Fourth in a series of annual reports, this study provides observations on the Administration's FY 2002 budget proposal for federal science and technology (FS&T) programs. The report comments first on approaches to tabulating federal spending on FS&T and endorses the Administration's method for developing an FS&T budget cross-tabulation for inclusion in its budget proposal. The report then provides observations on the FY 2002 FS&T budget proposal, identifying changes in FS&T investments by federal agencies from the prior year; and assessing the longer-term impacts of these FS&T proposals in various fields.