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

616 Pierre de Bie
to short-term considerations related to that situation instead of to the longterm
considerations implied by economic and social analysis. We might recall
here, reversing the terms, the contrast between the time-perspectives of the
research worker and of the man of action: for the research worker, concerned
with informed planning and sensitive to forecasts, it is to-morrow which is close
and important, while for the man of action it is today.
The intentions of those who commission research work are another important
condition of the way in which the results are utilized. Regional development
studies show this: ‘At one time the person responsible for a development area
is anxious progressively to recognize the main factors of the problem which
concerns him, and research takes on, around a single theme, a character of
great diversity; it is aimed then at improving a policy, either with a view to
carrying out an equipment programme, or in order to make a set of rules more
flexible - that is the case in a policy of decentralization based on studies of all
sorts. At another time, on the contrary, the research is aimed less directly at
action and seeks to modify the state of mind of the administration. It is useless
then to expect results which it does not ~arrant’.5~ In a more general way, it is
clear that many studies and pieces of research are subsidized by public authorities
or foundations only to throw more light on the various avenues open to
some possible policy. Here we must recall the effects of unforeseeable kinds and
the distinction between widely-focused and narrowly-focused research already
referred to. 59
Considering the practical utilization of the results of problem-focused
research has allowed us to look at several variable factors: the subject of the
research, the type of clients and differences in values, casts of mind, and intentions;
but the essential has not yet been touched on, namely communication
between research worker and man of action, the nature and quality of which
itself depends on the structures within which this communication materializes.
This is a central question and deserves particular attention.
Communication between research workers and men of action
It might be said that among the problems of relations between problem-focused
research and action the main question is that of the dialogue. On the quality of
the dialogue depend the adequate direction of the research, the reception and
grasp of the bearing of the results; it is the quality of the dialogue which makes it
possible to reduce misunderstandings, ambiguities and disappointments on both
sides. It is here that intentions can be made clear; the effects of differences in
values and casts of mind may be reduced.
In principle the dialogue is useful throughout the research: when it is devised
while it is being carried out and when its results are transmitted. But in fact
there are two moments which are particularly important and critical: the time
preceding the research and the time following the research. 6o
Preceding, dialogue controls the matching of the reply to the problem set:
the research worker and the man of action must understand one another.
The latter generally sets out his problem in concrete terms: the re-habilitation