Research plays a necessary and highly valued role in the process of educational reform which has been modifying Sweden's educational system since the 1950's. The fixed resources available to universities for research and the flexible resources allocated to universities and other agencies by four major funding organizations are described in this report. The reform-oriented research and development on which the largest of these four organizations, the National Board of Education (NBE) focuses, differs from discipline-oriented or basic research in that it is conducted in accordance with an overall plan, it is coordinated with other research, it is aimed at diffusion, and it is evaluated in light of national policy goals. The study describes the current research and development plans for the NBE, and discusses the kinds and degrees of effects resulting from application of the research results. The chapter concludes with an overview of recent developments in Swedish educational policy, including tendencies toward decentralization of governance and toward long-range research and planning. (PGD)