A plan for studying management procedures that structure the relationships between federal agencies and federally-created research and development (R&D) organizations is discussed. The objective is to identify the types of federal management approaches, examine these approaches from the perspective of their relative emphasis on accountability and autonomy, and determine if there is an association between types of approaches, agency and center characteristics, and center performance. Center activities to be examined, in terms of the impact that management procedures have on conducting the activity, include: specifying the center's purpose; defining the center's portfolio of projects and planning individual R&D tasks; managing ongoing center operations (e.g., staffing); conducting the substantive R&D program of the center; disseminating results and/or providing technical assistance; and evaluating the center's performance (criteria and procedures). An autonomy scale will be used to rate federal control over each major center activity, and a summary index of control will be developed to describe the degree of autonomy given to each center by its sponsoring agency. In addition, system descriptors will be analyzed for their association with autonomy and their influence on center performance. Approaches to measure center accomplishment are also discussed. (SW)