ICTS AND SOCIETY: THE SALZBURG APPROACH - ICT&S

ICTs and Society: The Salzburg Approach
plicable, can according to Stokes seen combined in the researcher Louis Pasteur.
Stokes exemplifies his ideas of research in the model below, the “Pasteur’s Quadrant”
(see Figure 1):
Quest for
fundamental
Understanding?
Consideration of Use?
NO YES
YES Pure Basic Research
(Bohr)
Use-Inspired Basic
Research (Pasteur)
NO Pure Applied Research
(Edison)
Figure 1: “Quadrant Model of Scientific Research“ (see Stokes 1997, 73).
Pure Basic Research in the upper-left cell refers to grounded research with the primary
quest for fundamental understanding; this can – according to Donald Stokes -
be exemplified with the physicist Niels Bohr: “Niels Bohr’s quest of a model atomic
structure was a pure voyage of discovery“ (Stokes 1997, 73). The right cell below
refers to the kind of research that is (more or less) targeted to concrete application
and production without gaining a deeper understanding for basic questions;
this type of research – dedicated to Thomas Edison – is “[…] extremely sophisticated,
although narrowly targeted on immediate applied goals“ (Stokes 1997, 74).
The left cell below is in reality not empty. It is drawn upon research that is neither
basic, nor applied: “This quadrant includes research that systematically explores
particular phenomena without having in view either general explanatory objectives or
any applied use […]” (Stokes 1997, 74). Stokes mentions private interest in ornithology
as an example for this kind of research. The heart of this model can be found
in the upper right cell, which Stokes dedicates to the chemist Louis Pasteur: “The
upper right-hand cell includes basic research that seeks to extend the frontiers of
understanding but is also inspired by consideration of use” (Stokes 1997, 74).
Also Juergen Mittelstraß addresses this problem. He points out that contemporary
research builds a triangular model assembled by pure basic research, application
oriented basic research and product-oriented applied research (see Figure 2). Hence
the dualism between basic and applied research has – according to Mittelstraß – already
become obsolete (see Mittelstraß 2001, 48-49). Research on stem cells for
example is according to Mittelstraß both, basic research because it is a rather
young discipline and not much knowledge has already been gained, and applied research
because it is product-oriented research (see Mittelstraß 1992, 63).
Hofkirchner | Fuchs | Raffl | Schafranek | Sandoval | Bichler 10