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From page 694... ... TABULATION OF SURVEY DATA T h e edited, or ig inal questionnaires constituted the basic source for the tabular presentation o f the summarized, pert inent facts concerning the housing research activities of each ind iv idua l repor t ing i n st i tut ion A f t e r considerable testing, a standard, pr in ted tabula tor f o r m or "spread sheet" was designed fo r recording i n a more or less standardized manner, the significant in fo rmat ion obtained by the survey T h e general structure of the f o r m was contr ived to relate visually as wel l as administrat ively and func t iona l ly , the organizational un i t , i f any, i n charge of a given area of housing research, its fac i l ities and capabilities, and a description of each current research project being undertaken by the uni t , classified and cross-classified under appropr i ate ma jo r fields Insofar as possible, the o rgan iza t ion^ units repor t ing technological housing research were listed first i n order, fol lowed by units repor t ing social science or other nontechnological research Less detailed in fo rma t ion was requested of organizations sponsoring housing research and the standard f o r m for presenting the i n fo rma t ion submitted by such sponsoring organizations comprised a brief statement of the general nature of the work , the name of the ins t i tu t ion actually do ing the research, and the name of the persons i n charge o f the under taking T h e tabular presentations, therefore, are self-sufficient i n that the sheets relat ing to a given organizat ion summarize a l l the significant and relevant in fo rmat ion reported by i t I n some few, isolated instances, reference to the or ig inal questionnaires migh t conceivably a m p l i f y slighdy some of the tabulated data , bu t i n the main , and for a l l practical purposes, the spread sheets adequately represent the questionnaire forms I n order to develop a l is t ing of reported research projects grouped under the ma jo r fields and minor areas to w h i c h their subject matter related, selected in fo rmat ion concerning each i n d i v idua l project was derived f r o m the basic tabulations Fo l lowing this transcription, the data were classified and, i n many cases cross-classified, under appropriate descriptive headings T h e end result of this final tabula t ion produced a compend ium of pertinent facts concerning a l l reported research projects, arranged in accordance w i t h their general and specific subject matter These data are presented i n P a r t I I u n d e r the heading, "Project Listings by Subject " REVIEW AND OVER-ALL ANALYSIS OF SURVEY RESULTS Completeness of Coverage Statistics and br ief factual comments have been presented m a previous section to describe the unusually h igh degree of numerical completeness " See table I , p 700 of response made by repor t ing units, w h i c h facts alone fa i r ly we l l substantiate a c la im to completeness i n coverage T h e total effective completeness of the survey, however, is a func t ion of (1) the adequacy of the number and kinds of organizations selected for the survey, and (2) Read the entire page →
From page 695... ... Since the absolute accuracy of the first variable cannot be established wi thou t actual ly canvassing organizations el iminated as objects of the survey (a needless procedure i n view of the completeness and positive nature of returns) , and since the selective process for the four tvpes of organizations was careful ly and ra t ional ly arr ived at, i t can reasonably be held that the survey coverage was i n fact complete, at least for an in i t i a l survey of this type I f , as It is hoped, the results of the survey are subsequently kept current and expanded, then refinements i n the quan t i ty and types of organizations to be covered w o u l d of course be indicated T h e present survey canvassing structure should a f fo rd a sound base for cont inued or expanded canvassing operations T h e second variable bearing on the survey's completeness may be more vulnerable because the to ta l i ty of repor t ing w i t h i n each respondent organizat ion was largely dependent on the personal in i t i a t ive and efforts of the key respondent to conduct v i r t ua l l y a one-man canvassing operation o f his organizat ion, a task that was recognizably formidable , par t icu lar ly among many of the larger universities Moreover , neither the key respondent nor the survey edi tor ia l team could be certain that the completed questionnaires accounted for all housing research activities i n all of any given organization's departments or research units But i n the aggregate, i t is believed that the omissions of reports of consequential housing research are relatively few i n number , for a l though some smaller organizations, par