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Research and development (R&D) — AQA GCSE Design and Technology Definition | GradeGen

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Design and Technology
Key terms
Research and development (R&D)

GCSE Design and Technology · key term

Research and development (R&D)

Definition

Work carried out to investigate new ideas and develop or improve products and technologies.

Used by AQA

How each exam board covers it

AQA GCSE Design and Technology · 8552

Paper 1

Companies invest in research and development (R&D) to investigate ideas, test them and turn them into workable products. Being first to offer a useful new technology can help a company attract customers before competitors offer something similar. However, a technological advance does not guarantee that people will want the resulting product.
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AQA Design and Technology past papers

Related key terms

Automation
Computer-aided design (CAD)
Computer-aided manufacture (CAM)
Consumer choice
Market pull

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Technology push