Data quality, concepts and methodology: Definitions
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Scope and limitations of the data
According to international convention, science and technology activities are divided into two fields; natural sciences and engineering (NSE) and social sciences and humanities (SSH). These fields of science are further divided into research and development (R&D) and related scientific activities (RSA). The federal government may choose to perform S&T in its own laboratories (intramural expenditures) or may pay another organization to perform S&T (extramural expenditures). Data are presented in this article on S&T activities funded by the federal government for R&D and RSA and distinguished by performer (that is, intramurally by the government itself or extramurally, by business enterprises (industry), the higher education sector, provincial and municipal governments, Canadian non-profit organizations, other performers and foreign performers).
Definitions applicable to both Natural sciences and engineering and Social science and humanities
Scientific research and experimental development (R&D)
Creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of scientific and technical knowledge and to use this knowledge in new applications.
The central characteristic of R&D is an appreciable element of novelty and of uncertainty. New knowledge, products or processes are sought. New knowledge involves the integration of newly acquired information into existing hypotheses, the formulation and testing of new hypotheses or the re-evaluation of existing observations.
An R&D project generally has three characteristics:
- a substantial element of uncertainty, novelty and innovation;
- a well-defined project design; and
- a report on the procedures and results of the projects.
Related scientific activities (RSA)
Those activities which complement and extend R&D by contributing to the generation, dissemination and application of scientific and technological knowledge.
Intramural performance
Where the science and technology (S&T) activities are managed and carried out primarily by federal government employees, they are classified as intramural S&T. Even where major components of the project are provided by outside agencies, such as computer services, laboratory construction, testing of prototype equipment, if the planning, supervision, reporting, and key operating functions are performed by federal personnel, then the activity is considered to be intramural. This also applies to S&T activities carried out by a department or agency on behalf of another federal department or agency on a cost recovery basis.
The intramural expenditures reported for scientific activities are those direct costs, including salaries, associated with scientific programs. These costs include that portion of a program's contribution to employee benefit plans (e.g., superannuation) which is applicable to the scientific personnel within the program.
Non-program ("indirect") costs, such as the value of services provided by other departments without charge, are to be excluded. Support services (i.e., administration, finance) provided by the reporting program, proportional to S&T expenditures should be included.
Extramural performance
The management and conduct of an S&T activity is entrusted to a non-federal organization. The six extramural performance sectors used in surveying S&T expenditures by the federal government are:
Business enterprise
This sector is composed of business and government enterprises, including public utilities and government-owned firms. Incorporated consultants providing scientific and engineering services are also included. Industrial research institutes located at Canadian universities are considered to be in the Higher education sector.
Higher education
This sector is composed of all universities, colleges of technology and other institutes of post-secondary education, whatever their source of finance or legal status. It also includes all research institutes, experimental stations and clinics operating under the direct control of, or administered by, or associated with, the higher education establishments.
Canadian non-profit institutions
Charitable foundations, voluntary health organizations, scientific and professional societies, and other organizations not established to earn profits comprise this sector. Canadian non-profit institutions primarily serving or controlled by another sector should be included in that sector.
Provincial and municipal governments
Departments and agencies of these governments form this sector. Government enterprises, such as provincial utilities are included in the Business enterprise sector, and hospitals in the Canadian non-profit institutions.
Foreign performers
All foreign government agencies, foreign companies (including foreign subsidiaries of Canadian firms), international organizations, non resident foreign nationals and Canadians studying or teaching abroad, are included in this sector.
Other performers
This sector includes provincial research councils, and individuals or organizations in Canada not belonging to any of the above sectors.
Type of payment
Contracts
These are payments to organizations or individuals outside the federal government for the conduct of S&T by the recipient or to provide support for the federal government's in-house S&T programs.
Grants and contributions
Awards to organizations or individuals for the conduct of S&T and intended to benefit the recipients rather than provide the program with goods, services or information.
Research fellowships
Awards to individuals for advanced research training and experience. Awards intended primarily to support the education of the recipients are reported as education support.
