Introduction

MEASUREMENT OF SCIENCE - ONE OF THE

DIVISIONS IN THE STUDY OF SCIENCE

Science was made the object of the investigation. Problems in

the study of science (science about science) have started to be
discussed widely in the press C1-33. In the summer of 1966 in
L'vov the First Soviet-Polish Symposium on the Complex Study of the
Development of Science took place; the Second Polish-Soviet Symposium
took place in Katowice in the autumn of 1967. Numerous meetings and
conferences on the study of science are conducted abroad.

The founder of the study of science is considered to be

J. Bernal. In 1939 he published the book "The Social Function of
Science" [ 4 ] , which now has become a classic. After the Second
World War a great contribution to the study of science was made by
Derek Price. With physics being his specialty, he widely used
qualitative methods for studying the development of science. Eugene
Garfield organized in California (USA) the Institute of Scientific In-
formation and in 1961 prepared the "Indexes of Scientific Referencest1
(Science Citation Index," abbreviated SCI), which proved to be a very
effective tool of investigation in the study of science. Now it is
difficult to tell of the foreseeable number of publications on the
study of science. In Poland a special bibliographic reference book
on the study of scientific works "Przeglad informacji o Naukoznawstwie"
(Osrodek Documentacji i Informacji Naukowej Polskiej Akademii Nauk,
Warszawa), which covers the literature published in the whole world,
has been published. In the first dozen of issues of this reference
book, output data of 2369 publications on the study of science have
been given. In the USSR in Kiev G. I t . Dobrov is engaged in the study
of science on a professional level. Recently he published the

FTD-MT-24-835-71 vi
monograph "Science on Science" C51. Most recently in Moscow a group
of scientific colleagues, who w o r k in different fields of learning,
began actively to be engaged in certain problems of the study of
science. At the beginning of 1967 at the Institute of the History
of Natural Science and Technology of the Academy of Sciences of the
USSR, a townspeople's seminar on qualitative methods of the study of
the development of science began to function.

In spite of the fact that the study of science as an independent

scientific discipline was developed about 30 years ago, it is some-
what difficult to outline the range of questions which is occupied
by this new field of learning. It seems to us that now it is possible
to speak about the wide spectrum of logical schemes which allow
studying the process of the development of science. Let us examine
these models briefly.

1. Information model. The science is examined as a self-

organizing system, which is controlled by its information flows. The
development of science is studied as a development of its information
flows.

2. L o g i c a l m o d e l . The science is studied as a logical develop-

ment of concepts. With such an approach the problem of the logical
classification o f sciences acquires an independent importance. This
question is thoroughly examined in the well-known monograph of
B. M. Kedrov "Classification of Syiences" [ 6 ] .

3. Gnoneological model. It is occupied with the study of the

methodology of scientific investigations. In this model the main
problems are the substantiation of mathematics, hypothesis and
experiment, and the mathematical theory of experiment (statistical
methods of the analysis of experimental data, mathematical methods
of planning of an experiment, and so on).

4. Economic m o d e l . Here the interaction of science with the

economic development of a country is studied, and the economic
effectiveness of scientific investigations is evaluated.

FTD-MT-24-835-71 vi i
 5. Political m o d e l . Within t h e framework o f t h i s model t h e
i n t e r a c t i o n of science with a p o l i t i c a l ideology, t h e connection
between t h e development o f s c i e n c e and p r e s t i g e o f t h e c o u n t r y , and
t h e d e f e n s e p o t e n t i a l o f a c o u n t r y are examined.

6. SociologicaZ model. I n t h i s model a g r e a t number o f

s c i e n t i f i c w o r k e r s i s examined a s a c e r t a i n s o c i a l g r o u p . This group
i n t e r a c t s w i t h o t h e r g r o u p s , d e f e n d s i t s r i g h t s , and e x e r t s i n f l u e n c e
on t h e p u b l i c l i f e o f a c o u n t r y . O f i n t e r e s t t o us i s a v e r y
c u r i o u s book o f Don P r i c e " S c i e n t i f i c E s t a t e " C71, i n which a n
a t t e m p t i s made t o examine t r u e , from v e r y s p e c i f i c p o s i t i o n s , t h e
s o c i o l o g i c a l problems o f t h e development o f s c i e n c e i n t h e USA. The
m i c r o s o c i o l o g i c a l s t u d i e s i n s c i e n c e c a n be o f s p e c i a l i n t e r e s t .
I n a medium o f s c i e n t i f i c w o r k e r s , t h e r e n a t u r a l l y can a p p e a r micro-
g r o u p s , which i n t e r a c t w i t h e a c h o t h e r i n a complex manner. Such
g r o u p s can u n i t e s c i e n t i f i c w o r k e r s w i t h r e s p e c t t o n a t i o n a l and age
c r i t e r i a , e d u c a t i o n a l q u a l i f i c a t i o n , s c i e n t i f i c d e g r e e s , views on
s c i e n c e and i t s p u r p o s e , and any o t h e r c r i t e r i o n o r e v e n w i t h r e s p e c t
t o t h e purpose of t h e i r t o t a l i t y . Here, a p p a r e n t l y , i t 13 p o s s i b l e
t o u s e e x t e n s i v e l y methods o f p e r f o r m i n g a c u t e s i t u a t i o n s ( t h e
r e s e a r c h s o c i o l o g i s t i s t h e producer o f t h e s i t u a t i o n t o be performed),
p r o p o s e d by Moreno [81.

