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Under the auspices of the National Sci Foundation, studies have been made of the nature of sci'fic activities carried on by the state gov's in the 6 states of Calif, Conn, N.M., N. Y., & N. Carolina & Wisc. The studies cover the fiscal yrs of 1953 & 1954 & indicate the expenditures for sci'fic activities in money & man-hours. This article briefly reports some of the findings. Each of the 6 states spent between 1.3% & 2% of its total expenditures for sci'fic activities in 1954. With the exception of N. Y. & N. M., more funds were spent for sci'fic activities in the field of agriculture than in other areas. N. M. made its largest expenditure for sci'fic activities in the area of resource development & public works; N. Y. in health, educ & welfare. AA-IPSA.

This dissertation consists of a case study of Swedish psychology during a specific period of time. It focuses psychology as a scientific discpline, as a professionalised occupation and as a cognitive resource for policy-making. From a general science studies perspective, it aims to provide a sociological and historical analysis of the development of psychological research, psychological practice and psychology's relation to social policy-making in key areas of the welfare state in general. The case study utilises discourse analysis, analysis of archival and documentary material, interviews and bibliometric analyses. It is argued that psychologists have changed their image from being primarily academics to being clinical practitioners whose expertise has moved from differential diagnostics to psychotherapy. Professional discourse has evolved similarly to that shown to be the case in other countries, drawing extensively on rhetorics of economics, humanitarianism and facilitation and control. A critical assessment of discourse analysis and constructionism is provided, arguing for a restricted application of constructionism in science studies. Further, professional action and organisation is analysed. It is argued that the professional project pursued by psychologists is characterised by power struggles within the profession, and is an outcome of adaptation to institutional demands stemming from the labour-market. It results in a pattern of professionalisation which deviates from what is hypothesised by much professionalisation theory. Psychology's role as a cognitive resource for social policy-making is analysed in relation to claims to decisive influence made by psychologists. It is argued that psychology has played a negligible role in key areas of policy-making. The case illustrates the politicisation of science rather than the scientization of policy-making. Finally, psychology's development as a a discipline is analysed. It is argued that the changes in the system of research and higher education illustrates the increasing influence of non-cognitive factors on disciplinary development. It has provided academic psychology with potential for growth but at the same time weakened its disciplinary core. Academic psychology has been more theoretically and methodologically diverse than is usually claimed, but a rivalling knowledge ideal to the traditional academic one has been introduced by sectorial research policy.

"Über die Ressortforschung ist nur wenig bekannt, selbst in der Wissenschaft. Für diese Einrichtungen gilt als charakteristisch, dass sie 'auf politischen Beschluss' (Lundgreen) forschen und sie als 'staatliche Behörden' geführt werden. Davon wird hergeleitet, dass sie sowohl zum wissenschaftlichen als auch zum staatlichen Feld gehören, woraus 'strukturelle Probleme' resultieren. Zur Überprüfung dieser Grundannahme wird in dem Paper eine relationale Analyse von drei Sichtweisen von 'guter Leistung' der Ressortforschung vorgenommen: aus ministerieller Sicht, aus der Sicht der Ressortforschung und aus der Sicht des wissenschaftlichen Feldes. Auf diese Weise sollen einerseits die Bewährungspunkte für 'gute Leistungen' und andererseits die Auffassungen von Staatsaufgaben und von wissenschaftlicher Expertise deutlich werden. Aus ministerieller Sicht hat sich die Ressortforschung dem Primat der Politik unterzuordnen. Wissenschaftlichkeit wird mehr oder weniger als Methode angesehen, um zu einer politisch belastbaren Expertise zu gelangen. Aus der Perspektive der Wissenschaft ist 'gute Forschung' die Voraussetzung für 'gute Leistung' der Ressortforschung, weil diese vorrangig wissenschaftlichen Kriterien Stand zu halten hat und deshalb auch keinen eigenständigen Forschungstypus repräsentiert. Die Ressortforschung selbst gibt als Bewährungspunkt die Umsetzung ihrer Ergebnisse in die (politische) Praxis an und leitet davon ihre Spezifik her." (Autorenreferat)

Argues that social science is largely a phenomenon of the late nineteenth /early twentieth century. It reflects concerns of the new industrial and urban civilization rapidly changing living and working conditions. This transformation to 'modernity' forced the 'social question' into the political arena. (AFH)

The new types of states that emerged in the late nineteenth century with enlarged administrative capacities differed from earlier formations in: models of resource generation & appropriation, forms of the state institutional apparatus, & modes of societal discourse. The modern state formations drew on the discourse of the social sciences to answer questions of national & cultural identity since the social sciences had the state society implied as its focus. The crumbling of old authorities & the search for new knowledge during this time led to the discourse of modernity & the development of social science. The close relation between the social sciences & the modern state in terms of discourse is based on the interaction of the politico-institutional framework & the discursive framework of social science around intervention in specific institutions, but the analysis of its evolution is not limited only to the intellectual traditions & characteristics of those institutions where discourse has taken place. Social development in itself does not imply social science inquiry, as evidenced by states with similar social patterns utilizing social science to different degrees. The poblematic development of modern social science is traced through two major periods, from the emergence of modern social science as a form of discourse in the late nineteenth & early twentieth centuries in Europe to the widespread institutionalization of social science in the 1960s. With the politico-institutional linkage between discourse & policy making thus established, social science, in trying to remain relevant to policymakers & scholars both, has lost legitimacy, & needs to refocus on society. 53 References. M. Pflum

SOCIAL SCIENCE DOES NOT PRIMARILY PROVIDE WELL-DEFINED INPUTS INTO SMOOTH DECISION AND PROGRAMMING PROCESSES. NOR IS ITS ROLE LIMITED TO SERVING AS A DISTANT DISCOURSE FOR THE TRAINING OF PROFESSIONALS TO OPERATE THE APPARATUS OF MODERN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ADMINISTRATION. RATHER, IT IS THE PRE-EMINENT FORM OF INSTITUTIONALLY BASED AND DISCURSIVELY REPRODUCED INQUIRY ABOUT SOCIETAL PHENOMENA. IT EMERGED AND EVOLVED IN CLOSE INTERACTION WITH THE EVOLUTION OF THE MODERN STATE AND OF THE SECULAR TRANSFORMATION OF EUROPEAN SOCIETIES FROM PRE-INDUSTRIAL TO INDUSTRIAL, FROM RURAL TO URBAN, FROM TRADITIONAL TO MODERN. THUS, SOCIAL SCIENCE IS THE DISCURSIVE CONCOMITANT TO THE VAST INCREASE IN ADMINISTRATIVE AND COMMUNICATIVE CAPACITIES THAT CHARACTERIZED THE NEW TYPE OF STATE FORMATION OF LATE NINETEENTH-AND EARLY TWENTIETH-CENTURY EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA.

Part of a study made by the Institute for Research in Social Science under contract with the National Science Foundation. ; Bibliographies: p. 274-295. ; Mode of access: Internet.