APPENDIX I Glossary of Science and Development - The systematic use of the knowledge and understanding gained from scientific research directed toward the production of useful materials, devices or methods, including design and construction of prototypes and demonstration of processes. Engineering - The profession in which a knowledge of the mathematical and natural sciences gained by experience, study, and practice is applied to develop ways to utilize economically the materials and forces of nature for the benefit of mankind. Innovation-A term used to signify either the product of a complex series of activities, or the process itself. It includes (1) a perception of a problem or opportunity; (2) a "first conception" or invention of an original idea; (3) a succession of interwoven steps of research, development, engineering, design, market analysis, and management decisionmaking; and (4) a "first realization" of "culmination" when an industrially successful thing—a product, industrial procedure, or technique-is first used in an economic, industrial, or social context, and perhaps also the adoption of the process or manufacture of the product by others in competition. Lead Time-The time between two designated events, the second one generally being an objective or goal. In research and technology development, usually refers to the time between the beginning of a project, like the commitment of funds to develop an airplane, and the project's successful completion, which may be when *Source: This glossary is extracted from Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Science Policy, A Working Glossary, prepared for the Subcommittee on Science, Research and Development, Committee on Science and Astronautics, U.S. House of Representatives, 93rd Congress, 1st Session, July 1973. a successful prototype flies or when new planes are in mass production. However, the term has come to be applied widely to any preparatory period, decision sequence, or time lag between signal and response. Mission-A single large operation or task, or a continuing specific function. Examples of missions might include the construction of a number of housing units, capture of a hill, development of a prototype breeder reactor, or achievement of improved pollution control. A distinction may be made between an agency of government performing a continuous or repetitive function such as budgetary control or revenue administration, and an agency responsible for carrying out some one of the missions listed. The latter might be called a "Mission Agency," but probably not the former. Operations Research-Defined by Lord Rothschild as "the application of objective and quantitative criteria to decision making previously tackled by experience, intuition, or prejudice." PERT-Acronym for Program Evaluation and Review Technique. The concept involves identifying significant actions or accomplishments, identifying actions that must precede these, estimating the time required to accomplish each, and presenting this information graphically (PERT chart) and as a computer printout. The scheme strengthens management by enabling flexible scheduling, identifying long leadtime tasks, and calling attention to problems needing correction. It speeds the process by showing the "critical path" to completion, and identifying the sequence of events that must take place so that management attention can be focused on them. Program (noun) – A set of actions to implement an agency's mission, or a major part of the mission; also, a pattern of instructions to a computer. RDT&E - Research, Development, Testing, and Engineering (or Evaluation). An abbreviation used primarily in the management of military hardware; it covers the spectrum of basic research, applied research and development - including the design and development of prototypes. It extends from initial determination of a strategic requirement for a system with defined performance capabilities to the operational deployment of the system. Research-Loosely, any gathering of information. More precisely, the gathering, ordering, and analysis of information systematically and according to predetermined criteria. Scientific research-research in accordance with scientific method - is defined by the National Science Foundation as "systematic, intensive study directed toward fuller scientific knowledge of the subject studied." Research, Applied - Systematic application of information, systematically acquired and validated. The National Science Foundation defines it as research directed "toward practical application of knowledge-it covers 'research projects' which represent investigations directed to discovery of new scientific knowledge and which have specific commercial objectives with respect to either products or processes. By this definition, applied research in industry differs from basic research chiefly in terms of objectives of the reporting company." Research, Basic - The systematic acquisition and validation of structured information or knowlege about the universe, employing for the purpose the methods and assumptions of science. In particular, basic research is directed toward a fuller knowledge or understanding of the subject under study, rather than toward the practical application of the knowledge or understanding. One view of this activity stresses that its motivation is curiosity about nature, leading the practitioner "to proceed along sophisticated disciplinary lines as delineated by peer judgment as to the frontier problem areas." Moreover, "open and free dissemination of the results of such inquiries is an international tradition of the scientific community." Basic research is sometimes distinguished from fundamental research, which is "the search for new knowledge in a broad but definite scientific field without reference to specific applications." Fundamental research is not the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. It seeks knowledge which is intended to benefit someone someday. But the specific nature of its eventual application is not known at the time the research is performed. Research, Exploratory - This category of investigation may be thought of as an intermediate stage between basic and applied research. Administratively, exploratory research is defined by the National Science Foundation as "the early stages of research in areas not yet well enough defined or understood to merit full programmatic support." Satisfice (verb) – This is an activity of “administrative man” who looks for a course of action that is adequate, reasonably satisfactory, or "good enough." It may be contrasted with "maximize," an activity of "economic man" who selects the best alternative from among those available. A significant aspect of satisficing behavior is that administrative man, because he satisfices rather than maximizes, can make his choices without first examining all possible behavioral alternatives and without ascertaining that these are in fact all the alternatives. Herbert Simon introduced the term in his Administrative Behavior, 2nd edition (New York: Free Press, 1957), pp. XXIVXXV. Science-A term for a broad area of human activity based on the unifying assumption of the universal relationship of effects to causes. It is aimed at discovering, characterizing, organizing, and explaining facts and relations according to principles of systematic and logical thought. Characteristic of science is the method of developing and testing hypotheses through empirical observation, the validation of findings through replication, the construction of orderly taxonomies of related information, and reliance on quantitative measurements employing accepted standards. The term is loosely applied to encompass not only the activity itself but also the community of practitioners of science, who are also governed by the rules and constraints of science. The term also embraces the products of science, in the form of discovered factual information, laws, concepts, inventions, and even novel artifacts relying on scientific discoveries for their inception. Science Infrastructure - The institutions necessary for the support of scientific research but which neither perform research nor control it. They include the industries producing instruments, the institutions establishing scientific standards, the institutions and other arrangements for documentation, exchange of scientific communications, interpersonal contacts among scientists, and for the training of technical support personnel in skills required in the laboratory, such as glass-blowing, electronic circuitry, instrument calibration, and the like. Standards(s)-Units, quantities, procedures, agreed to by consensus or imposed by decree, and available for reference in the reporting of scientific discoveries, in specifications and other procurement documents, and in international or other technical communications of all kinds. |