t icu lar ly the smaller educational institutions, returned scanty or ind i f fe ren t ly prepared reports, the larger organizations, w h i c h account for the bulk of research, tended i n several cases to "over repor t " to the extent of inc lud ing descriptions of research efforts clearly outside the scope of housing research O n the basis of survey stafTs audits, probably the greatest quant i ta t ive deficiency common to university repor t ing was their fa i lure -- or inab i l i t y -- t o include any significant number of graduate theses i n housing fields and the research work done more or less independently by facul ty members A l l university reports were checked against published compilations of graduate theses and edi tor ia l additions were made i n some cases of well-estab704 lished cases of obvious omissions However, because of the incomplete in fo rma t ion respecting the t ime period i n wh ich the graduate work was accomplished, the total adjustments were relatively few i n number A l l o w i n g for a f a i r l y h igh rate of omissions i n the repor t ing o f graduate theses, w o r k of facul ty members, and incompleteness and lack of response among the noneducational groups, i t is believed reasonable to estimate that the survey accounts for wel l over 90 percent of a l l the housing research among a l l respondent groups combined Expenditures for Housing Research For a l l organizations actual ly engaged i n housing research, the questionnaires provided fo r statements of the sums spent on such research for the most recent fiscal year and the average amounts so expended d u r i n g the past five years or less T h e objective of these queries was to secure a rough approximat ion of the total direct and overhead costs for research operations d u r i n g the t ime periods specified T h e expenditure i n f o r m a t i o n was solici ted on the pledge that no figures w o u l d be published i n respect to any specific organizat ion F u l l y aware of the serious l imita t ions and lack of comparabi l i ty of dol lar outlays reported under the wide range of accounting methods employed by the diverse types and sizes of repor t ing organizations, the survey therefore made no scientific or serious ef for t to secure accurate or complete returns i n this regard Probably the only observation that should be made concerning expenditures is that the total outlays, incompletely -- and i n many cases no doubt inaccurately -- reported, nevertheless are substant ia l Moreover , there is great variance i n this respect among the numerous fields and areas of research So many and varied were the sources of funds reported for conduct ing housing research that a classification is neither feasible nor significant F r o m general observation and review of the data, i t may be stated that much of the technological housing research reported by universities is financed or sponsored i n whole or i n par t th rough grants f r o m private industry di rect ly or through trade associations, through foundat ion awards, and Read the entire page →
From page 696... ... th rough Federal Gkjvernment contracts A large por t ion of social science and other nontechnological housing research i n universities is supported by government contracts, or by the universities themselves Sources of funds for the research engaged i n by the other repor t ing organizations usually are derived f r o m their no rma l financial operations Quantitative Summary of Research Reported There being no alternative statistical o r repor t ing un i t , the survey of necessity employed the te rm "p ro j ec t " as the basic common denominator fo r repor t ing housing research efforts T h e questionnaires d i d not spell out the te rm since its meaning is we l l understood among the professions to denote any defini te ly formula ted piece o f research on a given subject Considerable l imi ta t ions therefore are presented by the unqual i f ied use of the absolute number of "projects" as a measure of the volume of research ac t iv i ty Projects reported vary wide ly i n scope and i n t ime and ef for t required for their complet ion However , the figures m table I I are revealing on a relative basis A fu r the r l i m i t i n g factor affect ing the statistics relates to the number of projects reported by commercial laboratories As previously indicated, these organizations were asked to report only typical or representative research undertakings, hence the actual extent of their activities may be understated, bo th absolutely and relatively Current housing research projects aggregating 1,089 were reported by the 199 organizations rep l y i n g a f f i rma t ive ly to the survey questionnaire, the d is t r ibu t ion of w h i c h is shown m table I I Theoretically, the total figure o f 1,089 may be inf la ted by 127 since that number of research projects is reported as being sponsored by organizations. Table II. -- Distribution by type of ersaniiatien of number of housing research projects reported Research projects * Read the entire page →
