Resource Library

The ABS is the primary source of information on R&D among for-profit businesses operating in the United States with one to nine employees. The ABS also collects data on innovation, technology, intellectual property, and financing from U.S.-based companies of all sizes.

The BERD and its predecessors are the primary sources of information on research and development performed or funded by businesses within the United States since 1953.

The FFRDC R&D Survey is the primary source of information on separately accounted for R&D expenditures at federally funded research and development centers in the United States.

HERD is the primary source of information on R&D expenditures at U.S. colleges and universities that expended at least $150,000 in separately accounted for R&D in the fiscal year.

The NSCG is a biennial survey that provides data on the characteristics of the nation's college graduates, with a focus on those in the science and engineering workforce.

The NPRA Survey collects information on research and experimental development performed by 501(c) nonprofit organizations in the United States.

The SDR provides demographic, education, and career history information from individuals with a U.S. research doctoral degree in a science, engineering, or health field.

The SED is an annual census conducted since 1957 of all individuals receiving a research doctorate from an accredited U.S. institution in a given academic year.

The Survey of Federal Funds for R&D is an annual census completed by the federal agencies that conduct R&D programs and serves as the primary source of information about federal funding for R&D in the United States.

The Federal Science and Engineering Support Survey is a congressionally mandated survey and the only source of comprehensive data on federal science and engineering (S&E) funding to individual academic and nonprofit institutions.

The GSS is an annual census of all academic institutions in the United States and its territories granting research-based master's degrees or doctorates in science, engineering, or selected health fields as of the fall of the survey year.

The FFRDC Postdoc Survey collects aggregate information on the demographic characteristics and fields of research of postdoctoral researchers employed at a FFRDC.

The Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities is a census of all research-performing colleges and universities in the United States that expended at least $1 million in research and development funds in the prior fiscal year.

The Survey of State Government R&D measures the extent of R&D activity performed and funded by the governments of each of the nation’s 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. 

Explore insights into U.S. business innovation and learn how NCSES defines and measures this concept using the Annual Business Survey (ABS). Additional resources on this topic can be found by visiting Innovation and Global Competitiveness.

Discover NCSES's data on Federal R&D Funding, by Budget Function to see how the president's budget request and congressional appropriations for R&D are presented by functional categories. Functions are broad categories of national interest such as health, transportation, energy, and national defense, among others, and not restricted to a single department or agency.