Measuring the impacts of federal investments in research : a workshop summary / Steve Olson and Stephen Merrill, rapporteurs ; Committee on Measuring Economic and Other Returns on Federal Research Investments ; Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy ; Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy ; Policy and Global Affairs.

Includes bibliographical references.

On April 18-19, 2011, the Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP) of the National Research Council and the Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy (COSEPUP), a joint unit of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine, held a workshop to examine this question The workshop brought together academic researchers, research and development (R and D) managers from private industry, representatives from government agencies, leaders of philanthropic organizations, and others to look at the very broad range of issues associated with evaluating the returns on federal investments (Appendix A). Speakers included researchers who have worked on the topic for decades and early-career researchers who are pioneering non-traditional approaches to the topic. In recent years, new research has appeared and new data sets have been created or are in development. Moreover, international interest in the topic has broadened substantially--in Latin America and Asia as well as in Europe. The workshop included presentations by speakers from abroad to gain their perspectives on methods of analysis. The workshop sought to assemble the range of work that has been done in measuring research outcomes and to provide a forum to discuss its methods. The workshop's goal was not to identify a single best method or few best methods of measuring research impacts. The workshop considered methodological differences across fields of research to identify which can be applied to the broad range of federal research funding. It did not address the role of federal funding in the development of technology.

This study was supported by Contract/Grant No. SMA-1019816 between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation; Contract/Grant No. N01-OD-4-2139, TO #231, between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Institutes of Health; Contract/Grant No. G104P00159 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Geological Survey; Contract/Grant No. 59-9000-0-0093 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Agriculture; Contract/Grant No. EP-11-H-001414 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Environmental Protection Agency; Contract/Grant No. DE-SC000614 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of Energy; Contract/Grant No. NNH10CC488, TO #5, between the National Academy of Sciences and NASA.

Online resource; title from PDF title page (viewed May 7, 2012).

Introduction and overview -- Impacts on the U.S. economy and quality of life -- Impacts on biomedical and health research -- Mixed market and non-market impacts of research -- Impacts of research on the labor market and career development -- International perspectives on measuring research impacts -- Emerging metrics and models -- Pitfalls, progress, and opportunities.

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