From page 697... ... main ly trade associations, the actual research work being done by other organizations, chiefly educa t ional institutions Actua l ly , the amount of d u p l i cat ion IS no doubt less than the quan t i ty i n d i cated because of report ing variations employed by the respondents m designating the t ime intervals re la t ing to the d i f ferent projects Yet some significance may at tach to the fact that probably, on the average, a round 10 percent of a l l current housing research projects are financially sponsored by one type of organization for actual accomplishment by an organizat ion of another type Since a large number of sponsored research projects is customar i ly done by educational institutions, their share of the to ta l amount of research presently being done is unquestionably greater than the computed 63 5 percent shown by the table Whereas the educational institutions, as a group, accounted for 63 5 percent of the to ta l projects reported, w i t h i n this group, nine, or nine percent of the institutions, listed 20 or more current projects and accounted for 41 6 percent of the group total Th i s IS a significant degree o f concentrat ion even after mak ing due allowances for the use of a ' "pro j ect" as a measure of research act iv i ty One founda t ion proper and three nonprof i t agencies accounted for 81 4 percent o f the number of projects reported by that group I n the remaining organizational groups there was no significant disproport ion i n the d i s t r ibu t ion of projects reported As to the d is t r ibut ion of reported projects between technological and social science fields, the educat ional institutions described 64 2 percent of their projects as f a l l i ng w i t h i n the former field and 35 8 percent i n the latter A much higher degree of concentration i n technological fields was reported by the other organizational groups, as migh t be expected Tab le I I I shows the d is t r ibu t ion o f a l l research projects reported, classified under the pnnc ipa l fields and areas to w h i c h their subject matter relates Except for three " modifications, the grouping is based on that l a id d o w n in the B R A B classification of ma jo r housing research categories, and reference is made to such list and to the detailed out l ine included elsewhere i n this report '2 See pp 7-8 for explanation of changes 706 T h e concentration of 70 2 percent of housing research i n the technological branches represents more or less a statistical conf i rmat ion o f previous conjectures i n regard to the ma jo r areas of housing research act iv i ty W h a t is new, however, is the pattern of relative d i s t r ibu t ion of research i n the over-all p ic ture and w i t h i n the t w o m a j o r spheres of the over-all picture W i t h i n the defined scope of the survey, research concerning the materials of bu i ld ing construction accounts for 27 percent of a l l reported current projects, fo l lowed b y research re la t ing to the various elements of bu i ld ing structures and the mechanical equipment contained therein Thus , 51 percent of a l l current housing research act ivi ty , w i t h i n the confines of the survey, is concerned w i t h the physical components of b u i l d i n g structures W i t h i n the sphere of technological research proper, these three areas account fo r 73 percent o f the total , and i f the closely related area of Composite Physical Research IS added, then these four branches are found to account fo r 84 percent o f a l l reported technological research T h e d i s tnbu t ion of the number of research projects among di f ferent areas i n the social science segment is only slightly less selective than i n the technological sphere, w i t h the three leading interrelated areas o f U r b a n Studies, General Economic and Social Data , and Social Psychology accounting for 52 percent of the group to ta l , yet these same three groups represent only 15 percent of the total number of a l l reported projects I t should be noted that the ma jo r headings under w h i c h the research projects are listed are relative rather than absolute A b o u t 30 percent of the total number o f projects were, i n fact, crossclassified under more than one ma jo r heading because their subject matter was not exclusively related to one part icular field For a l l practical purposes, however, the d i s t r ibu t ion shown by table I I I IS a reliable guide for showing the m a i n areas of housing research activities A n actual examinat ion of ind iv idua l project descriptions is necessary for a cr i t ica l evaluation of the scope of housing research i n order to discover dupl ica t ion of e f for t , i f any, or to detect gaps i n any essential areas o f the sum total of reported housing research Read the entire page →