Socio-economic objectives
Socio-economic objectives allow departments to classify their S&T resource allocations according to the purpose for which the expenditure is intended. The objectives are listed on the questionnaire at the highest level of aggregation with sub-levels given for clarification of categories. In many cases, projects have multiple objectives and a department should assign its expenditures consistent with the stated objectives of the department. Care must be taken to avoid “double counting”.
The objectives are based on the Nomenclature for the Analysis and Comparison of Scientific Programmes and Budgets (NABS) produced by the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat).
- Exploration and exploitation of the Earth
Scientific activities with objectives related to the exploration of the Earth’s crust and mantle, seas, oceans and atmosphere, and scientific activities on their exploitation. It also includes climatic and meteorological research, polar exploration and hydrology.
- Infrastructure and general planning of land use
Scientific activities on infrastructure and land development, including research on the construction of buildings. More generally, it covers all scientific activities relating to the general planning of land-use. This includes scientific activities into protection against harmful effects in town and country planning but not scientific activities into other types of pollution.
- Control and care of the environment
Covers scientific activities into the control of pollution, aimed at the identification and analysis of the sources of pollution and their causes, and all pollutants, including their dispersal in the environment and the effects on man, species (fauna, flora, microorganisms) and biosphere. Development of monitoring facilities for the measurement of all kinds of pollution is included. The same is valid for the elimination and prevention of all forms of pollution in all types of environment.
- Protection and improvement of human health
Scientific activities aimed at protecting, promoting and restoring human health broadly interpreted to include health aspects of nutrition and food hygiene. It ranges from preventative medicine, including all aspects of medical and surgical treatment, both for individuals and groups, and the provision of hospital and home care, to social medicine and pediatric and geriatric research.
- Production, distribution and rational utilization of energy
Covers scientific activities into the production, storage, transportation, distribution and rational use of all forms of energy. It also includes scientific activities on processes designed to increase the efficiency of energy production and distribution, and the study of energy conservation.
- Agricultural production and technology
Covers all scientific activities on the promotion of agriculture, forestry, fisheries and foodstuff production. It includes: scientific research on chemical fertilizers, biocides, biological pest control and the mechanization of agriculture; research on the impact of scientific activities in the field of developing food productivity and technology.
- Industrial production and technology
Covers scientific activities on the improvement of industrial production and technology. It includes scientific activities on industrial products and their manufacturing processes except where they form an integral part of the pursuit of other objectives (e.g., defence, space, energy, agriculture).
- Social structures and relationships
Scientific activities on social objectives, as analysed in particular by social and human sciences, which have no obvious connection with other objectives. This analysis includes quantitative, qualitative, organizational and forecasting aspects of social problems.
- Exploration and exploitation of space
All civil space scientific activities. Corresponding scientific activities in the defence field is classified in the Defence objective. (Although civil space research is not, in general, concerned with particular objectives, it frequently has a specific goal, such as the increase of general knowledge (e.g., astronomy), or relates to particular applications (e.g., telecommunications satellites).
- Non-oriented research
Basic activities motivated by scientific curiosity with the objective of increasing scientific knowledge. It also includes funding used to support postgraduate studies and fellowships.
- Other civil research
Civil scientific activities which cannot (yet) be classified to a particular objective.
- Defence
Covers scientific activities for military purposes. It also includes basic research and nuclear and space research financed by ministries of defence. Civil scientific activities financed by ministries of defence, for example, in the fields of meteorology, telecommunications and health, should be classified in the relevant objectives.
Personnel
Intramural expenditure data should be supported by data on the personnel devoted to scientific activities by all the employees engaged in these activities.
Scientific and professional
People in jobs that require at least one academic degree or nationally recognized professional qualification, as well as those with equivalent experience.
Technical
People in jobs that require specialized vocational or technical training beyond the secondary level (e.g., community colleges and technical institutes) as well as those with experience equivalent to this training.
Other
Clerical, secretarial, administrative, operational and other support personnel.
In regard to personnel resources, there are two caveats:
- where the S&T activities are a part of the program being reported, only the auxiliary staff relevant to the S&T activities are reported on a prorated basis; and
- whenever financial and administrative support is provided from another program, that support is allocated to the S&T resources for the program being reported.
