Main trends of research in the social and human ... - unesdoc - Unesco

Demography 387
body. The increasing speed of technological progress which we are witnessing
is the cause of such a phenomenon. As a result of this acceleration, within ten
years the training received wil no longer correspond to the level reached by
technology. Consequently in industrialized countries there are increasing num-
bers of workers insufficiently equipped for their task. A study of the characteris-
tics of this section of the population in difficulties ought to help towards re-
instating it in the economic and social circuit.
104. The same is true, moreover, of a number of other sections of the popu-
lation, such as the unemployed, those on the sick-list, etc.
105. Politics is another field which stands to benefit from the progress in
demographic research. Numerous decisions of a political nature have demo-
graphic consequences which call for the use of methods of demographic analysis
in order to be understood and which, therefore, only demographers are in a
position to interpret accurately.
106. Political science itself has often had recourse to demographic data as a
foundation for its doctrines. The best known case is that of Malthus at the end
of the eighteenth century, but there have been more recent examples. Such
doctrines require the assistance of demographers for taking the consequences of
the principles on which they are based to their ultimate conclusions.
VIK ORGANIZATION OF DEMOGRAPHIC RESEARCH
The three requisites for an organization of research
107. The success of research depends very much on the surroundings in which
it takes place. To have a research programme is not enough; it must be carried
out.
To begin with, all research requires a body providing the researcher with
the necessary means. In its most elaborate form this wil be, for example, a
specialized institute which wil offer the researcher the necessary rosm-space
and equipment to enable him to work, see to the collection and distribution of
financial resources, and, lastly, sanction expenditure. In its simplest form, this
would be, for instance, a grant of funds for carrying out a given piece of
research. Between these two extremes, a number of other situations are readily
conceivable.
108. In view of the fact that demographic research relates to many different
branches of science, an institute, by gathering together under the same roof
researchers from different branches, obviously provides a co-operative element
which is absent when research is conducted individually, and from this point of
view there is much to be gained by making an institute’s range of interest as
wide as possible.