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

390 Jean Bourgeois-Pichat
116. In the United States, for example, although the Scripps Foundation26 and
the Milbank Memorial Fund have remained research institutes, the other in-
stitutes have developed their educational activities. Moreover, within the last
twenty years, numerous other centres have been founded which immediately
combined teaching with research. In France, teaching and research have tended
to follow separate paths. University institutes have been created, notably the
Institut de dkmographie of the University of Paris (I.D.u.P.). In addition, the
teaching of demography has been made compulsory in certain branches of
general teaching. As a result these two countries have fulfilled all the necessary
conditions for the development of demographic research, and it is not by acci-
dent that they are now the ones where this type of research is most actively
pursued. On the other hand, in Japan and Brazil which have kept their research
institutes as they were, without reserving even the smallest place to teaching, no
progress has been made in demographic research.
117. Let us mention yet another recent example - the creation in 1963, in
Budapest, of the Research Group for Population Studies (now the Demographic
Research Institute). Shortly after, the first number of the review published by the
Group appeared, giving the results of work undertaken by researchers. In 1964,
the Group organized an international symposium on social mobility and fertili-
ty, followed by a second one in 1965. At the same time, exchanges of researchers
with those of other countries were arranged. We observe again the various steps
taken in the organization of research. But we also find the same flaw - no pro-
vision for teaching. However, this has just been remedied. Since 1967, courses
in demography have been given by researchers belonging to the Group at the
University of Budapest.:'
118. Along with the successes, it is interesting to observe, if not exactly the
failures, at any rate the attempts that have not led to any notable results. Such is
the case with Germany and Italy. In these two countries, demographic research
was organized in the thirties under the national statistical services. That was a
bad beginning in view of the priority given by those services to short-term affairs.
For since demographic factors follow a slow process of development and do
not make their presence immediately felt, they were bound to be neglected
sooner or later. But that is not all. The successful demographic researches
carried out in those two countries at that time were due to the powerful per-
sonalities of the men conducting them, but whose failing was to place their
branch of science at the service of politics. The collapse of the political systems
so served brought about their disappearance from the international demograph-
ic scene. To this day, the Italian - and especially the German - demographers
have been unable to surmount this So it would seem that demography's
own independent research with respect to the other branches of science - in
this case statistics - and with respect to the public authorities is all-important.
Practical applications on an international scale
I 19. W e now come to the r6le of the international governmental organizations.