Abstract
A survey of possible users of the results of 100 completed research projects funded by NSF/RANN (the Applied Research directorate of the National Science Foundation) provided a basis for ranking these projects in order of indications of use, and a statistical analysis was performed comparing several characteristics of the processing of the pro posals which led to them. Characteristics of the 30 top-ranked projects were compared to the bottom 30. No statistically significant difference in peer review scores was found but there are two statistically significant (5% or better) indications that the RANN program managers viewed the proposals leading to the top 30 projects more favorably than those leading to the bottom 30. These indications are faster processing and more peer reviewers. There are also two statisticallv significant indications that these program managers viewed the research proposed in the top 30 as being more applied in nature. These are: a smaller fraction of university personnel among the reviewers and, among the NSF reviewers, a greater fraction of RANN personnel.