From page 698... ... Table III. -- Percentage distribuHen by major fields and areas of all reported housing research projects • Percent of Percent of category total 100 0 70 2 38 0 27 0 19 0 14 0 16 0 10 0 11 0 8 1 9 0 6 0 3 0 2 0 1 7 1 3 1 3 1 0 1 0 8 100 0 29 8 26 0 8 0 14 0 4 0 12 0 3 0 8 0 2 2 5 8 1 8 5 8 1 8 5 0 1 5 4 8 1 4 4 0 1 2 4 0 1 2 3 1 1 1 3 0 1 0 2 5 9 2 0 7 Field and area Technological research B u i l d i n g materials Structures Mechanica l equipment Composite physical research D w e l l m g design Construct ion methods Design-structures L a n d p lann ing N a t u r a l sciences Social science and other nontechnical research U r b a n studies General economic and social data Social psychology Fmance Psychology-physiology Housmg regulation Housmg market Housebui lding industry Housing cost Housing hygiene Research coordinat ion Management , operation, and mamtenance Legislation and adminis t ra t ion Construction labor 1 Comprises all projects reported by the 99 educational institutions, 70 trade associations and professional societies, 22 foundations and other nonprofit agencies, and 8 commercial laboratories The distnbution shown is calculated, not on the actual number of projects as shown in table I I , but on the gross total of projects as cross-classified under the one or more fields and areas to which their subject matter relates Qualitative Review T h e contract under w h i c h the survey was conducted d i d not contemplate an evaluation by B R A B of the quality, i nd iv idua l ly or collectively, of the research activities reported T h e mul t i tude of research projects was assembled and classified w i t h o u t reference to any qua l i ty standard except fo r the principles previously noted as guides for edi t ing the or ig inal questionnaires I n the main , therefore, the project descriptions appearing i n Part I I I of the report are exactly as set f o r t h by the respondents T h e manner i n w h i c h the research projects were described varied, as migh t be expected, almost as much as the subject matter of the under taking Itself Adequacy and definitiveness among the descriptions ranged f r o m such expressions as "continuous research i n housing" to lengthy abstractions wh ich , i f l i te ra l ly construed, w o u l d denote the investigation through one project of nearly a l l the fields of housing research Fortunately, i n the ma jo r i t y of cases the narrat ive descriptions were sufficiently complete and explici t at least to suggest the general scope of i nqu i ry Such a qual i ta t ive range i n project descriptions natura l ly rendered d i f f i cu l t their classification under major headings, i n fact, the adequacy of the narrative descriptions set the l imi ts for basic classification and crossclassification T h e variations i n project descrip707 Read the entire page →
From page 699... ... tions also presented great diff icul t ies in t racing and iden t i fy ing projects as between a sponsoring organizat ion and the organizat ion actually do ing the research work fo r the sponsor But , as previously indicated, i t was possible to establish such research relationship i n most cases T h e manpower engaged i n housing research, as reported by most respondents, was generally i m properly and inaccurately arr ived at, and these values should be used w i t h reservations Instead of indicat ing the quan t i ty of manpower employed solely on housing research, most repor t ing organizations apparently listed the number of f u l l or par t - t ime persons employed by the research un i t w h i c h was, typical ly, car ry ing on housing research tn addition to other activities who l ly unrelated to housing research Aside f r o m the inadequacies noted, there are probably no other significant biasing factors m the large amount of in fo rmat ion called for by the questionnaires A l l things considered, the mass of practical data collected and assembled has exceeded expectations both i n regard to quan t i ty and qual i ty Possibly above a l l else, this Survey o f Housing Research demonstrates that housing research is extremely broad i n scope, complex i n its func t iona l and administrative interrelationship, and d i f f i cu l t of precise and inclusive def in i t ion For these and other related reasons, coordinat ing and cataloging accurately all extant housing research w o u l d be a prodigious task W i t h m its assigned sphere, this survey represents, i t is believed, an in i t i a l and pioneering accomplishment, a f fo rd ing a point of departure for its cont inuat ion and expansion to the u l t imate end of assembling and d i f fus ing perUnent knowledge concerning research i n housing and bu i ld ing 708 Read the entire page →

From page 694...

