I have the impression from the literature with which I am familiar that the lion's share of research funds are now going to medical and health projects. This is understandable in view of the fact that health problems have a high degree of visibility and health is extremely highly valued by Americans in general; that is, health thought of as physical well-being. There is no question in my mind but that this is an important concern in the field of aging and I would not want less money spent upon research in this field. However, I do have some impression that the valuation and the emphasis is somewhat disproportionate. I firmly believe more research is needed in the field of the social sciences to include not only factfinding but also experiments in meeting needs and solving problems. Furthermore, provision should be made for the support of long-range, longitudinal studies. Most of our studies on the effect of aging depend upon comparisons between samples from various age groups and it is not always clear that the differences are the result of aging.-Paul B. Maves.

My impression is that through NIH and NIMH grants social scientists are able to obtain all the money they can use effectively in research designed to meet some particular problem of aging. However, the same cannot be said, I believe, for basic research in the social sciences, which merely held promise of having importance to social gerontology. For example, case studies of the impact of automation on the labor force on specific communities might produce interesting data on the employability of persons in the upper age brackets. There is no Government granting agency to which a labor economist would naturally turn for research funds, whether he had a specific interest in older workers or not. Sound social science research in gerontology needs to be encouraged. The availability of funds will stimulate research interest.-J. W. McConnell and Fred Slavick.

In general, I believe that the funds spent for social service research in the field of aging have been fairly sizable. It is my understanding that, in January of 1960, the Public Health Service, through its research arm, the National Institutes of Health, was supporting almost 600 research projects in the field of aging. The annual level of support exceeded $12 million.

I assume that the social aspects of aging are receiving a considerable amount of attention from the National Institutes of Health. If you have received information from various sources on this question, you are in a better position to answer the question than I am.-Ross McFarland.

I would assume that some people will always find an imbalance in the amounts spent on medical-biological research on aging as against social science research. This competition never ends, or lessens. If an arbitrary balance were to be decreed, one would find some projects of questionable merit fostered on one side and some excellent projects discarded on the other. A discovery in one area might stimulate a great deal of work to expand it and use it. One place that today does good work in biological research may change tommorrow to a capacity to do good work in a social science area. Research teams are as changeable as clinical material is. Steady symmetrical advance on all parts of the scientific frontier is impossible.-Robert T. Monroe.

Research in the social sciences has tended to be vague and of a low caliber. Often the social scientist has become involved in numbers and statistical analyses, which ultimately are of little value. My brief acquaintance with the work being done on aging from the point of view of sociology is that it lacks vision, not funds. For this reason, I do not think of terms of imbalance in amounts being spent on medical-biological research against social science research.-William Montagna.

It is difficult to ascertain at this time whether there is an imbalance in amounts being spent on medical-biological research on aging as over against social science research because of the emerging interest and emphasis being placed on the problems of the aging. There is considerable overlapping of many of the specific

research problems; for example, in cardiovascular disease, cerebral vascular disease, and carcinoma, conditions which are encounted obviously among the aging.

It would seem logical that the only method whereby the relative sums of money to be expended for medical-biological research as balanced by social science research would be to establish basic policy as determined by a meeting of the minds of these two disciplines and arriving at a satisfactory realistic formula.— Matthew T. Moore.

I am not sure of any present imbalance. I prefer emphasis on physical and psychic betterment of aging individuals.-Robert W. Mowry.

I believe there is no question whatsoever that there is a large imbalance in the amounts being spent on medicobiological research on aging as over against social science research although the field of psychology does not fall in the category of undersupported fields. The problem is that there is no regularly dedicated source of funds for basic or applied research in the social sciences, and the studies carried on through grants from the National Institutes of Health or other branches of the Public Health Service and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare must come under the province of health or mental health. Although the latter is quite broadly interpreted, there is much basic research needed and being proposed which can be conceived as "health or mental health" only through a large degree of pure word stretching. A glance at any of the recent reports of the National Institutes of Health shows the large preponderance of non-social-science research. However, the above remarks are not meant to imply that the medicobiological fields are necessarily being supported as well as they could be—I am only noting the relative lack of social science support.-Harold L. Orbach.

Concerning the existence of an imbalance in the financing of medicobiological research compared with social science research, one scientist pointed out that currently the acute problems are more sociological than medical. However, an increasing number of research biologists and physicians are directing themselves to aging problems. Some are hampered by lack of funds and, to date, the number of first-rate scientists attacted into this area has been low.

It is also important to remember that biological and medical research is inherently more expensive than an equivalent amount of social research. To set up a biologist and have him work maximally requires a considerable capital expenditure and an annual expenditure of $50,000, according to one estimate.— Harold F. Osborne.

Since the involutional processes involved in aging are by their very nature rather long drawn out even in experimental animals, biological research in this area is of necessity long term.-Gregory Pincus.

I cannot say with any knowledge, but I would guess that expanded support of social science research is also highly desirable.-Morris Rockstein.

