Summary of FY2002 Budget Request to Congress - National Science Foundation

SCIENCE RESOURCES STUDIES $15,640,000

The FY 2002 Budget Request for the Science Resources Studies (SRS) Subactivity is $15.64 million, a decrease of $160,000, or 1.0 percent, from the FY 2001 Current Plan of $15.80 million.

(Millions of Dollars)

	FY 2000 Actual	FY 2001 Current Plan	FY 2002 Request	Amount	Percent
	FY 2000 Actual	FY 2001 Current Plan	FY 2002 Request	Change
Science Resources Studies	15.05	15.80	15.64	-0.16	-1.0%
Total, SRS	$15.05	$15.80	$15.64	-$0.16	-1.0%

The legislative mandate for SRS, as stated in the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended, is, "…to provide a central clearinghouse for the collection, interpretation, and analysis of data on scientific and engineering resources and to provide a source of information for policy formulation by other agencies of the federal government…." To meet this mandate, SRS provides policymakers, researchers and other decision makers with high quality data and analysis for making informed decisions about the nation's science, engineering, and technology enterprise. The work of SRS involves survey development, data collection, analysis, information compilation, dissemination, and customer service to meet the statistical demands of a diverse user community, as well as preparation of the biennial reports Science and Engineering Indicators and Women and Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering.

SRS continues to make improvements in the relevance and quality of its products. Priorities for FY 2002 focus on improving the quality, relevance, and accessibility of SRS products and continuing the redesign of major components of SRS data collections.

Every decade a redesign of the samples and surveys used to collect data on the scientific and engineering workforce is necessary to reflect the results of the Decennial Census. Extensive redesign activities were conducted in FY 2000 and FY 2001. In FY 2002, SRS will begin to implement significant components of this redesign.
SRS will redirect funds from implementation in FY 2001 of a reduced Science and Engineering Research Facilities Survey to the redesign of the survey to be administered in 2003 that will provide high-quality, customer-relevant data on a timely basis.
SRS will redesign the Survey of Public Attitudes Toward and Understanding of Science and Technology to enhance the relevance of the survey and improve the quality of the data to be collected. The survey is a significant component of the biennial Science and Engineering Indicators report