[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 192 (Wednesday, October 4, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 52024]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-24679]



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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences; 
Proposed Data Collection Available for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

    In compliance with the requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for opportunity for public comment on 
proposed data collection projects, the National Science Foundation 
(NSF) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects. To request 
more information on the proposed project or to obtain a copy of the 
data collection plans and instruments, call the NSF Clearance Officer 
on (703) 306-1243.
    Comments are invited on (a) whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways 
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology.
    Proposed Project: Estimation of the expenditures on research and 
development performed within the United States by industrial firms--A 
mail survey, the Survey of Industrial Research and Development, has 
been conducted annually since 1953. The survey is the industrial 
component of the NSF statistical program that seeks to ``provide a 
central clearinghouse for the collection, interpretation, and analysis 
of data on the availability of, and the current and projected need for, 
scientific and technical resources in the United States, and to provide 
a source of information for policy formulation by other agencies of the 
Federal government'' as mandated in the National Science Foundation Act 
of 1950. The proposed project will continue the survey for three years. 
The survey will be mailed to a statistical sample of approximately 
23,300 companies to collect information on the amount and sources of 
funds for and character of R&D performed and contracted out by 
industrial firms, and information on sales and employment of the firms 
themselves. Industry accounts for over 70 percent of total U.S. R&D 
each year and since its inception, the survey has provided continuity 
of statistics on R&D expenditures by major industry groups and by 
source of funds. Statistics from the survey are published in NSF's 
annual publication series Research and Development in Industry.
    The survey will be mailed to R&D executives of large companies and 
to planning or accounting executives in smaller companies. To minimize 
burden, over 90-percent of the companies selected for the Survey of 
Industrial R&D are asked to respond to the Form RD-1A, the abbreviated 
version of the basic survey questionnaires, Form RD-1L (used in odd-
numbered years) and Form RD-1S (used in even-numbered years). Further, 
only companies with five paid employees or more are asked to 
participate in the survey and extensive use is made of the descriptive 
codes and information on the establishment list that is the source of 
the survey sample to avoid sampling firms in industries that 
traditionally do not perform R&D. Burden estimates are as follows:

1995  23,300 respondents, 61,300 total burden hours
1996  23,300 respondents, 32,300 total burden hours
1997  23,300 respondents, 61,300 total burden hours

    Send comments to Herman Fleming, Clearance Officer, National 
Science Foundation, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, 
Suite 485, Arlington, VA 22230. Written comments should be received by 
December 1, 1995.

    Dated: September 29, 1995.
Herman G. Fleming,
NSF Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 95-24679 Filed 10-3-95; 8:45 am]
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