The job functions, job goals, and career paths of 108 university research administrators randomly selected from the membership of the National Council of University Research Administrators were studied. A cluster analysis that included job functions, percentage of time in job functions, and job goals separated the respondents into three clusters: information specialists, research developers, and research managers. Some job functions appeared in more than one cluster (information regarding funding agencies, budgeting, planning proposals, contacting funding agencies, and contract and grant management), suggesting that perhaps a common core of subject matter and skills exist for research administrators. Each of the clusters ranked the goal "assuring compliance with university policies" as the most important for research administration. The goals of "stimulating research and project activity" and "increasing the number of grant awards" were ranked as second and third, while "developing faculty careers" was ranked last (seventh). Respondents' job histories for the two most recent positions were displayed on a frequency table indicating the job categories that best described their previous positions. Of the 96 who responded to the question regarding the most recent position, 41 (43 percent) had been employed as research administrators immediately prior to their present position. Thirty-eight had been in higher education research administration. For the 55 (57 percent) who had not been research administrators in their most recent position, the largest group (38 percent) had been in general higher education administration. A bibliography is appended. (SW)