Full-time equivalent (FTE)
A measure of the time actually devoted to the conduct of scientific activities. An employee who is engaged in scientific activities for a half a year has a full-time equivalence of 0.5. Personnel data reported should be consistent with expenditure data.
Administration of extramural programs (AEP)
AEP identifies the FTEs engaged in the administration of contracts and grants and contributions for scientific activities that are to be performed outside the federal government. These FTEs are broken down by the type of scientific activity supported, i.e., R&D or RSA.
Definitions specific to natural sciences and engineering
The natural sciences and engineering (NSE) field consists of disciplines concerned with understanding, exploring, developing or utilizing the natural world. Included are the engineering, mathematical, life and physical sciences.
Related scientific activities (RSA)
The kinds of related scientific activities for the natural sciences are described below.
Scientific data collection
The gathering, processing, collating and analyzing of data on natural phenomena. These data are normally the results of surveys, routine laboratory analyses or compilations of operating records.
Data collected as part of an existing or proposed R&D project are charged to research. Similarly, the costs of analyzing existing data as part of a research project are R&D costs, even when the data were originally collected for some other purpose. The development of new techniques for data collection is also to be considered to be a research activity. Examples of scientific data collection are: routine geological, hydrographic, oceanographic and topographic surveys; routine astronomical observations; maintenance of meteorological records; and wildlife and fisheries surveys.
Information services
All work directed to recording, classifying, translating and disseminating scientific and technological information as well as museum services. Included are the operations of scientific and technical libraries, S&T consulting and advisory services, the Patent Office, the publication of scientific journals and monographs, and the organizing of scientific conferences. Grants for the publication of scholarly works are also included.
General purpose information services or information services directed primarily towards the general public are excluded, as are general departmental and public libraries. When individual budgets exist, the costs of libraries which belong to institutions otherwise entirely classified to another activity, such as R&D, should be assigned to information services. The costs of printing and distributing reports from another activity, such as R&D, are normally attributable to that activity.
Sub category under ‘Information services’
- Museum services
The collecting, cataloguing, and displaying of specimens of the natural world or of representations of natural phenomena. The activity involves a systematic attempt to preserve and display items from the natural world; in some ways it could be considered an extension of information services. The scientific activities of natural history museums, zoological and botanical gardens, aquaria, planetaria and nature reserves are included. Parks which are not primarily restricted reserves for certain fauna or flora are excluded. In all cases the costs of providing entertainment and recreation to visitors should be excluded (e.g. restaurants, children’s gardens and museums).
- When a museum also covers not only natural history but also aspects of human cultural activities, the museum’s resources should be appropriated between the natural and social sciences. However, museums of science and technology, war, etc., which display synthetic or artificial objects and may also illustrate the operations of certain technologies, should be considered as engaged in museum services in social sciences.
Special services and studies
Work directed towards the establishment of national and provincial standards for materials, devices, products and processes; the calibration of secondary standards; non-routine quality testing; feasibility studies and demonstration projects.
Sub categories under ‘Special services and studies’ include:
- Testing and standardization
Work directed towards the establishment of national and international standards for materials, devices, products and processes, the calibration of secondary standards and non-routine quality testing. The development of new measures for standards, or of new methods of measuring or testing, is R&D and should be reported as such. Exclude routine testing such as monitoring radioactivity levels or soil tests before construction.
- Feasibility studies
Technical investigations of proposed engineering projects to provide additional information required to reach decisions on implementation. Besides feasibility studies per se, the related activity of demonstration projects are to be included. Demonstration projects involve the operation of scaled-up versions of a facility or process, or data on factors such as costs, operational characteristics, market demand and public acceptance. Projects called ‘demonstration projects’ but which conform to the definition of R&D should be considered R&D. Once a facility or process is operated primarily to provide a service or to gain revenue, rather than as a demonstration, it should no longer be included with feasibility studies. In all demonstration projects, only the net costs should be considered.
Education support
Grants to individuals or institutions on behalf of individuals which are intended to support the post-secondary education of students in technology and the natural sciences. General operating or capital grants are excluded. The activity includes the support of foreign students in their studies of the natural sciences at Canadian or foreign institutions. Grants intended primarily to support the research of individuals at universities are either R&D grants or research fellowships.
