ABSTRACT
This chapter assesses the perceptions and responses of the directors to a series of questions about research management in the State Agricultural Experiment Stations. Agricultural science is in the midst of a revolution concerning expectations of administrators, funding sources, and researchers. It has been criticized for being excessively oriented to short-term, incremental, production-oriented applied research. The history of agricultural research is one of continuing "endemic ambiguity" as the scientific community strives for disciplinary development and advances, the rural production sector presses for rapid solution to problems to increase profitability, and the two groups compete for funds, personnel, and priority. The relative consistency of responses concerning the choice and decisive role of the scientist is reflected in much earlier judgments by the department, administration, and advisory bodies at the time of hiring a new scientist. The specific orientation of a research program is decided when faculty appointments are made.