... TABULATION OF SURVEY DATA T h e edited, or ig inal questionnaires constituted the basic source for the tabular presentation o f the summarized, pert inent facts concerning the housing research activities of each ind iv idua l repor t ing i n st i tut ion A f t e r considerable testing, a standard, pr in ted tabula tor f o r m or "spread sheet" was designed fo r recording i n a more or less standardized manner, the significant in fo rmat ion obtained by the survey T h e general structure of the f o r m was contr ived to relate visually as wel l as administrat ively and func t iona l ly , the organizational un i t , i f any, i n charge of a given area of housing research, its fac i l ities and capabilities, and a description of each current research project being undertaken by the uni t , classified and cross-classified under appropr i ate ma jo r fields Insofar as possible, the o rgan iza t ion^ units repor t ing technological housing research were listed first i n order, fol lowed by units repor t ing social science or other nontechnological research Less detailed in fo rma t ion was requested of organizations sponsoring housing research and the standard f o r m for presenting the i n fo rma t ion submitted by such sponsoring organizations comprised a brief statement of the general nature of the work , the name of the ins t i tu t ion actually do ing the research, and the name of the persons i n charge o f the under taking T h e tabular presentations, therefore, are self-sufficient i n that the sheets relat ing to a given organizat ion summarize a l l the significant and relevant in fo rmat ion reported by i t I n some few, isolated instances, reference to the or ig inal questionnaires migh t conceivably a m p l i f y slighdy some of the tabulated data , bu t i n the main , and for a l l practical purposes, the spread sheets adequately represent the questionnaire forms I n order to develop a l is t ing of reported research projects grouped under the ma jo r fields and minor areas to w h i c h their subject matter related, selected in fo rmat ion concerning each i n d i v idua l project was derived f r o m the basic tabulations Fo l lowing this transcription, the data were classified and, i n many cases cross-classified, under appropriate descriptive headings T h e end result of this final tabula t ion produced a compend ium of pertinent facts concerning a l l reported research projects, arranged in accordance w i t h their general and specific subject matter These data are presented i n P a r t I I u n d e r the heading, "Project Listings by Subject " REVIEW AND OVER-ALL ANALYSIS OF SURVEY RESULTS Completeness of Coverage Statistics and br ief factual comments have been presented m a previous section to describe the unusually h igh degree of numerical completeness " See table I , p 700 of response made by repor t ing units, w h i c h facts alone fa i r ly we l l substantiate a c la im to completeness i n coverage T h e total effective completeness of the survey, however, is a func t ion of (1) the adequacy of the number and kinds of organizations selected for the survey, and (2)

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From page 695...

... Since the absolute accuracy of the first variable cannot be established wi thou t actual ly canvassing organizations el iminated as objects of the survey (a needless procedure i n view of the completeness and positive nature of returns) , and since the selective process for the four tvpes of organizations was careful ly and ra t ional ly arr ived at, i t can reasonably be held that the survey coverage was i n fact complete, at least for an in i t i a l survey of this type I f , as It is hoped, the results of the survey are subsequently kept current and expanded, then refinements i n the quan t i ty and types of organizations to be covered w o u l d of course be indicated T h e present survey canvassing structure should a f fo rd a sound base for cont inued or expanded canvassing operations T h e second variable bearing on the survey's completeness may be more vulnerable because the to ta l i ty of repor t ing w i t h i n each respondent organizat ion was largely dependent on the personal in i t i a t ive and efforts of the key respondent to conduct v i r t ua l l y a one-man canvassing operation o f his organizat ion, a task that was recognizably formidable , par t icu lar ly among many of the larger universities Moreover , neither the key respondent nor the survey edi tor ia l team could be certain that the completed questionnaires accounted for all housing research activities i n all of any given organization's departments or research units But i n the aggregate, i t is believed that the omissions of reports of consequential housing research are relatively few i n number , for a l though some smaller organizations, par t icu lar ly the smaller educational institutions, returned scanty or ind i f fe ren t ly prepared reports, the larger organizations, w h i c h account