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Datapoint

Federal research funding for psychology has not kept up with inflation

By Luona Lin, MPP, Peggy Christidis, PhD, and Jessica Conroy, BA

November 2018, Vol 49, No. 10

Print version: page 21

1 min read

APA Style leaf logo Cite This Article in APA Style
Lin, L., Christidis, P., & Conroy, J. (2018, November 1). Datapoint: Federal research funding for psychology has not kept up with inflation. Monitor on Psychology, 49(10). https://www.apa.org/monitor/2018/11/datapoint

  • In 2017, $2 billion of the United States’ $66.5 billion in federal research funding went to psychological research.1 Federal research funding in psychology increased by 11.1 percent between 2007 ($1.8 billion) and 2017.
  • However, when adjusted for inflation, federal funding for psychological research decreased by 4.8 percent during those years.2 During the same period, total federal research funding across all fields increased by 5.4 percent when adjusted for inflation.
  • Accounting for inflation adjustment, federal research funding also decreased for life sciences, physical sciences and social sciences between 2007 and 2017, while it increased for computer and mathematical sciences, engineering, environmental sciences and other sciences.3
Federal Research Funding by Field

By Luona Lin, MPP, Peggy Christidis, PhD, and Jessica Conroy, BA. For more information, contact APA’s Center for Workforce Studies at cws@apa.org.

Footnotes

1National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development, FYs 2007–17. Retrieved from https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvyfedfunds/#tabs-2opens in new window. Research funding represents obligations, which are “the amounts for orders placed, contracts awarded, services received and similar transactions during a given period, regardless of when funds were appropriated and when future payment of money is required.” 2017 data are preliminary. Federal research funding directed to psychological research may be underestimated due to psychology’s inclusion in other fields (such as life sciences). The use of NSF data does not imply NSF endorsement of the research, research methods or conclusions contained in this report.

2Constant dollars were adjusted to 2018 dollars using the GDP deflators from Budget of the U.S. Government FY 2019. Inflation adjustments were made by American Association for the Advancement of Science. Federal Research Funding by Discipline, 1970–2017. Retrieved from https://mcmprodaaas.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/Disc1_0.xlsx?LhEZR2sDwHejxma.L5a0zUl10Wc4c_pHopens in new window.

3Other sciences includes scientific research not classified elsewhere and multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary projects that cannot be classified within one of the fields listed.

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