Realizing Social Science Knowledge: The Political Realization of Social Science Knowledge and Research: Toward New Scenarios

324 Pages·1983·38.865 MB·English

by  XY. Holzner, XY. Knorr, XY. Strasser

Realizing Social Science
Knowledge
Institut ftir Hohere Studien -Institute for Advanced Studies
IRS-Studies No. 3
realizing social science knowledge
Th.e Political Realization of Social Science
Knowledge and Research: Toward New Scenarios
A Symposium in Memoriam Paul F. Lazarsfeld
Edited by
B. Holzner, K.D. Knorr, and H. Strasser
Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg GmbH
1983
CIP-Kurztitelaufnahme der Deutschen Bibliothek
Realizing social science knowledge : the polit. reali-
zation of social science knowledge and research: toward
new scenarios I a Symposium in Memoriam Paul F. Lazars
feld. Hrsg. von B. Holzner ... - Wien ; Wiirzburg :
Physica-Verlag, 1983.
(IHS studies ; No. 3)
NE: Holzner, Burkart [Hrsg.); Symposium in Memoriam
Paul F. Lazarsfeld <1980, Wien>; Institut fUr Hohere
Studien und Wissenschaftliche Forschung <Wien>: IHS
studies
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
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recording or otherwise, without the permission of the publisher.
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1983
Originally published by Physica-Verlag Ges.m.b.H., Vienna in 1983.
ISBN 978-3-7051-0003-9 ISBN 978-3-662-41492-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-41492-7
Composed and printed by repro-druck ,Journalfranz" Arnulf Liebing GmbH+ Co., Wiirzburg.
GefOrdert durch das Bundesministerium flir Wissenschaft und Forschung in Wien.
Preface
This book is the outcome of an International Conference on "The Political Realiza
tion of Social Science Knowledge" organized by the editors of this volume at the Insti
tute for Advanced Studies, Vienna, June 18-20, 1980. The original idea of holding the
conference was suggested by Paul F. Lazarsfeld, who in his role as a scientific advisor and
almost permanent visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Studies has urged us to
bring together scholars from Europe and North America to confront the problem which
was perhaps foremost on his scholarly mind: the theoretical, methodological, and empirical
problem of the applicability and the actual application of the social sciences. His initial
activities in market research in his Vienna years of the late 1920's and early 1930's pro
vide as much testimony as his last book published in 1975: An Introduction to Applied
Sociology [Lazarsfeld, P.F., and J.F. Reitz. With the collaboration of A.K. Pasanella.
New York 1975]. As a consequence, when the Institute for Advanced Studies decided to
fmance the conference in memoriam PFL, the meeting was designed to assess the present
state of political realization of social science knowledge and to advance our theoretical
understanding of the problems and processes involved in knowledge utilization.
As the number of original papers presented at the conference suggests, the response
was enthusiastic and the interest in this subject was great. Although the Conference Pro
ceedings do not include all papers for the simple reason of space limitations imposed by
the publisher, they reflect the structure of the meeting in which several theoretically
distinctive foci of discussion emerged. By focusing on issues of knowledge application,
the present volume represents a kind of counterpart to the recently published "Papers in
Honor of Paul F. Lazarsfeld" [Merton, R.K., J.S. Coleman, and P.H. Rossi (eds.): Qualita
tive and Quantitative Social Research. New York 1979] which are devoted to the whole
range of PFL's sociological and methodological endeavors.
The papers contained in these Proceedings have been revised for publication after
the conference. Alvin W. Gouldner's presentation "Is Amnesia in Sociology Discontinuity?"
in the opening session which had provided a great deal of literary and scientific stimula
tion, could not be included here as his sudden death on December 15, 1980, did not
permit him to finish the paper in the way he had planned for the Proceedings. In the case
of those papers which had been published elsewhere in the meantime, the editors did not
find it too hard to exclude them from this publication:
Coleman, J.S.: The Structure of Society and the Nature of Social Research. Knowledge
1 (3), 1980, 333-350.
Cook, T.D., J. Levinson-Rose, and W.E. Pollard: The Misutilization of Evaluation Re
search Findings: Contributions from Dissemination Processes. Knowledge 1 ( 4), 1980,
477-498.
6 Preface
Dunn: W.N.: Experiment and Argument: Metaphors of Reform in the Applied Social
Sciences. Knowledge 3 (2), 1982 (forthcoming).
Ke", D.H : Knowledge Utilization: Epistemological and Political Assumptions. Know
ledge 2 (4), 1981,483-501.
Nelkin, D.: Forbidden Research: Limits to Inquiry in the Social Sciences. Ethical Issues
in Social Science Research. Ed. by T.L. Beecham. Baltimore 1982, 163-174.
Pollak, M: Paul F. Lazarsfeld: A Sociointellectual Biography. Knowledge 2 (2), 1980,
157-177.
