History and Past Activities
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History and Past Activities |
Jane Calvert
SPRU - Science and Technology Policy Research, University of Sussex
Brighton
United Kingdom
e-mail: J.Calvert@sussex.ac.uk
Basic research and scientific values
‘Basic’ or ‘curiosity-driven’ research is the type of research that we associate with traditional university-based knowledge production. This paper is concerned with the pressures on basic research in the new funding environment where the emphasis has moved away from the pursuit of knowledge ‘for its own sake’ and toward a stress on the economic utility of the knowledge produced. The focus is on how these changing pressures are affecting the norms and values of scientific researchers.
On the basis of in-depth interviews with biologists and physicists I show that basic research is a highly valued activity which is important in the self-image of many scientists. I argue that rather than traditional values being eroded in the new climate, scientists over-compensate for the changes that are occurring by asserting their attachment to the values of curiosity-driven research. A consequence is that current pressures on scientists do not necessarily have predictable impacts on research. For example, scientists respond to pressures to make their research more clearly relevant to commercial objectives by ‘tailoring’ the way they present their research, while maintaining that this research is still ‘basic’ in character.
I argue that in an analysis of the changing environment of knowledge production we must be aware of the pervasive and important values scientists attach to basic research, especially when attempting to assess the impacts of changes in the funding environment on research practices.
Sociology of Science and Technology NETwork - last update: April 2006