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

732 Eric Frist
Agricultural Economics and the Institute of Race Relations at Oxford. A social
science ‘university’ such as the London School of Economics and Political
Science offers a comprehensive setting in which specialized centres can exist
which would be too small and precarious to survive independently. An attempt
is being made to place more of them outside the London-Oxford-Cambridge
orbit.
Institutes outside universities
21. Research institutions exist in large numbers outside the universities in most
Western European countries. The function of one broad class is to collect,
analyze and develop ‘information de base’, that of a second to bring about
system improvement and organizational change.
22. In France49 there has grown up in relation to the planning system the
largest social research organization in the country, the Institut National de la
Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE). It exemplifies the first type.
Established by the Ministry of Finance, it is inside government. In 1966 it had
3,769 full-time employees; 246 were scientific profes~iona1s.s~ There were 18
regional centres. INSEE performs the functions of a central statistical office together
with those of a social survey organization. At the same time it carries
out fundamental and problem-oriented research in statistical theory, econometrics
and national accounting. It co-ordinates the statistics of government departments
and assists in preparing annual budgets and five year plans. Its
recruits are drawn from a specialized training school - the Ecole Nationale
de la Statistique et de 1’Administration Economique (ENSAE). Its own activities
contribute to their graduate training. It also issues a number of publications,
some at the highest scientific level, others more confined to facts. A parallel
organization is the Institut National #Etudes DBmographiques (INED) established
by the Ministry of Health, which is outside government. It also participates
in graduate training and conducts research, pure and applied, in other
countries as well as in France. There were 37 research workers among a staff of
76 in 1966.
23. A clearing house (CLERES) has been established to coordinate the work of
four key research organizations of substantial size and wide scope concerned
with economic and social development: the Bureau d’hformation et de PrBvisions
Economiques (BIPE) ; the Centre de Recherches et de Documentation sur
la Consommation (CREDOC) ; the SociBtB #Etudes pour le DBveloppement Eco-
Scientific Auxiliaries Total
staff
BIPE 51 (48) 30 81
CREDOC
SEDES
47 (37)
126 (115)
55
83
I02
209
SODIC 36 (32) 42 78
IFOP I9 (16) 51 I7
Bracketed numbers refer to full-time research staff. The figures for auxiliaries refer
only to full-time employees. IFOP had, in addition, a field interviewing staff of 300, of
whom 50 were full-time.