7. Demographic model. The s c i e n t i f i c p o t e n t i a l o f a c o u n t r y

i s s t u d i e d as a demographic problem. Here t h e problem o f t h e age o f
t h e s c i e n t i f i c c o l l e c t i v e i s v e r y i m p o r t a n t . One o f t h e problems i s
formulated thus: i s i t p o s s i b l e t o keep young s c i e n t i f i c c o l l e c t i v e s
i n aging c i t i e s ?

8. Model " S c i e n t i f i c w o r k e r - a c r e a t i v e l y a c t i v e i n d i v i d u a l .
A v e r y g r e a t d e a l o f l i t e r a t u r e h a s been d e v o t e d t o t h e problem o f
t h e psychology o f s c i e n t i f i c work ( j u s t i n t h e USA t h e r e a r e s e v e r a l
t h o u s a n d s o f p u b l i c a t i o n s on t h i s p r o b l e m ) . I n an i n f o r m a t i o n
b u l l e t i n p u b l i s h e d by t h e I n s t i t u t e o f H i s t o r y o f N a t u r a l S c i e n c e and
Technology o f t h e Academy o f S c i e n c e s o f t h e USSR [ g ] , t h e r e i s
a s u r v e y o f American l i t e r a t u r e on t h e problem of s c i e n t i f i c and
t e c h n i c a l work s u p p l i e d w i t h a v a s t b i b l i o g r a p h y (more t h a n 600 names).

FTD-MT-24-835-71 viii
 9. Model of s y s t e m engineering. The s c i e n c e i s examined as a
s y s t e m s u b j e c t t o c o n t r o l . Here t h e problem o f t h e o p t i m a l o r g a n i z a -
t i o n o f s c i e n t i f i c developments and t h e a p p l i c a t i o n o f t h e method of
" i n v e s t i g a t i o n of o p e r a t i o n s " f o r t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n of s c i e n t i f i c
s t u d i e s are i m p o r t a n t . ( I n t h e s p r i n g of 1967 i n Moscow a t t h e
Academy o f S c i e n c e s o f t h e USSR a s p e c i a l symposium on t h i s problem
u n d e r t h e l e a d e r s h i p of A . A . Lyapunov t o o k p l a c e . )

Each o f t h e models l i s t e d above c o v e r s o n l y any one a s p e c t o f t h e

examined phenomenon. It would seem n a t u r a l t o c o n s i d e r t h e t e n d e n c y
t o w a r d a complex and comprehensive s t u d y of t h e . p r o c e s s o f t h e
development o f s c i e n c e . It seems t o u s , hbwever, t h a t s u c h a n
a p p r o a c h i s now p r e m a t u r e . Only a f t e r i n t e r e s t i n g d a t a w i t h i n t h e
framework o f e a c h model are o b t a i n e d , w i l l i t b e p o s s i b l e t o d i s c u s s
t h e j o i n i n g o f r e s u l t s of i n v e s t i g a t i o n s and t h e complex a p p r o a c h t o
t h e problem. Here i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o b e p r e p a r e d b e f o r e h a n d f o r
v e r y g r e a t d i f f i c u l t i e s - i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o compare t h e r e s u l t s
o b t a i n e d by s p e c i a l i s t s o f a d i f f e r e n t p r o f i l e , who i n v e s t i g a t e d
t h e complex problem by s u b s t a n t i a l l y d i f f e r e n t methods.

I n o u r book we w i l l b e l i m i t e d t o t h e e x a m i n a t i o n o f o n l y one -
i n f o r m a t i o n model o f s c i e n c e . It seems t o u s t h a t now t h e s t u d y o f
s c i e n c e as a n i n f o r m a t i o n a l p r o c e s s i s one o f t h e most i n t e r e s t i n g
and i m p o r t a n t pr.oblems o f t h e s t u d y o f s c i e n c e i n a t h e o r e t i c a l and
practical respect.

L e t u s i l l u s t r a t e o u r t h o u g h t by a n e x a m i n a t i o n o f one o f t h e
p r o b l e m s s o l v a b l e w i t h i n t h e framework o f t h i s model. H a r d l y anyone
w i l l a r g u e t h e f a c t t h a t i n o u r t i m e t h e s c i e n t i s t must work u n d e r
c o n d i t i o n s of an information c r i s i s . I n t h e f u t u r e t h e success of
t h e development o f s c i e n c e t o a c o n s i d e r a b l e d e g r e e w i l l depend on
how h e s u c c e e d s i n overcoming t h i s c r i s i s . We must u n d e r s t a n d what
c a u s e s i t , how r a p i d l y i t grows, and how new forms o f t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n
o f s c i e n c e are a d d e d , which a l l o w t o a c e r t a i n e x t e n t overcoming t h i s
c r i s i s . A t h o r o u g h s t u d y o f t h e b a l a n c e of o p e r a t i n g t i m e o f a
r e s e a r c h c h e m i s t , c o n d u c t e d i n t h e U S A e v e n 1 0 y e a r s ago [lo],
showed t h a t on t h e a v e r a g e 33.4% o f t h e working t i m e i s expended t o

