Offered in response to a request for background information from the Congressional Subcommittee on Science, Research, and Technology, the document presents a report of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) support for social and psychological sciences research. Major objectives of the report are to review the origins of NSF support programs; assess issues of priorities, management, and use; and consider NSF support programs in the context of the total federal research support effort. The document is presented in six chapters. Chapter I offers a summary of the report. Chapter II discusses general trends which characterize NSF funding for psychology and social science programs and examines the need for a balanced perspective on support of quantitative versus nonquantitative studies. Chapter III describes the origin and evolution of NSF's psychological and social sciences support programs since 1960. Chapters IV and V assess NSF funded programs, including objectives, management, proposal review mechanisms, and relationship of NSF programs to those supported by other agencies. Chapter V offers final observations. These include: (1) many NSF funding problems are typical of any federally supported scientific research program; (2) policymakers are increasingly calling upon social scientists for information; (3) creation of a separate National Social Science Foundation would simplify funding, management, and communication problems. (Author/DB)