Outline

1. Objective of the Survey

The Survey is designed to provide basic materials for promoting science and technology in Japan, by studying the research and development (R&D) activities actually carried out in Japan.

2. Legal basis of the Survey

The Survey is conducted for the purpose of preparing "Fundamental Statistics" pursuant to the Statistics Act (Act No.53 of 2007).

With regard to the conducting the Survey, the "Regulation of the Survey of Research and Development" (Prime Minister's Order No. 33 of 1981) was enacted.

3. History of the Survey

The Survey was initiated in August 1953 as the "Basic Statistical Survey of Research Institutions" (Designated Statistics No. 61), and renamed of the present "Survey of Research and Development" in March 1960 with the revision of the extension of the coverage and the change in the statistical unit in the business sector.

Later, in 2002, the Survey has been revised extensively, with the revisions including expansion of the covered industries, changes in the sampling design and changes in the survey items. This was to make the survey compatible with the change in the environment of the R&D activities in recent years as the advancement of such activities conducted in non-manufacturing industries and globalization of enterprise R&D activities.

And as for the 2008 survey, it is changed to the new division based on the revision of the Japan Standard Industrial Classification (Rev. 12, November 2007) on chapter of result tables.

4. Survey date

Data on personnel and capital are surveyed as of March 31, 2009, while financial statistics such as sales and R&D expenditures are reported for the fiscal year ending on the latest settling day prior to March 31, 2009.

5. Coverage and the statistical unit

The survey covers business enterprises, non-profit institutions and public organizations, and universities and colleges. Statistical unit is the following.

(1) Business enterprises

Enterprises

(2) Non-profit institutions and public organizations

Organizations

(3) Universities and colleges

Faculties of universities and facilities (including postgraduate courses), and organizations for junior colleges, technical colleges, and research institutes attached to universities, Inter-university Research Institute Corporations and Institute of National Colleges of Technology.

6. Survey items

The following items were enumerated using three questionnaires: Questionnaire A for business enterprises, Questionnaire B for non-profit institutions and public organizations, and Questionnaire C for universities and colleges. Among business enterprises, Questionnaire A-I was used for those with a capital of 100 million yen or more and special corporations, and Questionnaire A-II was used for those with a capital of less than 100 million yen.

(1) Questionnaire A-I (for business enterprises)

1. Name
2. Location
3. Present status of the business enterprise
4. Total number of persons employed
5. Capital
6. Sales
7. Net operating profits
8. Technology balance of payments
9. Countries or territories and amounts of distinction or origin in technology exports and imports
10. "Yes" or "no" on R&D activities
11. Number of persons employed in R&D (researchers, assistant research workers, technicians, clerical and other supporting personnel, and researchers with Ph.D.'s)
12. Number of researchers who joined or left the business enterprise
13. Number of researchers by specialty (19 specialties)
14. Intramural expenditure on R&D including labour costs, materials, expenditure on tangible fixed assets, lease fees, other expenses, and depreciation of tangible fixed assets
15. Expenditures on R&D by type of activity (basic research, applied research, development research)
16. Expenditures on R&D by product and service field (31 categories)
17. Expenditures on R&D by selected objective (life sciences, information technology, environmental science and technology, materials, nanotechnology, energy, space exploration, and oceanology)
18. R&D funds received from central and local governments, special corporations and incorporated administrative agencies, companies, private universities, nonprofit institutions, and overseas institutions
19. R&D funds paid outside to central and local governments, special corporations and incorporated administrative agencies, companies, private universities, nonprofit institutions, and overseas institutions

(2) Questionnaire A-II(for business enterprises)

  From No.1 toNo.15 is same as in Questionnaire A-I.

16. Same as No.18 in Questionnaire A-I

17. Same as No.19 in Questionnaire A-I

(3) Questionnaire B (for non-profit institutions and public organizations)

1. Name
2. Location
3. "Yes" or "no" on R&D activities
4. Total number of persons employed
5. Total expenditure
6. Description of main operations and R&D activities
7. Names and locations of branches
8. Field of science of the main R&D activity (11 categories)
9. Number of persons employed in R&D (same as in Questionnaire A-I)
10. Number of researchers who joined or left the organization
11. Number of researchers by specialty (24 specialties)
12. Intramural expenditure on R&D including labour costs, materials, expenditure on tangible fixed assets, lease fees, and other expenses
13. Expenditures on R&D by type of activity (same as in Questionnaire A-I)
14. Expenditures on R&D by selected objective (same as in Questionnaire A-I)
15. R&D funds received (same as in Questionnaire A-I)
16. R&D funds paid outside (same as in Questionnaire A-I)

(4) Questionnaire C (for universities and colleges)

1. Name
2. Location
3. Kind of universities and colleges (university faculty, junior college, technical college, research institute attached to the university, Inter-university Research Institute Corporations, others)
4. Names and locations of branches
5. Field of science of the main R&D activity (12 categories)
6. Number of persons employed in R&D (regular researchers including teachers, doctor course students, and medical staff and others and external non-regular researchers, assistant research workers, technicians and clerical and other supporting personnel) , non-R&D personnel, and researchers with Ph.D.'s
7. Number of researchers who joined or left the institution
8. Number of regular researchers by specialty (42 specialties)
9. Total expenditure
10. Intramural expenditure on R&D (same as in Questionnaire B)
11. Expenditures on R&D by type of activity (same as in Questionnaire A-I)
12. Expenditures on R&D by selected objective (same as in Questionnaire A-I)
13. R&D funds received (same as in Questionnaire A-I)
14. R&D funds paid outside (same as in Questionnaire A-I)

7. Survey method

Questionnaires were mailed to sample respondents through a company entrusted by the Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The filled-in questionnaires were returned directly to the Bureau by mail or via the Internet.

8. Sampling

(1) The business enterprises were divided into 8×40 strata based on yes/no of research activities (as found out through the previous survey), capital (8 classes), and industries (40 categories) on the basis of the results of the 2006 Establishment and Enterprise Census and the previous survey. The prescribed number of business enterprises was selected from each stratum.

(2) The non-profit institutions and public organizations were surveyed using a list prepared based on reports from central and local governments.

(3)All universities and colleges in Japan were surveyed using the list compiled with materials from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

9. Number of samples and response ratio

The survey covered approx. 13,600 business enterprises, approx. 1,100 non-profit institutions and public organizations, and approx. 3,600 universities and colleges, for a total of approx. 18,300. The response ratio was approx. 85%.(approx. 79% of the business enterprises, approx. 99% of the non-profit institutions and public organizations, and approx. 100% of the universities and colleges).

10. Estimation method

The estimation method for the figures for business enterprises is the ratio estimation with a benchmark of the business enterprises by capital, industry and performance of R&D (2 categories : performing R&D, and not performing R&D) in the previous survey estimated from the 2006 Establishment and Enterprise Census.

11. Tabulation and Publication

The completed questionnaires of the 2009 Survey of Research and Development were processed by the Incorporated Administrative Agency National Statistics Center.The major tabulation points are as follows:

-Items related to expenditure on R&D
-Items related to the number of persons employed in R&D
-Items related to the international exchange of technology

The Statistics Bureau has released the 2009 survey results on December 10, 2009.