Figure 4— Federal obligations for basic research, by major performer, FY 1968-78 



3.5 



- 3.0 



- 2.5 



Billions of Dollars: Constant 1972 ) 



1968 70 72 74 76 78 



Fiscal Year 



- 1.5 



1.0 



- 0.5 



Universities and Colleges 



■^'^^ FpHpral lntr;imiiral 



Federal Intramural 

 I 



Industrial Firms'' 



I 



J I I I I L 







1968 70 72 74 



Fiscal Year 



J L 



76 



78 



(est.) 



Based on GNP implicit price deflator with an estimate for fiscal years 1977 and 1978. 

 2 

 Includes Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC's) administered by this sector. 



SOURCE: Division of Science Resources Studies/STIA/National Science Foundation. 



search at the beginning and end of the period for 

 the leading fields of science are: 



(Percent of total, rounded) 



FY 1968 FY 1977 



Life sciences 34 37 



Physical sciences 35 29 



Environmental sciences 12 14 



Engineering 9 10 



Social sciences 4 4 

 Mathematics and computer 



sciences 4 3 



For further analysis of basic research fiscal detail 

 see Chapters 1-4. 



Problems in the Conduct of Basic 

 Research 



The chief concerns of the agencies in the con- 

 duct of the basic research they support include 

 sharp annual fluctuations in budget authority and 

 expansion of their legislative responsibilities with- 

 out commensurate increases in funding. Other 

 concerns have been noted in the Overview and 

 the individual agency submissions contained in 

 Part I as well as in agency responses to the sup- 

 plementary questions and issues listed in Appen- 

 dix C. These other concerns vary considerably 

 from agency to agency, but those expressed most 

 often are presented in Chapters 5 to 7. Chapter .^ 



INTRODUCTION 239 



