[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 250 (Wednesday, December 30, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71960-71961]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-34393]
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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Notice of Intent To Seek Approval To Extend and Revise a Current
Information Collection
AGENCY: National Science Foundation.
ACTION: Notice and Request for Comments.
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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans to
request renewal of this collection. In accordance with the requirement
of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub.
L. 104-13), we are providing opportunity for public comment on this
action. After obtaining and considering public comment, NSF will
prepare the submission requesting that OMB approve clearance of this
collection for 3 years.
DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received by March 1,
1999 to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date
will be considered to the extent practicable.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR COMMENTS: Contact Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson
Boulevard, Suite 295, Arlington, Virginia 22230; telephone (703) 306-
1125 x 2017; or send e-mail to [email protected]. You also may obtain a
copy of the data collection instrument and instructions from Ms.
Plimpton.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title of Collection: Survey of Research and Development
Expenditures at Universities and Colleges, FY 1999 through FY 2001; OMB
Control Number 3145-0100.
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 on respondents, including
through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of
information technology.
Proposed Renewal 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/electronic
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.
Use of the Information: The proposed project will return to and
maintain a full survey cycle population of about 700 institutions.
The survey which was conducted as a full survey population only
every 5 years and as a statistical sample in each of the 4 intervening
years was based primarily on reducing respondent burden. Consistency of
records of the non-sampled institutions and frequent personnel changes,
added to their burden. With the onset of Web-based data collection and
a change for a minimum requirement of $150K in expenditures for any
master's or bachelor's degree-granting institution, the respondent
burden and timleness is expected to decrease. These institutions
account for over 98 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 passed through dollars; by science & engineering
(S&E) field, and separate data requested on current fund expenditures
for research equipment by S&E field, and selected non-science &
engineering fields. In addition, 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) file specifications needed to
upload data from the web data collection system (http://www.qrc.com/
exp). Approximately 65% responded electronically using the previous
Automatic Survey Questionnaire on diskette to this voluntary survey in
FY 1997 and a total response rate of 98.0% was obtained. Burden
estimates are as follows:
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Burden hours
Total number -------------------------------------------------------
Fiscal year of Bachelors or
institutions Doctorate--granting Masters--granting below
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1997.................................... 692 19.0 7.0 7.0
1996.................................... 692 21.5 7.1 6.2
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[[Page 71961]]
Dated: December 23, 1998.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 98-34393 Filed 12-29-98; 8:45 am]
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