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

3 8 8 Jean Bourgeois-Pichat
109. In addition, the researcher needs to submit his findings to the scrutiny of
his colleagues. Research is a collective enterprise in which each researcher
draws sustenance from the work of others similarly engaged. It is important
for him that the results of his work should be discussed, or even criticized. This
can be done in writing, in which case the journal, printed report or even book
are the means employed. But if it is by word of mouth, we then have the sym-
posium, conference, congress, or seminar, etc. We should add that teaching also
quite often takes a share in both forms of expression. A scientific course, occa-
sionally printed, provides an opportunity for setting forth the results of re-
search.
110. And this brings us to the third requirement of research: it needs re-
searchers. In each branch of science, therefore, it is necessary to arrange for a
form of instruction which can either be incorporated in instruction as a whole,
or else be given in specialized schools.
Need for international co-operation
I I I. The organization of research as we have just described it is the type that is
usually found at the national level. In the first place, questions of language
limit the geographical scope, and secondly, the source of funds - in most cases
national - produces the same effect. That is why international contacts between
scientists working in the same branch need to be organized. This is the object of
private international associations which undertake to arrange meetings, publish
journals, or even entire works.
I 12. It often happens that research passes beyond the scope of a single country.
For instance, the expense involved may be too heavy for it. It is also possible
that the research is of a supra-national interest, making co-operation between
several countries necessary. In such cases as these, governmental or private
international institutions have their part to play.
Practical applications on a national scale
I 13. Let us now see how these principles have been applied in the organization
of demographic research. Here, we must have a little look at history. To start
with, emphasis was placed on research institutes and the teaching side was
neglected. After using for a long time the data from population censuses and
civil registration statistics as its only source of raw material, demographic
research, on its first appearance, naturally found its field of operation in the
official statistical services of the various countries. This situation continued up
to the first world war. After the war, various institutes made their appearance,
but for a long time they never exceeded ten in number. These were:
in the United States:
- the Scripps Foundation for Research in Population Problems, founded in
1922 at Miami University (Ohio);
- the Office of Population Research, founded in 1936 at Princeton University
(New Jersey);