for the bulk of research, tended i n several cases to "over repor t " to the extent of inc lud ing descriptions of research efforts clearly outside the scope of housing research O n the basis of survey stafTs audits, probably the greatest quant i ta t ive deficiency common to university repor t ing was their fa i lure -- or inab i l i t y -- t o include any significant number of graduate theses i n housing fields and the research work done more or less independently by facul ty members A l l university reports were checked against published compilations of graduate theses and edi tor ia l additions were made i n some cases of well-estab704 lished cases of obvious omissions However, because of the incomplete in fo rma t ion respecting the t ime period i n wh ich the graduate work was accomplished, the total adjustments were relatively few i n number A l l o w i n g for a f a i r l y h igh rate of omissions i n the repor t ing o f graduate theses, w o r k of facul ty members, and incompleteness and lack of response among the noneducational groups, i t is believed reasonable to estimate that the survey accounts for wel l over 90 percent of a l l the housing research among a l l respondent groups combined Expenditures for Housing Research For a l l organizations actual ly engaged i n housing research, the questionnaires provided fo r statements of the sums spent on such research for the most recent fiscal year and the average amounts so expended d u r i n g the past five years or less T h e objective of these queries was to secure a rough approximat ion of the total direct and overhead costs for research operations d u r i n g the t ime periods specified T h e expenditure i n f o r m a t i o n was solici ted on the pledge that no figures w o u l d be published i n respect to any specific organizat ion F u l l y aware of the serious l imita t ions and lack of comparabi l i ty of dol lar outlays reported under the wide range of accounting methods employed by the diverse types and sizes of repor t ing organizations, the survey therefore made no scientific or serious ef for t to secure accurate or complete returns i n this regard Probably the only observation that should be made concerning expenditures is that the total outlays, incompletely -- and i n many cases no doubt inaccurately -- reported, nevertheless are substant ia l Moreover , there is great variance i n this respect among the numerous fields and areas of research So many and varied were the sources of funds reported for conduct ing housing research that a classification is neither feasible nor significant F r o m general observation and review of the data, i t may be stated that much of the technological housing research reported by universities is financed or sponsored i n whole or i n par t th rough grants f r o m private industry di rect ly or through trade associations, through foundat ion awards, and

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From page 696...

... th rough Federal Gkjvernment contracts A large por t ion of social science and other nontechnological housing research i n universities is supported by government contracts, or by the universities themselves Sources of funds for the research engaged i n by the other repor t ing organizations usually are derived f r o m their no rma l financial operations Quantitative Summary of Research Reported There being no alternative statistical o r repor t ing un i t , the survey of necessity employed the te rm "p ro j ec t " as the basic common denominator fo r repor t ing housing research efforts T h e questionnaires d i d not spell out the te rm since its meaning is we l l understood among the professions to denote any defini te ly formula ted piece o f research on a given subject Considerable l imi ta t ions therefore are presented by the unqual i f ied use of the absolute number of "projects" as a measure of the volume of research ac t iv i ty Projects reported vary wide ly i n scope and i n t ime and ef for t required for their complet ion However , the figures m table I I are revealing on a relative basis A fu r the r l i m i t i n g factor affect ing the statistics relates to the number of projects reported by commercial laboratories As previously indicated, these organizations were asked to report only typical or representative research undertakings, hence the actual extent of their activities may be understated, bo th absolutely and relatively Current housing research projects aggregating 1,089 were reported by the 199 organizations rep l y i n g a f f i rma t ive ly to the survey questionnaire, the d is t r ibu t ion of w h i c h is shown m table I I Theoretically, the total figure o f 1,089 may be inf la ted by 127 since that number of research projects is reported as being sponsored by organizations. Table II. -- Distribution by type of ersaniiatien of number of housing research projects reported Research projects *

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From page 697...

