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

744 Eric Trist
rience in industry or other ‘user organizations’. Central Government should berepresented
on the Council and its Committees by assessors as with the established Research
Councils.
If the Social Science Research Council is to be brought within the system under which
the Council on Scientific Policy advises on the allocation of resources among the
Research Councils, the Council on Scientific Policy should have in its membership one
or more persons with an up-to-date knowledge of the needs of the social sciences.
The Council should have powers to make postgraduate awards and fellowships in the
social sciences. Arrangements should be made to utilise the capacity for research
training of research institutes outside universities, the Social Survey and research units
in Government departments and other organizations.
There should be a range of research posts in the universities, government, local government
and industry. Interchange of staff should be encouraged. A period of research
should be possible for people whose main career is in the Civil Service, Local Government,
Teaching, Industry, etc. Universities should examine the organization of teaching
and research duties in social science departments, the method of allocating funds for
auxiliary staff and facilities for research. Local authorities and governing bodies of
technical colleges should accept the principle that teaching staff should have the opportunity
to be associated with research.
The application of social science research requires social scientists to work at points
where problems first emerge and to help identify and deal with them. Although social
scientists of all kinds are needed for work on practical problems of great importance
in government, only economists and statisticians are used to any great extent. We
recommend that departments review their needs and see where social scientists of all
disciplines can be of most help. Government departments should have a senior person
trained in the social sciences to act as a ‘listening post’, to bring developments in research
to the attention of administrators, to keep in touch with research elsewhere, to
see that relevant research information is disseminated, and to supervise the research
contracts placed by the department. Departments in planning and in reviewing their
research requirements should consider whether they need research units operating
within their department in the light of the criteria we have set out.
The Treasury should employ social scientists so as to be able to include advice on the
use of the social sciences in their management service to departments and in their
training programmes. They should widen the range of social science in the syllabus of
the Centre for Administrative Studies. They should review the conditions of employment
of social scientists in Government, and should undertake a central scrutiny of
departmental budgets for research for their own purposes. Consultation with the Social
Science Research Council would usefully supplement discussions with departments.
There is a need for better, fuller, more co-ordinated and earlier government social statistics.
Their value as a basis for research needs to be improved. The Central Statistical
Office should take the lead in co-operation with the appropriate branches of Government
through a new interdepartmental Committee. The link between Government and
social scientists outside should be forged through the Social Science Research Council.
Better use should be made of the Socialsurvey which is wrongly situated within Government.
We recommend that the treasury should take responsibility for it and that its
programme should be determined by a Committee, under Treasury chairmanship, of
representatives of the main user departments and of the Social Science Research
Council.
Many of our recommendations to Government apply in principle to industrial and
commercial organisations, local authorities, statutory and other bodies. In particular
they should review their need to employ social scientists at high executive level so as to
bring the results of research into the making of policy. Special grants should be made
available to the co-operative Industrial Research Associations to extend their range of
services to include the social sciences.