New Article and Podcast

April 20th, 2006

Posted by: Roger Pielke, Jr.

What does British philosopher Stephen Toulmin have in common with George Bush’s science advisor John Marburger?

My latest column for Bridges is out and is titled, “Science Policy Without Science Policy Research.” This time the folks at the Office of Science & Technology at the Embassy of Austria in Washington, DC have also produced a podcast, which can also be heard online. See the essay, hear the podcast, and learn the answer to the question posed above here. The entire issue of Bridges is worth your attention.

5 Responses to “New Article and Podcast”

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  1. Roger Pielke, Jr. Says:
    April 21st, 2006 at 10:02 am

    NSF sure works fast:

    http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/312/5772/347b?eaf
    ;-)

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  2. David Bruggeman Says:
    April 21st, 2006 at 9:02 pm

    First, Roger, it seems from your column that the current discussions of competitiveness are shifting from the focus on technology found in previous competitiveness discussions. Is that an accurate characterization?

    The podcast sound quality is quite good. Those expecting to hear Roger’s voice, however, will be disappointed.

    While the NSF announcement is encouraging, I hope the government approaches this general area from more than one perspective (in this case the scientific perspective). The research agenda outlined in the Science article is just one part of the problem of properly measuring and evaluating the investment in research and development. Part of any examination of the returns we receive on the investment in R&D is a list of the desired returns. That is not a scientific question, but a policy question. Perhaps a policy sciences/policy analysis component to this program would be useful. Additionally, the system that supports the innovation process needs to be analyzed as much as the process itself.

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  3. Roger Pielke, Jr. Says:
    April 21st, 2006 at 9:08 pm

    David- Thanks for your thougtful comment. A few replies:

    1. The focus has shifted in my view from a realtively narrow perspective on technology policy to a much broader focus on education, sceince policy, and technology policy. As I argued in my review of RAGS, it all seems somehwat incoherent as a policy argument.

    2. After hearing their professional reader, I may never appear on a podcast ;-) That guy is good!

    3. Amen. Amen. Amen. The focus seems to be, initially at least, very much on the notion of “metrics” following the input-output thinking of the linear model. I do hope that there will be room for the policy perspectives that you decribe.

    Thanks!

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  4. Latrell Says:
    April 28th, 2006 at 2:55 pm

    Conner Ray Keyshawn Tanner Gavyn Javion

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  5. David Bruggeman Says:
    May 1st, 2006 at 10:57 am

    A good step towards including other science policy perspectives may be to have similar programs located outside of the NSF. Perhaps the interagency task force mentioned in the Science piece will address this need. A traditional research center (or centers) seems insufficient to the task. Trying to evaluate the effectiveness of science (and science policy) solely through scientific research suggests the kind of recursion problems found in mathematics. This in turn suggests that Godel’s Incompleteness Theorem would be applicable here.