Over pretenties en prestaties in het sociale onderzoek

Samenvatting

An examination of the relations between the social researcher and his employer, prompted by an article by A. ter Hoeven on the political role of social research. There is a certain ambiguity in ter Hoeven's views on the possible dangers of the employer's domination of social research, and the recent formation of the Dutch Assoc. of Researchers in Social Sciences suggests that such dangers are real. Distinctions are drawn between basic research (rare in the Netherlands) and pragmatic research. The latter is subdivided into internal and external (ie for an employer, usually an org). Organizations pursue functional aims; but they are also involved in the personal aims of their leaders. In view of this situation, the following recommendations are made to researchers: (1) face the responsibilities of the research in question; (2) produce work that would be useful to the functional aims of the employer; (3) replace individual 'jeremiads' on undue personal claims of employers by concerted social action. I. Langnas.