Definitions specific to Scial sciences and humanities
The social sciences and humanities (SSH) field embraces all disciplines involving the study of human actions and conditions and the social, economic and institutional mechanisms affecting humans. Included are such disciplines as anthropology, business administration and commerce, information and knowledge management, criminology, demography, economics, geography, history, languages, literature and linguistics, law, library science, philosophy, political science, psychology, religious studies, social work, sociology, and urban and regional studies.
Related scientific activities (RSA)
The kinds of related scientific activities for the social sciences and humanities are described below.
General purpose data collection
The routine gathering, processing, collating, analysis and publication of information on human phenomena using surveys, regular and special investigations and compilations of existing records. It excludes data collected primarily for internal administrative purposes (e.g., departmental personnel statistics) as well as the collection of data as part of an R&D project.
Data collected as part of an existing or proposed research project are charged to research. Similarly the costs of analyzing existing data as part of a research project are R&D costs, even when the data were originally collected for some other purpose. The development of new techniques for data collection is also considered a research activity. The institutions involved are generally the statistical bureaus of Canadian governments and the statistical sections of departments and agencies. If there are units whose principal activity is R&D, their costs and personnel should be assigned to R&D; specialized libraries with separate budgets should be assigned to information services.
Information services
All work related to recording, classifying, translating and disseminating scientific and technological information as well as museum services. Included are the operations of scientific and technical libraries, S&T consulting and advisory services, the Patent Office, the publication of scientific journals and monographs, and the organizing of scientific conferences. Grants for the publication of scholarly works are also included.
General purpose information services or information services directed primarily towards the general public are excluded, as are general departmental and public libraries. When individual budgets exist, the costs of libraries which belong to institutions otherwise entirely classified to another activity, such as R&D, should be assigned to information services. The costs of printing and distributing reports from another activity, such as R&D, are normally attributable to that activity.
Sub category under ‘Information services’ include:
- Museum services
The collecting, cataloguing, and displaying of specimens and representations relating to human history, social organization and creations. The activity involves a systematic attempt to preserve and display the works of human beings and to provide information on their works, history, and nature. The scientific activities of historical museums, archaeological displays, and art galleries are included. In all cases, the costs of providing entertainment and recreation to visitors should be excluded (e.g. restaurants, children’s gardens and museums).
- When a museum also covers aspects of natural history, the museum’s operation should be divided between the social and natural sciences. However, museums of science and technology, war, etc., which display synthetic or artificial objects and may also illustrate the operations of certain technologies, should be considered as engaged in museum services in social sciences.
Special services and studies
Systematic investigations carried out in order to provide information needed for planning or policy formulation. Demonstration projects are also included.
The work is usually carried out by specialized units in some government departments, by consultants, by royal commissions, and by task forces. The activity is similar to R&D since it may require innovative analyses and a high degree of scientific ability. However, such studies are not intended to acquire new knowledge but to provide specific answers to specific problems (generally immediate, localized and perhaps temporary). The day-to-day operations of units concerned with departmental planning, organization or management are not normally included (i.e. administrative records kept by departments of education) but special projects may be relevant.
Sub categories under ‘Special services and studies’ include:
- Economic and feasibility studies
Investigations of the socio-economic characteristics and implications of specific situations. Such studies are generally limited to a specific problem and involve the application of established social science techniques and methodologies.
- Operations and policy studies
The analysis and assessment of departmental programs, policies and operations, the activities of units concerned with the continuing analysis and monitoring of external phenomena (e.g., foreign economic statistics, defence and security information) as well as studies to provide an information base for policy development. The work is carried out by specialized units in some government departments, by consultants, by royal commissions and by task forces.
Education support
Grants to individuals or institutions on behalf of individuals which are intended to support the post-secondary education of students in technology and the social sciences. General purpose grants to educational institutions are excluded. The activity includes the support of foreign students in their studies of the social sciences at Canadian or foreign institutions. Grants intended primarily to support the research of individuals at universities are either R&D grants or research fellowships.
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