R&D Expenditures Survey

Methodology

Contents

Data Limitations TOP

Data included are believed to account for 99% of all R&D at universities and colleges. Response rates for the past five years have exceeded 97%; for FY 1995 it was over 90%. For information on data anomalies, response rates, and data imputation, see the Methodology Report on the R&D Expenditures Survey.

Since one of the most effective ways of maintaining high response rates and high quality data is to keep the institutions closely involved in the survey process, NSF initiated an Institutional Response Practices Study in 1989. The purpose of this project, which involves meeting with institutional representatives around the country, is to obtain and exchange information on response practices and to heighten academic awareness of the SRS surveys and data resources, and also to strengthen relations between NSF and its academic constituents. The findings are used to assess and improve data collection methods and to review analytic and distribution techniques, while furthering the SRS goals of timeliness, quality, and data usability.

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