I think not.-James B. Rogers.

I am not aware of any present imbalance in amounts being spent on medicalbiological research on aging as over against social science research. At the present time, there is a shortage of adequately trained social science research personnel interested in research on the aging, and until this deficiency is remedied the total funds now available are adequate, in spite of the many serious problems in the social field calling for research. This implies, however, that as the available interested personnel increases, there should be a gradual shift in the funds available, so that the pressing problems in the social field may be more adequately

studied. I would consider the needs for research in the social field to be greater than the unsatisfied needs for research in the medical-biological field.-Arnold M. Rose.

The amount of money currently being expended on medical-biological research on aging is well justified. However, additional funds which might be appropriated could well be directed toward the social sciences as most medical-biological programs which propose worthwhile research proposals have little difficulty in obtaining support under current sources. In the area of the social sciences research support at this time seems to be given primarily to so-called social action types of activity. There is still a dearth of support for more basic programs in the fields of psychology, sociology, and anthropology.-K. Warner Schaie.

There appears to be a considerable imbalance of support by the U.S. Department of Health favoring medical-biological research on aging over social science research. This does not mean that the former is adequate or even excessive. It must be considered, however, that the latter is very important for the present needs of the aging population. Studies that are involved in the integration of older citizens (below and above 65) in proper kind of work to make them useful to themselves and their families as well as to the country are urgently needed and should be carried out scientifically with additional support of industry if possible. A matching plan by which the U.S. Government may contribute 50 percent to industrially initiated or sponsored studies may be useful. It is expected that savings of Government expenditures for care of the unemployed or otherwise may in part make up for this expenditure. Such a provocative arrangement may also be beneficial because the findings would be accepted at the source where the problem exists. Henry P. Schwarz.

We do not have any estimate of the proportions of research on aging that can be defined as medical-biological research or social science research. In general, support for medical-biological research has been more readily available than support for research in the social sciences. However, the National Institutes of Health recognizes that various social sciences can make vital contributions to better understanding of, and action upon, matters of health and aging. Accordingly, we feel that support for projects of comparable quality in both the social sciences and the medical-biological sciences should be equally available through appropriate Government agencies and private sources. We believe that this would lead to a natural growth in expenditures for Federal Government support of research in the social sciences, including the social science component of aging research. James A. Shannon.

As to the specific questions put forward in the questionnaire of the Senate committee, the following may be stated:

Without precise knowledge of the total expenditures for research on aging and the fractions thereof allocated for each of the branches, it is difficult to tell whether or not there is an imbalance of medicobiology research as against social research. In the course of time, medicobiological research should yield important information applicable to prevention or retardation, attenuation, and management of diseases of old age. The methods available to, and being developed by, biologist and clinician seem adequate to guarantee a fair return of the funds invested. The corresponding outlook regarding the results of social research studies appears, however, less certain. This is due to the very nature of sociology which is not a branch of science, nonobjective, and necessarily subject to philosophical and moral motivations, varying with and dependent upon the ever-changing conditions of society itself. Because of these uncertainties inherent in the discipline it seems presently justified to limit social research on aging to merely pragmatic aspects. Even then, individual research projects will have to be on a fairly large scale and usually of long duration and will this prove to be quite costly. This research would not involve elaborate apparatus and would therefore require less than medicobiological research. It is felt that not more than 25 percent of the total available should be adequate for social research on aging.—Martin Silberberg.

I cannot say whether or not there is an imbalance at this time since I am not informed as to the actual amount now being spent in the two fields. However, I feel that more money is needed for the biological and medical research program.Henry S. Simms.

I do not know the specific details of the amounts being spent on each of these broad areas of research in the field of aging. I would guess however, that much more is being spent in medical-biological research than in social science research on aging. It is difficult, in some projects, to separate those aspects that are essentially medical from those that are essentially sociologic. For example, in our own research project on geriatric mental illness, there are significant areas being covered by medical, psychiatric, sociologic, and psychologic personnel. The amount of research that is done in a specific field is a reflection of the interests of research personnel in that field. Social science people, in general, have not been too interested in geriatric research until recent years. I am reasonably sure that if an appropriate and adequate research project were proposed to the study sections of the National Institutes of Health in the social science field as it relates to aging, this would receive support.-Alexander Simon.

I believe that there should be study sections and budgets for research on the biochemistry and fundamental biology of aging. In my opinion, aging is every bit as important an area as many of those in which study sections exist. Since aging is such a diverse field, no single study section can properly assess all applications and many should be referred to other preexisting study sections of special competancy.-F. Marott Sinex.

