Technical and management notes: Allowed degrees and type of intellectual freedom in research and development

A limited inquiry into the nature and degree of intellectual freedom allowed to scientists and engineers in U. S. industry has been accomplished. The several laboratories considered were selected solely on the basis of their generally accepted reputations and include only, but certainly not all, laboratories that are supposed to be outstanding. Because it was a practical impossibility to assess the relative freedom of the individual as seen by the scientist or engineer himself within the time available for this study, the investigation was addressed to an examination of management policies or the situation as authoritative and knowledgeable managers believed it to be.