Relevance
Statistics
on Research and Development (R&D) in the Business Sector describe the
characteristics of businesses that invest in Research and Development. For the Business Enterprise Sector, variables
on the number of R&D personnel in head count, number of researchers in head
count, number of R&D personnel in full time equivalent, number of
researchers in full time equivalent, and intramural R&D expenditure are
reported. These variables are broken
down by various characteristics including sex, occupation, qualification, major
field of science, age group and headcount group. R&D statistics are compiled under
European Framework Regulation (EC) No. 995/2012.
Methodological
description of survey
Data
for R&D is collected by means of a paper questionnaire that is sent to
those enterprises known to be performing R&D. A list of such enterprises is obtained from
internal sources by means of the Community Innovation Survey and from external
administrative data sources. This is
based on recommendations provided in the Frascati manual. NACE Rev. 2 is used to for the NACE
classification. Intramural R&D
expenditure is reported in Euros whereas the other variables are expressed in
units. Data for R&D is reported on a
yearly basis.
Accuracy and
reliability of data
Information
on the accuracy and reliability of data can be viewed in a dedicated quality
report available on the NSO’s metadata website.
Timeliness and
punctuality of data
Data for R&D for reference year
N is transmitted to Eurostat in two phases.
The first transmission consists of the preliminary data and is
transmitted to Eurostat by the end of October of year N+1 (10 months from the
end of the reference year) while the final data is transmitted to Eurostat by
the end of June of year N+2 (18 months from the end of the reference year), so
as to satisfy the requirements of the regulation mentioned above.
The R&D News Release is
published on a yearly basis on the NSO’s website, normally within two years
after the end of the reference period. This is published on the pre-established
date as scheduled in the Advance Release Calender which is available on
the NSO’s website.
The
data transmitted to Eurostat and published in the News Release is also broken
down by the other R&D sectors, namely the Higher Education sector and the Government
sector.
Accessibility and
clarity of data
R&D
data can be accessed from Eurostat’s database. An ESQRS metadata report is
transmitted to Eurostat 20 months from the end of the reference year (N+20
months) while a quality report is transmitted to Eurostat 22 months from the
end of the reference year (N+22 months).
Both reports are sent to Eurostat every two years. An ESQRS metadata report is also published on
the NSO website.
Coherence and
comparability/consistency of data
R&D data is comparable as from
2004 onwards. However, this data is not
comparable to other surveys. This data
could also be compared to that of other countries.
Questionnaire | Metadata