... main ly trade associations, the actual research work being done by other organizations, chiefly educa t ional institutions Actua l ly , the amount of d u p l i cat ion IS no doubt less than the quan t i ty i n d i cated because of report ing variations employed by the respondents m designating the t ime intervals re la t ing to the d i f ferent projects Yet some significance may at tach to the fact that probably, on the average, a round 10 percent of a l l current housing research projects are financially sponsored by one type of organization for actual accomplishment by an organizat ion of another type Since a large number of sponsored research projects is customar i ly done by educational institutions, their share of the to ta l amount of research presently being done is unquestionably greater than the computed 63 5 percent shown by the table Whereas the educational institutions, as a group, accounted for 63 5 percent of the to ta l projects reported, w i t h i n this group, nine, or nine percent of the institutions, listed 20 or more current projects and accounted for 41 6 percent of the group total Th i s IS a significant degree o f concentrat ion even after mak ing due allowances for the use of a ' "pro j ect" as a measure of research act iv i ty One founda t ion proper and three nonprof i t agencies accounted for 81 4 percent o f the number of projects reported by that group I n the remaining organizational groups there was no significant disproport ion i n the d i s t r ibu t ion of projects reported As to the d is t r ibut ion of reported projects between technological and social science fields, the educat ional institutions described 64 2 percent of their projects as f a l l i ng w i t h i n the former field and 35 8 percent i n the latter A much higher degree of concentration i n technological fields was reported by the other organizational groups, as migh t be expected Tab le I I I shows the d is t r ibu t ion o f a l l research projects reported, classified under the pnnc ipa l fields and areas to w h i c h their subject matter relates Except for three " modifications, the grouping is based on that l a id d o w n in the B R A B classification of ma jo r housing research categories, and reference is made to such list and to the detailed out l ine included elsewhere i n this report '2 See pp 7-8 for explanation of changes 706 T h e concentration of 70 2 percent of housing research i n the technological branches represents more or less a statistical conf i rmat ion o f previous conjectures i n regard to the ma jo r areas of housing research act iv i ty W h a t is new, however, is the pattern of relative d i s t r ibu t ion of research i n the over-all p ic ture and w i t h i n the t w o m a j o r spheres of the over-all picture W i t h i n the defined scope of the survey, research concerning the materials of bu i ld ing construction accounts for 27 percent of a l l reported current projects, fo l lowed b y research re la t ing to the various elements of bu i ld ing structures and the mechanical equipment contained therein Thus , 51 percent of a l l current housing research act ivi ty , w i t h i n the confines of the survey, is concerned w i t h the physical components of b u i l d i n g structures W i t h i n the sphere of technological research proper, these three areas account fo r 73 percent o f the total , and i f the closely related area of Composite Physical Research IS added, then these four branches are found to account fo r 84 percent o f a l l reported technological research T h e d i s tnbu t ion of the number of research projects among di f ferent areas i n the social science segment is only slightly less selective than i n the technological sphere, w i t h the three leading interrelated areas o f U r b a n Studies, General Economic and Social Data , and Social Psychology accounting for 52 percent of the group to ta l , yet these same three groups represent only 15 percent of the total number of a l l reported projects I t should be noted that the ma jo r headings under w h i c h the research projects are listed are relative rather than absolute A b o u t 30 percent of the total number o f projects were, i n fact, crossclassified under more than one ma jo r heading because their subject matter was not exclusively related to one part icular field For a l l practical purposes, however, the d i s t r ibu t ion shown by table I I I IS a reliable guide for showing the m a i n areas of housing research activities A n actual examinat ion of ind iv idua l project descriptions is necessary for a cr i t ica l evaluation of the scope of housing research i n order to discover dupl ica t ion of e f for t , i f any, or to detect gaps i n any essential areas o f the sum total of reported housing research

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From page 698...

