Research and Development survey

Overview

The ONS run a suite of Research and Development (R&D) surveys:

• Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD)
• Government Expenditure on Research and Development (GOVERD)
• Private non-profit (PNP)

Each of these annual surveys are used to measure R&D activity in the UK.  Outputs from each are combined with administrative data that measures R&D activity for the higher education sector to compile the ONS’ Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D release.  Headline statistics from this release are used to measure progress towards government set targets linked to R&D.

We want to ensure that our data meets the needs of the people who use it. To achieve this, we are conducting a review of our applied methodology, exploring alternative data sources and reviewing our R&D questionnaires.  Some questions asking about the higher education sector specifically have been drafted in partnership with the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and Higher Education Funding Councils and bodies (Office for Students, Scottish Funding Council, Higher Education Funding Council for Wales and Department for the Economy Northern Ireland), responses to these questions will be shared with them and reviewed jointly with the ONS.

We want to understand more about users’ experiences of R&D outputs to help us understand:

• What data are most useful
• What data gaps currently exist
• What administrative data sources could potentially help us measure R&D
• What impacts any changes we implement may have

We’d be grateful if you could share your views by completing this short survey.

Please also feel free to use the comments section to expand on your answers, or if you’d like to provide any additional feedback or examples.