De politieke rol van het sociale onderzoek

Samenvatting

An examination of the political side of social research. Politics is defined as the struggle for power, with power relations assuming 3 forms: (1) power relations between groups (intercursive), eg between political parties, religious faiths or professional org's; (2) integral power, ie the power through which individual behavior is determined by society as a whole, ie 'the authorities'; (3) functional power, which is exercised when a bur'cy uses its expert knowledge to control part of a power apparatus. This is a new type of power which affects social research through the new academics' called upon to carry it out. Among the 'old academics' who took part in political struggles, the jurists played an outstanding part because all kinds of problems were referred to their regulation by laws. The 'new academics'- economists, sociologists, planners, psychologists, technicians-do not have the independence which their older colleagues enjoyed. They have to work within a bur'tic framework. This framework seriously endangers their ability to work according to criteria of scientific objectivity. They are expected to produce solutions acceptable to the functional power of the bur'crats. They try to evade the issue by offering alternative solutions which the bur'crats will choose; but such alternatives are often only apparent. As social research becomes more and more integrated into a power framework it becomes a useful tool for those who exercise power. I. Langnas.