... Table III. -- Percentage distribuHen by major fields and areas of all reported housing research projects • Percent of Percent of category total 100 0 70 2 38 0 27 0 19 0 14 0 16 0 10 0 11 0 8 1 9 0 6 0 3 0 2 0 1 7 1 3 1 3 1 0 1 0 8 100 0 29 8 26 0 8 0 14 0 4 0 12 0 3 0 8 0 2 2 5 8 1 8 5 8 1 8 5 0 1 5 4 8 1 4 4 0 1 2 4 0 1 2 3 1 1 1 3 0 1 0 2 5 9 2 0 7 Field and area Technological research B u i l d i n g materials Structures Mechanica l equipment Composite physical research D w e l l m g design Construct ion methods Design-structures L a n d p lann ing N a t u r a l sciences Social science and other nontechnical research U r b a n studies General economic and social data Social psychology Fmance Psychology-physiology Housmg regulation Housmg market Housebui lding industry Housing cost Housing hygiene Research coordinat ion Management , operation, and mamtenance Legislation and adminis t ra t ion Construction labor 1 Comprises all projects reported by the 99 educational institutions, 70 trade associations and professional societies, 22 foundations and other nonprofit agencies, and 8 commercial laboratories The distnbution shown is calculated, not on the actual number of projects as shown in table I I , but on the gross total of projects as cross-classified under the one or more fields and areas to which their subject matter relates Qualitative Review T h e contract under w h i c h the survey was conducted d i d not contemplate an evaluation by B R A B of the quality, i nd iv idua l ly or collectively, of the research activities reported T h e mul t i tude of research projects was assembled and classified w i t h o u t reference to any qua l i ty standard except fo r the principles previously noted as guides for edi t ing the or ig inal questionnaires I n the main , therefore, the project descriptions appearing i n Part I I I of the report are exactly as set f o r t h by the respondents T h e manner i n w h i c h the research projects were described varied, as migh t be expected, almost as much as the subject matter of the under taking Itself Adequacy and definitiveness among the descriptions ranged f r o m such expressions as "continuous research i n housing" to lengthy abstractions wh ich , i f l i te ra l ly construed, w o u l d denote the investigation through one project of nearly a l l the fields of housing research Fortunately, i n the ma jo r i t y of cases the narrat ive descriptions were sufficiently complete and explici t at least to suggest the general scope of i nqu i ry Such a qual i ta t ive range i n project descriptions natura l ly rendered d i f f i cu l t their classification under major headings, i n fact, the adequacy of the narrative descriptions set the l imi ts for basic classification and crossclassification T h e variations i n project descrip707

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From page 699...

... tions also presented great diff icul t ies in t racing and iden t i fy ing projects as between a sponsoring organizat ion and the organizat ion actually do ing the research work fo r the sponsor But , as previously indicated, i t was possible to establish such research relationship i n most cases T h e manpower engaged i n housing research, as reported by most respondents, was generally i m properly and inaccurately arr ived at, and these values should be used w i t h reservations Instead of indicat ing the quan t i ty of manpower employed solely on housing research, most repor t ing organizations apparently listed the number of f u l l or par t - t ime persons employed by the research un i t w h i c h was, typical ly, car ry ing on housing research tn addition to other activities who l ly unrelated to housing research Aside f r o m the inadequacies noted, there are probably no other significant biasing factors m the large amount of in fo rmat ion called for by the questionnaires A l l things considered, the mass of practical data collected and assembled has exceeded expectations both i n regard to quan t i ty and qual i ty Possibly above a l l else, this Survey o f Housing Research demonstrates that housing research is extremely broad i n scope, complex i n its func t iona l and administrative interrelationship, and d i f f i cu l t of precise and inclusive def in i t ion For these and other related reasons, coordinat ing and cataloging accurately all extant housing research w o u l d be a prodigious task W i t h m its assigned sphere, this survey represents, i t is believed, an in i t i a l and pioneering accomplishment, a f fo rd ing a point of departure for its cont inuat ion and expansion to the u l t imate end of assembling and d i f fus ing perUnent knowledge concerning research i n housing and bu i ld ing 708

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