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

Problem-focused research 585
cases where the research worker is mainly preoccupied by the purely noetic
aspects of his study, surely much research is still problem-focused because it
responds to collective needs, because its echoes directly or indirectly certain
requests and expectations. Much social, economic or political research is
turned to account in a way never anticipated by its authors: independently of
their intentions, studies conducted on living conditions, fertility variables,
population problems, psychological tests and measurements have an influence
on policies, on lawmaking and on behaviour.
The difficulty of differentiating basic research from problem-focused research
derives above all from the fact that the sciences of man form part of the social
context which they take as their subject. Because they are influenced by this
context, they change with it and, in studying it, they modify it. The research
worker cannot escape the new problems with which society confronts him and,
through the answers he gives, he modifies society. In other words, the sciences
of man may be taken as dependent variables and as independent variables in
relation to the social context.
In this respect the sciences of man may be contrasted with the natural sciences.
It has been rightly pointed out that the distinction made in the natural
sciences between pure and applied science cannot similarly be made in the case
of the social sciences. In the natural sciences the subject of research may be
abstract, isolated from its natural context and scrutinized apart; in the social
sciences such isolation from the social context is out of the question, because
the research worker must see to it that he obtains his data in their natural state,
and this is something of a poser. With this distinction in mind, the Board of the
Tavistock Institute of Human Relations stresses the realistic character of a
specific method for the insertion of the social science research worker which it
calls the ‘professional model’ : the research worker gains privileged access to the
data thanks to a special ‘professional’ relationship. He only gains this access,
however, if he can prove his competence by the services he renders. In a certain
sense, he starts off with practical work, even though it may be scientifically
imperfect, then reverts to the theoretical side, which he develops as systematically
as possible, finally returning to an improved practice. His status is determined
by his competence. The professional model implies that the problems to
be studied are determined to a greater extent by the needs of the individuals,
groups or communities concerned than by those of the research worker.7
The conclusion which may be drawn from this is not that, in the social
sciences, a distinction cannot be made between problem-focused research and
free basic research, but rather that this distinction is difficult and that it cannot
be made in the same way as in the case of the natural sciences. While stressing
the importance of problem-focused research, the members of the Tavistock
Institute do not deny the existence of basic theoretical research; on the contrary,
in their view, problem-focused research is often the condition of basic research,
and the relation found in the natural sciences - passing from theory to practice -
is here reversed; the development of problem-focused research is considered to
be primordial in the strategy for developing basic research in the social sciences.a