Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences; Proposed Collection Available for Public Comment: Comments Requested by August 4, 1996

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences;

Proposed Collection Available for Public Comment: Comments Requested by

August 4, 1996

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

[[Page 29432]]

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: Separately budgeted current fund expenditures on

research and development in the sciences and engineering performed by

universities and colleges and their affiliated federally funded

research and development centers--A mail survey, the Survey of

Scientific and Engineering Expenditures at Universities and Colleges,

originated in fiscal year (FY) 1954 and has been conducted annually

since FY 1972. The survey is the academic expenditure 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 current survey cycle for

three to five years. The FY 1996 and FY 1997 will be a statistical

sample of approximately 518 institutions and FY 1998 a full survey

population of about 700 institutions. The survey is conducted as a full

survey population every 5 years and as a statistical sample in each of

the 4 intervening years. These institutions account for over 95 percent

of the Nation's academic R&D funds. The survey has provided continuity

of statistics on R&D expenditures by source of funds and by science &

engineering (S&E) field, with separate data requested on current fund

expenditures for research equipment by S&E field. Statistics from the

survey are published in NSF's annual publication series Academic

Science and Engineering R&D Expenditures and are available

electronically on the World Wide Web.

The survey will be mailed primarily to the administrators at the

Institutional Research Offices. To minimize burden, institutions are

provided with (in addition to paper copy) an automatic survey

questionnaire (ASQ) diskette, pre-loaded with the institutions previous

years data and a complete program for editing and trend checking.

Respondents are encouraged to submit their response via the ASQ

diskette or electronically via internet. Approximately 60% responded

via ASQ or electronically to this voluntary survey in FY 1994 and a

total response rate of 99.6% was obtained. Burden estimates are as

follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bachelors degree or

below

Total number of institutions Doctorate-granting Masters-granting ------------------------

Burden hours

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FY 1992 480......................... 20.8 hours............. 12.0 hours............. 4.4 hours.

FY 1993 700......................... 21.0 hours............. 8.1 hours.............. 5.2 hours.

FY 1994 518......................... 21.6 hours............. 7.7 hours.............. 4.3 hours.

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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

August 4, 1996.

Dated: June 5, 1996.

Herman G. Fleming,

NSF Clearance Officer.

[FR Doc. 96-14560 Filed 6-7-96; 8:45 am]

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