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

784 Eric Trist
12. Several varieties of research unit occur in each of the main types. These
are set out in the following table. Though most of the terms are self-explana-
tory, one or two need brief comment. By internal agencies, Type AI, are meant
headquarters research and development groups close to centres of policy-
making. These are concerned with identifying problems rather than with carry-
ing out investigations. They may initiate exploratory or pilot schemes them-
selves and undertake urgent, short-run inquiries. Anything more massive, basic,
or longer-range would be handed over - to one of their own directly controlled
research establishments or to an outside consulting organization, Types
AZ and A3; to a post-doctoral contract programme in a university, Type ~ 3 ;
or to a Type c organization. National and trans-national institutes, Type c3
(shared costly facility), have existed for the natural sciences for some time - for
example, institutes for nuclear physics. The computer appears to be bringing
them into existence for the social sciences - for example, national data banks
are beginning to be established and collections of computer programmes to be
made. National organizations of Type c4 (shared routine facility) came into
existence in the social sciences to collect and analyze statistical data, e.g. the
census, social surveys, etc. International facilities of these types are appearing.
Varieties of research unit in relation of main types
Main type Varieties
Centres concerned with
user-organizations
Type A
Centres interwoven with
university departments
Type B
Centres comprising
special institutes
Type c
I Internal agencies
2 Directly controlled establishments
3 Consulting organizations
I Pre-doctoral programmes
2 Post-doctoral programmes (basic)
3 Post-doctoral programmes
(contract)
I University-based organizations
2 Independent organizations
3 National organizations
(shared costly facility)
4 National organizations
(shared routine facility)
13. It is the Type c characteristics which express the institutional embodiment
of capability to undertake interdisciplinary problem-oriented research of a
generic kind. Type c institutes require special capabilities in:
a. Securing the commitment of technical resources, including senior personnel,
to follow the course of selected, emergent social processes over long periods
of time - five to ten years, and indeed much longer durations, sometimes
involving more than one scientific generation.
b. Extending the character of their interdisciplinary mix as the problem requires-
to include, for example, on the one hand, political scientists and economists
along with psychologists and sociologists, and, on the other, engineers
and operational research workers, or biologists and ecologists.