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

782 Eric Trist
9. The firmer establishment of social professions will create the possibility
of a more scientific approach to ‘social development’ - as contrasted with
social research. Little ‘social-science-informed’ social development has taken
place because of the lack of social science professionals in operating organizations.
Yet it has become a necessity when intervention by government in the
operations of society has reached a scale never previously experienced. Large
scale programmes are launched without continuous monitoring of their performance
during their early phases. New institutions are brought on to the
stage without ‘piloting up’. There is little systematic search into sources of
unexpected ‘social’ error. A lack of vigilance is common regarding unintended
consequences for those not directly implicated. Practicable modifications are
apt to be made only very late. Sometimes so much has been invested that it is
impossible to retreat even when it becomes obvious that the direction is wrong.
The presence of social science professionals in operating organizations will make
true development work feasible in the social field. As soon as they begin to
make their influence felt, they will immensely sharpen the foci of social research,
enabling it to concentrate on more pertinent issues.
Basic types of research organization
IO. As regards research organizations themselves, three main types may be
distinguished, each of which has a distinctive pattern.* These wil be referred
to as Types A, B and c, respectively:
Type A. Centres of professional social science activity, with associated research
and development establishments to undertake work on immediate
practical problems.
These centres are located within user-organizations (such as the
Home Office Social Research Unit in Britain), or constitute consulting
groups under contract to them (such as the Societe d‘Economie et de
Mathematique Appliquks in France). Lacking them, user-organiza-
tions remain without agents able to identify areas of social science
knowledge relevant to their problems. They are also without social
science professionals in continuous contact with administrators.
Research problems are determined by client needs, though real and
apparent needs are often difficult to distinguish and what is most
deeply required is far from always what is most urgently requested.
Such work expresses a research/service ‘mix’.
Type B. Centres of basic research associated with major teaching facilities.
Centres of Type B are the opposite of, and complementary to, those of
Type A.
They are located within universities, as autonomous departments
based on particular disciplines (such as psychology and sociology).
They undertake both undergraduate and graduate training. Research
problems are determined by the needs of theory and method or may
* Based on the scheme developed in Social Research and a National Policyfor Science,
pp. 7-15.13’