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

' The organization andfinancing of research 741
There were more research workers in the social sciences outside the universities,
the CNRS, and the Grands Etablissements, than inside them. This reflects the
dissociation not only between research and teaching but between research and
higher education.
43. For the large research-operating organizations to take over - perforce - a
training role represents the main pattern of graduate training in applied social
science in France during the sixties. Such organizations play a similar role in
Italy and also in the Federal Republic of Germany where institutes sponsored
by promotional associations continue to fill the gap. In Britain much has been
left to what can be picked up on the job. The danger in these methods is that the
training provided becomes too technique-centred and too circumscribed by the
requirements of the organization.
44. In France under theV" Plan@ first degrees are being introduced in eco-
nomics in faculties of law and in sociology in faculties of letters. These courses
include mathematics and statistics. Better arrangements are being sought for
Ph.D.s. The Chairman of the British Social Science Research Council has asked
the heads of secondary schools to encourage students specializing in the humani-
ties to continue mathematics, since so many of them read a first degree in the
social sciences.60 In Britain accelerated graduate training has been provided in a
number of universities including intensive conversion courses for those with no
previous social science background. Graduate awards for two year courses have
been doubled, with opportunities for extension if a Ph.D. is undertaken. But the
demand exceeds the supply. For 813 such awards offered through the Social
Science Research Council in 1967 there were 2,930 bids. In Italy the number of
awards, many of which are provided through industry, exceeded the number of
candidates because the chaos over the doctorate reduced the numbers eligible.@
The recommendations of the Wissenschaftsrat (Scientific C0unci1)~~.5" for the
development of German universities up to 1970 contain proposals for 'retrain-
ing' junior staff in the social sciences, special preparation for research and
the 'institutionalization' of graduate studies. There is agreement in most coun-
tries that university reform is essential to build up social science manpower.
Coordination and planning
45. In face of the manpower crisis, the dispersion of research, the teaching
overload and the rigidity of universities, strong tendencies have appeared in
Western Europe toward greater co-ordination of the social sciences. I 68 Central
planning bodies of various kinds already exist in some countries and are mooted
in others. Issues of science policy are increasingly discussed. There is anxiety
that research workers wil lose freedom of scientific choice. There is concern that
the state of knowlege in many disciplines is not far enough advanced to permit
the applications expected. The power of social science 'establishments' is feared.
Yet there is general acceptance of the fact that things cannot go on as they have
been. A realization is growing that better ways to develop and utilize the social
sciences can be found only through a complex and protracted process of social
learning in which the scientists and the community both take part and in which
governments play an active role.