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

Problem-focused research 613
of method, are those associating two disciplines, or one technique and one discipline,
on a particular theme. A multidisciplinary team, on the other hand, is more effective
for an understanding of the research and for ensuring the transition from research to
action. It is a guarantee that, in the programming of a development plan, all the facts
will be taken into account and will be studied with all the means offered by the human
sciences. 5 I
The examples considered have been borrowed from the sector of narrowly-
focused research. In emphasizing how the proximity of action may act as a
constant challenge and get scientific research moving, we encounter further
basic questions in problem-focused research.
There is on the one hand the question of passing from insights to courses of
action. Institutional structures may favour this transition in narrowly-focused
research, but even then the utilization of research results is not automatic: an
examination of the factors which separate knowledge from the decision to act
cannot be avoided. On the other hand, from the programming of research
down to the translation of its results into courses of action, there arise problems
of communication and collaboration.
Utilization of results
Problem-focused research may lead to practical application of its results, in
other words, some of the propositions resulting from research are capable of
helping to formulate practical decisions, to support a policy, or at the very
least to inspire action.
The concept of multidisciplinary problem-focused research does not imply
its effectiveness in practice: its uses are purely potential. Extensions on the plane
of action, desired by those who do the research and by those who stimulate it or
subsidize it, are not a necessary part of it. Some problem-focused research may
well bear little fruit in the form of useful propositions, even may lead to no
practical action at all. There are innumerable reasons for this: they may, for
example, be found among the researchers, if they are incapable of formulating
their conclusions in terms sufficiently concrete and meaningful ; they inay be the
fault of the clients, either because they fail to take heed of the results achieved
and base a policy on them, or because they do not wish to fall in with the indica-
tions furnished by the research. In either of these events no action wil follow.
Yet it should not be claimed that the nature of research depends on the use
made of its results: its course is directed by its purpose.
This said, the question remains: what are the concrete conditions for practi-
cal utilization of the work done by problem-focused research? To achieve and
examine the application of scientific results is a task of sufficient complexity to
have become the subject of a research programme. The Center for Research
on the Utilization of Scientific Knowledge has been set up by the University of
Michigan in order to make headway in this particular field.
Let us be quite clear: here it is not a matter of just any sort of use. By the
mere fact of its existence and its development, a scientific discipline exercises an
influence on others, and can further the development of ways of thinking, e.g.