A revised and somewhat different version of Marin's paper also appeared in Knowledge,
while revised versions of Phillips' and Ritzer's papers have in the meantime become parts
of books that the authors published seperately. However, we would like to direct the
attention of the interested reader to all papers which could not be included here, mainly
for the reason of rather strict space limitations on the part of the publisher:
Gouldner, A. W.: Is Amnesia in Sociology Discontinuity, and the Problem of Permeable
Boundaries in Culture.
Phillips, D.L.: Social Theory and Moral Values.
Ritzer, G.: The Politics of Inter-Paradigmatic Conflict in Sociology.
Hove, E. van: Sociology as a Practice.
Waele, P. de: The Eclipse of Personology as an Artefact of Institutionalization.
Aichholzer, G.: Utilization Determinants in Social Science Contract Research: Three
Case Studies.
Schmidt, G., andJ. Braczyk: The Humanization of Work and Industrial Sociology.
Kreutz, H: On the Relationship between Knowledge Application and University Educa
tion: Some Empirical Data.
Lamser, V. : A Design of the Systematization of Applied Sociology.
Discussant papers specifically prepared for the meeting are included in full length, i.e.,
they also refer to papers presented in the conference but left out here; we have not
included those discussant contributions which were of an ad-hoc character (K. Knorr,
N. Luhmann, B. Holzner, H. Nowotny, and P. Weingart).
We owe great debt to Paul F. Lazarsfeld for "bringing it all about" and to the In
stitute for Advanced Studies and its directors Professor Rapoport and Dr. Fiirst, as well
as to the National Science Foundation for "letting it happen." We have profited enor
mously from the Conference Secretariat of Hannelore Loos and her assistant, Waltraud
Raidl, without whose help we would probably not have ventured to organize the meeting
in the first place. We are also grateful to the University of Pittsburgh's Program for the
Study of Knowledge Use for its help in raising travel funds, and to Linda Hudak of the
University Center for International Studies for editing and rewriting the papers of the
volume. Most of all, we thank the authors of this volume and the participants in the
conference for contributing their time and effort to the conference and the Proceedings.
Burkart Holzner
Karin D. Knorr
Hermann Strasser December 1, 1981
Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Neurath, P.: In Memoriam Paul F. Lazarsfeld: Paul F. Lazarsfeld and the Institu-
tionalization of Empirical Social Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Section I: Epistemological Issues on Knowledge Utilization
Bhaskar, R.: Scientific Explanation and Human Emancipation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Reichardt, R.: Objectivity and Endurance: On Some Evaluative Criteria for Social
Science Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
O'Neill, J. (discussant): Some Issues in the Real Use of Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Section II: Conceptions of Science in Relation to Practice
Stehr, N., and W. Baldamus: Accounts and Action: The Logic(s) of Social Science
and Pragmatic Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Hammond, M: The Emergence of Combat Anthropology in France: A Study in
the Production and Utilization of Social Science Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Klausner, S.Z.: Social Knowledge for Social Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Section III: Social Science and Practical Knowledge: Toward New Paradigms
Rosenmayr, L. : Sociology - Decyphering "Zeitgeist", Creating Consciousness
or Cooperating to "Solve Problems"? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
De Mey, M T.: Beyond Figure-Ground and Context. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 7
Fischer-Kowalski, M (discussant): Social Science and Practical Knowledge:
Toward New Paradigms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Section IV: Societal Development and Social Research
Fisher, E.M: Research in the Service of Social Reform: The Politics of
Designing Systems of Knowledge Production and Use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Ziman, J.M: Conceptions of Science. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Strasser, H (discussant): Societal Development and Social Research. . . . . . . . . . . 197
Section V: Conceptual Foundations on Knowledge Use I
Weiss, CH: Three Terms in Search of Reconceptualization: Knowledge,
Utilization and Decision-Making. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
8 Contents
Rich, F. : Making, Relaying, and Using Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Zaltman, G. : Construing Knowledge Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Section VI: Conceptual Foundations on Knowledge Use II
Caplan, N.: Knowledge Conversion and Utilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Hjern, B., and D.O. Porter: Implementation Structures: A New Unit of Admini-
strative Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Section VII: Knowledge Utilization and State Agencies
Kane, M.B., and A. T. Kocher: The Dissemination and Use of Educational R & D
in the United States: An Analysis of Recent Federal Attempts to Improve
Educational Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Singh, V.P.: Use of Social Science Knowledge and Data in Public Policy Making:
The Deliberations on the Compensatory Educational Policy by U.S. Congress. . . 295
Rothschild, K. W. (discussant): Knowledge Utilization and State Agencies: Some
Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Section VIII: Dimensions of Knowledge Utilization in Practice
Larsen, J.K. : The Nature of Information Utilization in Local Organizations . . . . . . 311
Sills, D.L.: The Utilization of Social Science Knowledge in Studying Technology
and Society: The Case of the Accident at Three Mile Island. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Introduction
In recent years, problems of knowledge use in the social sciences and questions of the
relationship between social science and public policy making have been a prominent topic
of discussions which range from epistemological controversies about the nature of the
social sciences to debates over the fruitfulness of single programs and proposed social
reforms, for example in education. The conference on which the present volume is based
was designed to arrive at a reformulation of some of the key questions in this discussion
grounded in the experience accumulated in the last two decades, and broadened by
relevant illustrations from the past and from the natural and technological sciences. In
particular, the goal of the conference has been threefold:
1. The advancement and critique of theoretical concepts and models of knowledge
utilization in regard to the use (or misuse) of social science research in policy making.