FTD-MT-24-835-71 ix
the information activity. The minimum of this value is 15.7%, the
maximum - 61.4%. Here all the processes connected with the search
and reading of literature, the discussion of scientific and technical
problems, and the written and oral information are understood as
informational activity. If the content of the information operation
is defined more extensively, having included here additionally the
consideration and planning of the experiment, on the one hand, and
official and administrative informational activity, on the other hand,
then it seems that the research chemist expends on the average of
49.8% for informational activity. The maximum of this value now
already reaches 94.5% and the minimum - 20.0%. In the' Soviet Union
similar studies were conducted by M. L. Kolchinskiy [ll]. He showed
that in a number of organizations of the electronic industry
developers (i.e., scientists, research engineers, designers, and
technologists) expend on the average of 27% of their operating time
for informational activity understandable in the narrow sense of the
word. Almost in all countries there is a service of scientific and
technical information. In our country it numbers more than 100,000
men. It is difficult to say how many people are engaged in this
activity in the whole world. In any case, in 1966 in the USA the
National Science Foundation gave 250 million dollars for works
connected with the facilitation of the accessibility of scientific
and technical information, which considerably exceeds the allocations
given by this organization for all other purposes [lla]. We know
only that in the All-Union Institute of Scientific and Technical
Information [VINITI] of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR there is
published a special reference journal "Scientific and Technical
Information," in which yearly more than 3000 abstracts of articles
devoted to new methods of the processing of scientific information
contained in publications are published. This new field of
scientific activity can now be called a b s t r a c t i n g or i n f o r m a t i o n
t h e o r y . A number of special journals, which publish only studies on
abstracting, have appeared.

In the study of science as an information process the qualitative

(statistical) methods of investigation prove to be possible to use.
This is especially attractive from positions of those scientists who

FTD-MT-24-835-71 X
work i n f i e l d s of p r e c i s e and t e c h n i c a l s c i e n c e s . I t seems n a t u r a l
t o u s t o c a l l t h i s d i r e c t i o n o f i n v e s t i g a t i o n s m e a s u r e m e n t of s c i e n c e .

The i n f o r m a t i o n model o f t h e development o f s c i e n c e was e a r l i e r

r e p e a t e d l y p r o p o s e d f o r e x a m i n a t i o n ( s e e , f o r example, t h e monograph
o f G . M. Dobrov mentioned above C51); however i t was n o t c o n d u c t e d
up t o l o g i c a l c o m p l e t i o n . I n o u r book an a t t e m p t t o f i l l t h i s gap
i s made. We want t o show t h a t s u c h a model i s i n t e r e s t i n g - i t a l l o w s
f r o m s i n g l e p o s i t i o n s comprehending t h e works which a p p e a r e d d u r i n g
r e c e n t y e a r s on t h e q u a n t i t a t i v e methods o f s t u d y i n g t h e p r o c e s s of
development of s c i e n c e and o u t l i n i n g new t r e n d s i n r e s e a r c h . It
seems t o us t h a t now i t i s p o s s i b l e t o t h i n k a b o u t t h e development o f
t h e u n i f i e d t h e o r y , w i t h i n t h e framework o f which works on t h e
q u a n t i t a t i v e methods o f s t u d y i n g t h e p r o c e s s o f t h e development o f
s c i e n c e w i l l be d e v e l o p e d .

W e a s k e d t h e r e a d e r t o be l e n i e n t a n d t a k e i n t o a c c o u n t t h a t
t h e measurement o f s c i e n c e i s an e n t i r e l y new and s t i l l i n s u f f i c i e n t l y
e s t a b l i s h e d f i e l d o f knowledge. Here t h e r e a r e s t i l l n o t y e t
c o n v e n t i o n a l , w e l l matched, o r , i f you w i s h , a v e r a g e d p o i n t s o f view.

The a u t h o r s f r e q u e n t l y d e v e l o p t h e c o n c e p t i o n which was formed

i n t h e i r work on t h i s problem j o i n t l y w i t h t h a t " i n v i s i b l e c o l l e c t i v e "
o f r e s e a r c h e r s , which i s g r o u p e d now i n t h e v i c i n i t y o f t h e Seminar
o n t h e Measurement of S c i e n c e a t t h e I n s t i t u t e of t h e H i s t o r y o f
N a t u r a l S c i e n c e and Technology o f t h e Academy o f S c i e n c e s o f t h e
USSR. Much a t t e n t i o n i n t h e book i s g i v e n t o t h e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f
r e s u l t s of r e s e a r c h s o b t a i n e d by t h i s c o l l e c t i v e .

To Chapter I

xi
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