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

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]

BILLING CODE 7555-01-M