UTILIZATION OF SOCIAL RESEARCH IN SHAPING POLICY DECISIONS
Abstract
The report presents three ways in which scientific theory and research can be used for the purposes of formulating and informing governmental policy. One may be called the 'discipline' approach: experts versed in a discipline draw upon the existing body of knowledge (including recent discoveries) in generating policy-relevant advice. This approach is reflected, as a rule, in the policy application of the older, mature, well-developed sciences, including economics. The second variant of policy utilization of research may be called the 'project' approach: here new scientific knowledge is being acquired with a practical goal in mind. This approach is offer the only one available to workers in the less well-developed sciences, including the social sciences other than economics. The third approach is an indirect and informal one. Governmental policy is being influenced, in ways that are hard to specify, by scientific theories and analyses that become part of the general culture and exert an educational influence upon groups and people directly participating in policy-making.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 24, 1961
- Accession Number
- AD0634797
Entities
People
- P. Kecshemeti
Organizations
- RAND Corporation