could be considered basic by the perform- 

 er of the research and applied by the provider of 

 funds. This difference in viewpt)int can lead to a 

 serious anomaly in statistical data on the support 

 of basic research. In one NSF publication, for 

 example. Federal Government support of basic 

 research in 1977 is reported as $3,530 million.^ 

 Another NSF publication reports total Federal 

 obligations for basic research in 1977 of $2,755 

 million. 4 The former figure represents the view- 

 point of the performers of basic research; the lat- 

 ter figure, that of the Government agencies 

 supplying the funds. The difference amounts to 

 almost $800 million for a single year. 



The statistical data also must be used carefully 

 because some agencies that prefer not to distin- 

 guish between basic and applied research report 

 basic research obligations on a formula basis as a 

 certain percentage of total research funds. Other 

 agencies make a distinction between basic and 

 applied research but find themselves forced to be 

 somewhat arbitrary in fixing the dividing line. 

 Another source of discrepancy occurs when func- 

 tions are transferred or missions redefined within 

 an agency. As a result, the reported figures fluc- 

 tuate but do not reflect any real changes in pro- 

 gram. 



Nevertheless, data reported by other agencies 

 for analysis by NSF's Division of Science Re- 

 sources Studies usually are internally consistent 

 and exceedingly useful for analyzing trends. Use 

 is made whenever possible in this report of the 

 data reported in the series of publications entitled 

 Federiil Funds for Research. Development, and 

 Other Scientific Activities. The analysis focuses 

 on data through fiscal year 1977 but, for compari- 

 son purposes, estimates are included for FY 1978, 

 along with the President's budget request for FY 

 1979 (Appendix K). 



Time did not permit submissions from agency 

 laboratories or field stations or interrogation of 

 laboratory personnel. Thus, it should be noted 

 that the answers to some questions and perspectives 

 on some issues may not reflect the viewpoint of the 

 performer of basic research. 



The fact that agency submissions were prepared 

 during a period of presidential transition caused 



'Nad'on.i/ Putlerns of R&D Resources. Funds, und Man- 

 power in the United Stales. \95J-i977. NSF 77-310, p. 4. 



■* Federal Funds for Research. Development, and Other Sci- 

 entific Activities. Vol. XXVI, NSF 77-317, p. 49. 



some difficulties and delays. In addition, no infor- 

 mation was obtained from some agencies that may 

 conduct or support basic research. These include 

 the Food and Drug Administration, National Insti- 

 tute for Occupational Safety and Health, National 

 Endowment for the Humanities, Center for Disease 

 Control, and National Institute of Juvenile Justice 

 and Delinquency Prevention. 



Finally, some program and agency studies that 

 may well influence changes in agency programs 

 and organization are not reflected in this report. 

 Some of these were reviews by external groups, 

 primarily committees of the National Academy of 

 Sciences, and were underway or completed during 

 preparation of this report; they have been used in 

 congressional hearings on agency programs and 

 organization. Among the reports by external 

 groups are: 



• "Understanding Crime: An Evaluation of the 

 National Institute of Law Enforcement and 

 Criminal Justice" (Committee on Research 

 on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, 

 National Academy of Sciences). 



• "World Food and Nutrition Study: The Poten- 

 tial Contributions of Research" (Steering 

 Committee, NRC Study on World Food and 

 Nutrition, National Academy of Sciences). 



• "Fundamental Research and the Process of 

 Education" (Committee on Fundamental 

 Research Relevant to Education, National 

 Academy of Sciences). 



• "Analytical Studies for the U.S. Environ- 

 mental Protection Agency" (National Acade- 

 my of Sciences, various commissions and 

 committees, II reports). 



Organization of the Report 



Part I of the report consists of the presentations 

 made by each agency. They show considerable 

 variation in both program size and sophistication 

 of management and marked diflferences in how 

 basic research is defined. Some agencies indicate 

 they have felt negligent in not doing more basic 

 research and are in the process of increasing the 

 basic research component of their programs. 

 Some agencies acknowledge that basic research 

 can enhance the performance of their missions 

 even though they report no basic research at pre- 

 sent. 



Part n of the report was prepared by the Board 

 and its stafi' using material provided by the agen- 

 cies. The discussion includes descriptions of agen- 

 cy programs, broken down by performers of the 

 research and by fields of science. A chapter on 



xxi 



