1 AIM AND SCOPE OF THE MANUAL

1.1.A preliminary word to the user of R&D data

1.This Manual was written by and for the national experts in member countries who collect and issue national R&D data and submit responses to OECD R&D surveys. Although many examples are given, the Manual remains a technical document which is mainly intended as a reference work.

2.Chapter 1 is addressed principally to users of R&D data. It provides a summary of the coverage and contents of the Manual in order to help them to use it. It also indicates why certain types of data are, or are not, collected, the problems of comparability they pose and what can be said about their interpretation.

1.2.Coverage of the Manual and the uses of R&D statistics

3.The Manual was first issued nearly 40 years ago and deals exclusively with the measurement of human and financial resources devoted to research and experimental development (R&D), often referred to as R&D “input” data.

4.Over the years, input statistics have proved to be valuable indicators and have been used in various national and international reports. The OECD reports on science and technology indicators (OECD, 1984; OECD, 1986; OECD, 1989a); the Science and Technology Policy Review and Outlook series and the

Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard (OECD, every second year) all provide useful measures of the scale and direction of R&D in various countries, sectors, industries, scientific fields and other categories of classification. Administrations concerned with economic growth and productivity rely on R&D statistics as one type of indicator of technological change. Advisors concerned with science policy, but also with industrial policy and even general economic and social policies, use them extensively. R&D statistics are now an essential background element for many government programmes and provide an important tool for evaluating them. In many countries, R&D statistics are regarded as a part of general economic statistics.

5.However, R&D statistics are not enough. In the context of the knowledge-based economy, it has become increasingly clear that such data need to be examined within a conceptual framework that relates them both to other types of resources and to the desired outcomes of given R&D activities. This link may be made, for example, via the innovation process (see Section 1.5.3) or within the broader framework of “intangible investment”,

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which covers not only R&D and related S&T activities but also expenditures on software, training, organisation, etc. Similarly, R&D personnel data need to be viewed as part of a model for the training and use of scientific and technical personnel. It is also of interest to analyse R&D data in conjunction with other economic variables, such as value added and investment data. The Manual is not based on a single model of the S&T system; its aim is to make it possible to produce statistics that can be used to calculate indicators for use in various models.

6.The Manual has two parts. The first consists of seven chapters in addition to this introductory chapter. They present recommendations and guidelines on the collection and interpretation of established R&D data. While all member countries may not be able to comply with the recommendations as stated, there is consensus that these are the standard to which all should aspire.

7.The second part consists of eleven annexes, which interpret and expand upon the basic principles outlined in the preceding chapters in order to provide additional guidelines for R&D surveys or deal with topics relevant to R&D surveys. These annexes can be used for information purposes but are not necessarily an up-to-date interpretation of the subject.

8.The Manual is published both as a paper version and an electronic version available on the Internet. The electronic version will be more frequently updated with new material.

1.3.The relationship between the Frascati Manual and other international standards

9.R&D is carried out throughout the economy but has certain characteristics that distinguish it from the larger family of scientific activities and from the economic activities of which it is a part. From the outset, it was intended that the OECD should establish a set of guidelines on the measurement of scientific and technological activities. For many years the Frascati Manual was the only such manual; more recently, four others have been added. In addition, other OECD methodological frameworks are available for science and technology and related activities, such as education (see Table 1.1).

10.The OECD did not set out to establish international norms for S&T where these already existed. Thus, the Manual is consistent with UNESCO recommendations for all scientific and technological activities (UNESCO, 1978), but is specific to R&D and to the needs of OECD member countries, whose rather similar economic and scientific systems distinguish them from non-OECD countries.

FRASCATI MANUAL 2002 – ISBN 92-64-19903-9 – © OECD 2002

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Table 1.1. OECD methodological manuals
Type of data	Title
A. The “Frascati family”	The Measurement of Scientific and Technological Activities Series
R&D	Frascati Manual: Proposed Standard Practice for Surveys of Research
	and Experimental Development
	R&D Statistics and Output Measurement in the Higher Education Sector.
	“Frascati Manual Supplement” (OECD, 1989b)
Technology balance of payments	“Manual for the Measurement and Interpretation of Technology Balance
	of Payments Data – TBP Manual” (OECD, 1990)1
Innovation	OECD Proposed Guidelines for Collecting and Interpreting Technological
	Innovation Data – Oslo Manual (OECD, 1997a)
Patents	“Using Patent Data as Science and Technology Indicators – Patent
	Manual 1994” (OECD, OCDE/GD(94)114, 1994b)1
S&T personnel	“The Measurement of Human Resources Devoted to Science
	and Technology – Canberra Manual” (OECD, 1995)
B. Other methodological frameworks for S&T
High-technology	“Revision of High-technology Sector and Product Classification”
	(OECD, STI Working Paper 1997/2)
Bibliometrics	“Bibliometric Indicators and Analysis of Research Systems, Methods
	and Examples”, by Yoshiko Okubo (OECD, STI Working Paper 1997/1)
Globalisation	Manual of Economic Globalisation Indicators (provisional title,
	forthcoming)
C. Other relevant OECD statistical frameworks
Education statistics	OECD Manual for Comparative Education Statistics (forthcoming)
Education classification	Classifying Educational Programmes, Manual for ISCED-97
	Implementation in OECD countries (OECD, 1999)
Training statistics	Manual for Better Training Statistics – Conceptual, Measurement
	and Survey Issues (OECD, 1997b)

1. Deals mainly with problems of classifying and interpreting existing information.

Source: OECD.

11.Because of the need to place R&D in a wider context, both conceptually and in terms of databases, United Nations (UN) classifications are used as far as possible, e.g. System of National Accounts – SNA (UN, 1968); Commission of the European Communities – CEC (CEC et al., 1994); International Standard Industrial Classification – ISIC (UN, 1990); International Standard Classification of Occupations – ISCO (International Labour Organization, 1990); and International Standard Classification of Education – ISCED (UNESCO, 1997). Furthermore, wherever possible, the Manual draws on the experience of regional organisations within the OECD area, notably the European Union (EU) and the Nordic Industrial Fund.

12.The references to R&D in such classifications are relatively recent and are generally based on the Frascati Manual as the established international statistical framework.

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