[en] Characterizations of the response function and of integral properties of the strength function via a moment expansion are discussed. Sum rule expressions for the moments in the RPA are derived. The validity of these sum rules for both density independent and density dependent interactions is proved. For forces of the Skyrme type, analytic expressions for the plus one and plus three energy weighted sum rules are given for isoscalar monopole and quadrupole operators. From these, a close relationship between the monopole and quadrupole energies is shown and their dependence on incompressibility and effective mass is studied. The inverse energy weighted sum rule is computed numerically for the monopole operator, and an upper bound for the width of the monopole resonance is given. Finally the reliability of moments given by the RPA with effective interactions is discussed using simple soluble models for the hamiltonian, and also by comparison with experimental data