CHARACTERISTICS AND DETERMINANTS OF SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL POTENTIAL
Main researcher
: PRPIĆ, KATARINA (39005) Assistants
ČENGIĆ, DRAGO (92991)
GOLUB, BRANKA (13831)
KOMAR, ZORAN (54623)
PETAK, ANTUN (36491)
Type of research: basic Duration from: 01/01/91. to 12/31/94. Papers on project (total): 29
Papers on project quoted in Current Contents: 1
Institution name: Institut za društvena istraživanja, Zagreb (100) Department/Institute: Unit for the Sociology of Science Address: Amruševa 8/III City: 10000 - Zagreb, Croatia
Communication
Phone: 385 (0) 01/430-675 430-775
Fax: 385 (0) 01 433-298
Summary: Scientific results achieved by the project team during the
period 1991/95 have been published on 1470 pages of various publications
- including four books and two doctoral dissertations. Another valuable
indicator of the intensity of project team's scientific activity concerns
scientific promotions of the team members and their improved research
qualifications. Scientific activity within the project has been founded on
original empirical material, beginning with data gathered in 1990 survey
on a sample of 921 Croatian researchers. In spite of insufficient
financial support, two empirical studies were carried out: 1) mail-survey
on a sample of 169 most successful Croatian business organizations ensured
the first sociological data on privatization (in 1993); 2) the first
sociological (questionnaire) study of scientists' ethics on a sample of
386 eminent Croatian scientists (in the spring of 1995). The main
scientific contributions of the project have been as follows; a) new
knowledge of social and cognitive (disciplinary) factors of scientific
productivity; b) deeper (empirical) insight into the structure and
hierarchy of scientists' work values; c) synthesis of the studies on
external migrations of scientists; d) redefinition of scientists'
professional ethics at both levels: normative and behavioural; e) new
scientific insight into the innovative activities of economic subjects and
into the process of privatization; f) new understanding of the theoretical
foundation as well as the real performances of the dominant world models
of financing R&D.
Keywords: sociology of science, (social) studies of science and technology, science and technology policy studies, social system of science, normative structure (ethos) of science, professional ethics of scientists, scientific productivity, scientific creativity, work values of scientists, brain drain, external migrations of scientists, technological development, innovation system, privatization, management, enterpreneurship, governing science and technology, research policy, allocation of resources to R&D, criteria for choice in scientific and developmental research.
Research goals: The project has been oriented towards acquiring
knowledge of essential features and determinants of the main elements of
scientific and technological potential: scientific/research personnel,
science (and technology) policies and innovation subsystem of economy. The
expected theoretical and empirical contributions have been acomplished as
follows: 1) new knowledge of scientific/research personnel, specially of:
a) social and cognitive determinants of their scientific productivity; b)
their psychological, actually motivational profile; c) characteristics and
factors (both social and motivational) of their (potential) emigration; 2)
deeper comprehension of basic (social and cognitive) elements of
scientific ethos and empirical insight into the scientists' professional
ethics at both levels - of their values and of their behaviour; 3)
understanding internal (scientific) as well as external (social) factors
of directing scientific and technological activities, especially the
dominant models of financing R&D as crucial instruments of science and
technology policies; 4) identification of types and factors of the
relationship between business orientations and tehnologically innovative
activities of economic subjects, and deeper insight into the essential
economic and social frame of the said relation - the process of
privatization. These scientific contributions (including 2 doctorates),
based on 3 empirical investigations (carried out in 1990, 1993 and 1995),
have been achieved in spite of apsolutely insufficient project's finacing. Other information about the project.