This report presents the results of a survey conducted by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in late 1986 of more than 14,000 applicants whose proposals for research support had been awarded or declined during fiscal year 1985. The principal purpose was to seek the views of individual investigators at academic institutions about NSF's competitive proposal review and decision making process. Two-thirds (more than 9,500) responded. The reasons most often volunteered by dissatisified applicants about the review process were that the reviewers selected by NSF were not sufficiently expert in the subject matter of the proposal, or that the reviews were cursory, conflicting, or did not seem to support NSF's decision. Applicants' views varied according to their experience, i.e., depending roughly on the proportion of awards they received to proposals submitted. Applicants' experiences, actions and views also differed according to which NSF research support division handled their proposal(s). The report also contains the first cross-tabulation of applicants' fields of research to the NSF research support divisions, and the initial chart of award rates by division for first proposals and resubmittals. (The survey form is included.) (ML)