The analysis of data from the baseline cycle of the National Science Foundation instrumentation survey has two principal objectives, namely, to construct and examine a variety of quantitative statistical indicators describing major characteristics of the current national stock of academic research equipment and to document differences among research fields in these indicators. Findings are reported and discussed for seven areas: (1) department heads' assessments of instrumentation needs and priorities; (2) aggregate amounts and costs of research equipment in the 1982-1983 national stock; (3) annual instrumentation-related expenditures; (4) instrumentation age and condition; (5) funding patterns; (6) instrumentation location and usage; and (7) instrumentation maintenance and repair. A final section contains a brief summary of these findings. The document also includes six appendices. They provide technical notes (including survey design and response rates), detailed statistical tables, and information on project advisors, data forms, and statistical precision of survey instruments. For most indicator statistics (in the second appendix) a series of three tables are presented. The first gives overall findings across all science and engineering fields. The second and third provide breakdowns for subfields of engineering and physical sciences and for subfields of agricultural and biological sciences. (JN)