Research and Development of Canadian Private Non-profit Organizations

Detailed information for 1999

This survey collects data which are essential to assure the availability of pertinent statistical information to monitor science and technology related activities in Canada and to support the development of science and technology policy.

Data release - December 22, 2000

• Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s)
• Description
• Data sources and methodology

Description

This survey highlights expenditures and personnel devoted annually to scientific research and development (R&D) by Canadian Private Non-Profit Organizations. It collects data essential to assure the availability of pertinent statistical information to monitor science and technology related activities in Canada and to support the development of science and technology policy.

The results of the Research & Development of Canadian Private Non-Profit Organizations Survey are published in the service bulletin series 88-001 and are used as a key component in the Gross Expenditures of Research & Development (GERD) in Canada series. Non-Profit R&D data are combined with data from other R&D performing sectors: Federal Science Expenditures and Personnel, Activities in the Social Sciences and Natural Sciences (Survey ID 4212), higher education, Research and Development in Canadian Industry (Survey ID 4201) and Provincial Research Organizations (Survey ID 4208). These data serve many users from: federal & provincial government science analysts who develop and monitor programs aimed at stimulating science and technology in Canadian industry; to international organizations such as the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). University researchers, research councils, business enterprises, research institutes and associations, science journal writers, the general public and the media are all users of R&D data.

Statistical activity

Science and technology (S&T) and the information society are changing the way we live, learn and work. The concepts are closely intertwined: science generates new understanding of the way the world works, technology applies it to develop innovative products and services and the information society is one of the results of the innovations.

People are looking to Statistics Canada to measure and explain the social and economic impacts of these changes.

The purpose of this Program is to develop useful indicators of S&T activity in Canada based on a framework that ties them together in a coherent picture.

Research and experimental development includes systematic creative work to increase the body of knowledge, including knowledge of people, cultures and societies, and the use of this body of knowledge to create new applications.

Reference period: Fiscal year

Subjects

• Research and development
• Science and technology

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The survey population covers approximately 100 private philanthropic foundations, voluntary health organizations, associations and societies and research institutes.

Instrument design

The form was designed and developed using the OECD guidelines as outlined in the Frascati Manual, 1993.

The questionnaire evaluation and testing is an ongoing process, insofar as to how it covers inputs to R&D activity, including sources of funds and type of expenditures and R&D personnel.

Sampling

This survey is a census with a cross-sectional design.

Data sources

Responding to this survey is mandatory.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents.

This annual postal survey is aimed at all Canadian private non-profit organisations firms believed to be performing or funding research and development. The questionnaire is mailed in the first half of April each year. Telephone contact is made to all non-reporting establishments throughout July and August to discuss reporting options and to make special arrangements including partial response in some instances.

View the Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s) .

Error detection

Data checked with funders' reports (when applicable), previous returns, financial statements.

Quality evaluation

The quality of the statistical information is measured by the extent to which the final product meets the survey's original objective. The purpose of the Research and Development of Canadian Private Non-Profit Organizations Survey is to monitor science and technology activities in Canada and to support the development of science and technology policy.

To ensure that the data from this survey are of the highest quality, we continually monitor the coverage of our survey population, so that all enterprises known to belong to the universe are taken into account. If we do not get data directly from the respondent, we search in many other sources, including funders' reports when available, previous questionnaires or administrative data, and published data such as financial statements and the sampling frames of the Federal Science Expenditures and Personnel Survey and the Research and Development in Canadian Industry Survey.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects which could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.

To prevent disclosing data on individual respondents, many items or cells must be grouped together to provide sufficient observations for dissemination (e.g., socioeconomic objectives).