Business R&D and Innovation Survey

The 2008 Business R&D and Innovation Survey (BRDIS), successor to the Survey of Industrial Research and Development, collected information from a nationally representative sample of about 40,000 companies, including companies in both manufacturing and nonmanufacturing industries. BRDIS is the primary source of information on business domestic and global R&D expenditures and workforce. Response to this annual survey is mandatory and confidential under Title 13 of the United States Code.

Unlike its predecessor, which was sent to a single respondent within a company, the new BRDIS questionnaire was structured to allow and encourage different experts within a single business to provide responses in their areas of expertise. Respondents are asked to allocate their domestic and worldwide sales and R&D totals among multiple business codes. Core R&D expenditure questions are intended to provide a bridge between the historical time series and BRDIS, and a variety of new questions address data needs identified by users and by businesses themselves. These questions relate to the following:

• A company's domestic and worldwide R&D relationships, including R&D agreements, R&D "outsourcing," and R&D paid for by others
• The strategic purpose of a company's worldwide R&D activities and their technology applications
• Patenting, licensing, and technology transfer activities, and companies' innovative activities

In addition, a limited number of questions are asked on activities related to new or improved products or processes. These are intended to serve as a platform for collecting an expanded set of innovation metrics in the future.

The results of the survey are used to assess trends in R&D performance and funding of R&D. Government agencies, corporations, and research organizations use the data to investigate productivity determinants, formulate tax policy, and compare individual company performance with industry averages. Individual researchers in industry and academia use the data to investigate a variety of topics and in preparing professional papers, dissertations, and books. Total R&D expenditure statistics are used by the Bureau of Economic Analysis for inclusion in their System of National Accounts and Foreign Direct Investment programs.

Further, BRDIS statistics make it possible to evaluate more fully the status of R&D in the United States and to offer comparisons between the R&D and innovation activities of our country and those of other nations. The usefulness of the information collected in this survey is enhanced by the linkage of the data file to the Census Bureau's Longitudinal Establishment Data file, which contains information on the outputs and inputs of companies' manufacturing plants.

Contact for more information

Additional information about this survey can be obtained by contacting:

Raymond Wolfe
Senior Analyst
Research and Development Statistics Program
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 965
Arlington, VA 22230

Phone: (703) 292-7789
Internet: rwolfe@nsf.gov