As the recent Jones committee report 1 indicated, it is essential that Federal funds for medical-biological research on aging be progressively expanded in the years immediately ahead. The obvious basic objective of this research is to enable us to master the aging problem insofar as possible. The aging problem has three basic aspects, i.e., the diseases associated with aging, the basic biological process of senescence per se, and the socioeconomic-sociological aspect. Medical research achievements are truly meaningful over the long term when they culminate in their application for the benefit of our population, its health, and longevity. Therefore, it is obvious that both medical-biological and social science research on aging are vital, since both are essential for the fruitful use of knowledge acquired. Without both, it will be difficult to make headway against our vast problem in this area. It would therefore seem valid to conclude that expansions of both medical-biological and social science research are very much in order.-Jeremiah Stamler.

I believe that one of the major weaknesses in our present research approach lies in the separation of medical-biological from psychosocial research. Man is a psychosomatic organism, and the most challenging problem of our day is to build bridges between the two areas. This could best be accomplished by supporting some institutes for the study of all aspects of aging. If properly directed, such institutes would work out in practice the proper balance between these areas of research so the two aspects would move forward in harmony and support each other, and Congress would not have to decide such details.-Joseph W. Still.

There is clearly an imbalance in the amounts being spent on medical-biological research on aging as over against social science research. However, one should not conclude that this imbalance is necessarily undesirable from a professional or scientific point of view. One needs to examine some of the factors which may be involved in the imbalance. Some questions which come to mind are the following: What criteria are used in allocating funds to the fields conducting research in aging and on the aged? Do qualified researchers in the social science field lack interest in doing research in the field of aging? In reviewing proposals, are different criteria employed by the review committees of the various professional fields?

1 Report of the Committee of Consultants on Medical Research to the Subcommittee on Departments of Labor and Health, Education, and Welfare of the Committee on Appropriations, U.S. Senate, 86th Cong., 2d sess.

Does this

What is the ratio of acceptance to applicants in the social sciences? differ from that of the medical-biological fields? In my opinion it might be undesirable to have an expansion in a field of research when there are not enough competent researchers interested in doing research in the field. Generally speaking, research funds attract applicants, but it seems important and professionally necessary that high standards of competence and performance be maintained rather than to subscribe to some sort of an artificial balancing of research funds between the fields.-Gordon F. Streib.

There appears to me, to be a considerable imbalance in amounts being spent in social science research as over against medical-biological research on aging. This might be due to the fact that most nongovernmental agencies, for example, the Ford Foundation, are supporting only social science research and social action programs and are giving no support to biological research. It seems apparent, therefore, that to increase the amount of funds to be made available to biological research, it will be necessary to have the Government increase its support along these lines.-Norman M. Sulkin.

The objectives suggested raise the question of the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake versus research directed toward solution of immediate problems. It seems to me that there is a dichotomy here which needs to be recognized but which need not represent a serious problem. Basically, we can all agree, I believe, that all research which leads to further knowledge of any individual or societal aspect of aging will contribute to human welfare in the longer or shorter run. We must recognize also that research leading to understanding of life and social processes per se, is fundamental to, and will ultimately be useful to, research and understanding of immediate problem situations. To be specific, seemingly esoteric studies of cellular structure in older persons are as important as more apparently significant studies of perceptual changes in aging airplane pilots. And studies of life cycle changes in fundamental wishes or desires are as important as, and basic to, studies of the formation of political pressure groups.

Thus, one form of achieving balance in research support is to make certain that every encouragement is given investigators whose only apparent objective is to pursue their own curiosity in following a scientific problem wherever it may lead them, as well as to those whose applications for funds promise an immediate result such as a knowledge of the relationship between income and expenditures for preventive health services.

Attention must be given, also, to the matter of subject-matter balance. It cannot be said, I believe, that undue emphasis is being given to research in the biological and psychological aspects of the field. The basic functional, health, mental performance, and personality circumstances of large numbers of older people are such as to warrant our making the most rapid possible progress in seeking their improvement. The present problem seems to me to lie more in inadequate recognition of the need for research on equally compelling sociological, economic, and political aspects of aging. Some of the manifest problems which need study in both their immediate and basic aspects are commodity budgets for various styles of life in the later years; attitudes toward work, retirement, and leisure; development, acceptance, and social definition of retirement roles; criteria for work and retirement; facilities, services, personnel requirements, methods of financing of preventive and therapeutic health services, including motivation and requirements for their use; activity preferences among older people and the environment required for their expression; the life cycle of housing needs of adults with reference to such factors as size, style, design, location, cost, and degree of privacy and independence afforded; the sociopsychological nature of aging, the effect of cultural values and definitions on the aging process; potentialities and interests of older people in contributing to community life and programs; the behavior of older people as consumers and the role of retirement income in sustaining the economy; effects on capital formation and utilization, on price stability, and on worker mobility of alternative forms of providing and funding retirement income; evolution of family and intergenerational relationships through the life cycle and in a society increasingly characterized by large organizations, with special reference to implications for the life styles and satisfactions of all generations, community services, and facilities, and adequacy and methods of providing retirement income; development of aggregations, communities, and perhaps a subculture of older people; political participation and voting behavior in the later