2. The discussion of scenarios of knowledge utilization derived from case studies of past
and present programs or projects designed to achieve organizational and social reform.
3. An assessment of the role of social science knowledge and research in present socio
economic systems based upon an evaluation of socio-economic trends and historical
evidence.
In the past, models and concepts of knowledge utilization have been dominated by the
"two-communities perspective" which attributes many of the difficulties of social science
knowledge use to the distinctive characteristics of the scientific community on the one
hand and the political system on the other hand. This concept has suggested that improved
communication may be the remedy for the "gap" between knowledge and policy, as also
intimated by Lazarsfeld. A first attempt in this direction was made when two of the pres
ent editors organized an International Conference on "Determinants and Controls of
Scientific Development some eight years ago, though clearly with a focus on the produc
tion side of knowledge [cf. Kno"/Strasser/Zilian; Strasser/Kno"]. However, it may well
be, as Coleman succinctly demonstrated in his paper, that in the wake of a shift in the
structure of political responsibility for solving social problems from the private and local
to the public and national level in most industrialized countries, a new kind of focus in
reflecting upon scientific development had been brought about: thinking about the side
of knowledge use.
Our first goal mentioned above has therefore been to broaden and at the same time
refine the "two-communities" perspective and to confront it with alternative models of
knowledge realization (see also Section 3, this volume). However, it is clear that detached
theoretical discussions which abstract from the empirical conditions of knowledge use
need to be supplemented by success (and failure) stories of single cases of attempted know
ledge utilization, which trace in detail the problems and processes of implementing social
research. Finally, it is clear that the role of social science knowledge in political action
will change depending on the specific political context in which a knowledge system is
10 Introduction
placed. Consequently, studies which analyze the historical "situatedness" of social
research over time and which link specific social science achievements in knowledge
utilization to specific economic, political or social conditions have been called for in this
effort to improve our understanding of knowledge and policy (see Section 4, this
volume).
The broad variety of viewpoints and approaches represented in the contributions to
the conference and to this volume reflects the variety of notions and perspectives which
play a role in the ongoing discussion of knowledge and policy. Yet out of this variety,
three questions have emerged at the conference which may well orient to a significant
degree future empirical and theoretical research on knowledge use. The first is the question
of political decision-making which has lost none of its significance since the beginning of
research on the political utilization of knowledge. The discussion included in this volume
points in the direction of a transition from individualistic, decision-oriented models to
models which start from the socially accomplished, negotiatied character of the selections
taken by political actors, and which begin to grope with the situational rationality that
apparently marks the (social) process of deciding (see Sections 5 and 6, this volume).
The second question refers to a notion of knowledge which conceives of the produc
tion of knowledge as a social process in which practical and political criteria may influence
research decisions (see Sections 1 and 2, this volume). Direct observation of science at
work suggests that the process of production of knowledge is constrnctive rather than
descriptive or normative, and that the products of research are structured in terms of
several levels of selection generated in fields of action which transcend the community
of scientists to include political, administrative, and other practical actors [Kno"-Cetina].
Our rethinking of the problem of knowledge utilization will have to address not only the
question of political decision making, but also the question of knowledge production
with a view to utilization.
Finally, there is the question of a reconception of the processes which connect (or
separate) social science research and practical application. Two attempts in this direction
strike us as particularly promising: the attempts to conceive of knowledge realization in
analogy to the symbolically mediated process of judgement and argumentation which
takes place in court, within a context of multiple interests, rules, and sanctions. The
second suggestion takes the transformation processes which knowledge undergoes when
it enters practial scenes of action as its starting point. These processes have been sug-
gested by contributions to Sections 5 and 6 (this volume), HolznerfMarx [1979] and others,
and will have to be given much more attention in research on utilization.
As emphasized by the concluding conference panel, these basic questions currently
culminate in problems that arise from the bureaucratic organization of the use of social
and other knowledge. What are we to do if, as one panelist questioned, bureaucracies all
over one's country ask us to think about how we, as scientists and citizens, could be
better manipulated? Science has manouvered itself into a dilemma: If we postulate that
the production (and producers) of knowledge ought to take control over its utilization,
we are possibly confronted with the fact that the traditional knowledge using systems are
capable of generating their own knowledge on a scale thus far unknown. However, the
dissolution of theoretical dilemmas is as much a part of the scientist's business as his
contribution to the solution of practical problems.