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

592 Pierre de Bie
or that it may be more concerned with norms and principles than with specific
social processes and patterns of behaviour. A comparison of societies serves to
bring to our notice the influence exerted by certain basic conceptions of the
social order on teaching and on the development and content of problem-
focused research. On the one hand, a sense of principles and of institutional
processes leads principally to the preparation of reforms of the social order by
means of the constitution, laws and regulations; on the other, a sense of prac-
tical values and of behaviour inclines to recourse to the behavioural sciences
rather than to the jurists. Political science, which has undergone such radical
changes over the past few decades, reflects in its evolution the transition from a
legal conception to one that takes account of social factors. For the develop-
ment of problem-focused research, it is not a matter of indifference whether it is
considered that social change can be brought about by means of decrees and
constitutional reforms or as the result of studies on attitudes and responses,
social and cultural factors, and economic data.
The prevailing disposition, which in modem States may be reflected in the
orientation of teaching, is itself dependent on the political structures and the
ideology which accompanies them; in contradistinction to societies of an
‘ancien rkgime’ type, or even more simply, societies possessing an aristocratic
or plutocratic structure, democratic or popular political structures spring to
mind, in which whatever is of concern to the masses and to the broadest cate-
gories of citizens is the subject of public discussions and is presented to research
workers as being likewise of direct concern to them. Thus, for instance, the
Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian countries have, for a longer time past and better
than many others, developed a practical and utilitarian disposition which,
allied to a feeling for collective social responsibility, has fostered a tradition of
positive research paving the way for social reforms.
It is more recent trends, however, that deserve to be noted here, to throw light
on the impact of ideology and of collective awareness. It is striking to see the
extent to which, in certain States where scientific research as a whole is mobilized
in the service of the national development plans, the distinction between prob-
lem-focused research and free basic research is overlooked or even denied, to
the detriment of the latter. This may be because in some countries, for example
the Marxist countries, where State-controlled planning is highly developed, the
distinction has almost lost its point since all research has become problem-
focused. In this case, it is free basic research that is more difficult to imagine.
Supported by an ideology, the concern for planning and forecasting, when
applied to different sectors of social Iife, may prove favourable to the develop-
ment of problem-focused research. In the end, value systems are established; it
is they that determine the proper place of research, the part that different types
of research can play, and the questions that can be tackled by means of problem-
focused research.
In this connexion, the replies to the questionnaire sent out by Unesco to
gather material for comparison on the main trends of research in the social
sciences are sometimes very significant. The reply to question 7 furnished by the
Academy of Sciences of the USSR is characteristic: