Respondents rated priorities for basic and applied research in various specialties of materials science and engineering on a five-level scale. Rating numbers were then calculated from:

where (1) is the number of “very high” responses, (2) is the number of “high” responses, etc. This gives a rating number for each specialty between 0 and 100, where 0 would mean all “very low” responses and 100 would mean all “very high” responses. In the case of applied research, the priority rating for each specialty was obtained on the basis of its relative importance to various national inpact areas and subareas. The respondents also rated their own familiarity with each specialty on a five-level scale, and a rating number for such familiarity was similarly calculated. The questionnaire covered 46 specialties in materials science and engineering, nine national impact areas, and 52 subareas.

The data presented here are condensed from a more extensive analysis of the replies to the questionnaire, which will be included in a later COSMAT report. The fuller report will also give break-downs of responses by various subgroups selected according to academic discipline, highest degree, age, type of institution, type of activity, and management level. These subgroups showed some individual differences, but by and large the responses of the various subgroups were remarkably similar.