Stating the Problem and Sketching Its Solution

If science is to serve social interests and human needs it should be directed to strategic goals being advanced by its supporters – be it states, private business, or public funds. These goals may take the shape of “social orders” or be implied in the terms of subsidies and grants. But anyway, it is hard to keep to them without some quantitative, though not necessarily numerical, evaluation of the result expected. Besides, the effective management of science means not merely the choice of research and development called on to secure the accomplishment of the tasks assigned but also, to an equal degree, the building of their value hierarchy and the setting of priorities of scientific policy.

Such an approach includes, undoubtedly, an economic evaluation of scientific research. But does it exhaust the measurement of the latter’s significance? What is the economic value? It boils down, ultimately, to the saving of social labor expected from the introduction of achievements of science. However, this indicator does not immediately touch upon their importance for social and, particularly, human development. Even the greatest economic effectiveness does not go beyond the goals accepted, while just their setting, in a sense, predetermines the future.

In sufficiently mature society, the societal factors come to the fore, turning into fundamental criteria of development. Therefore, the societal evaluation of scientific research acquires primary importance and becomes the key indicator of its contribution to the solution of human problems. Founded on the goals adopted by governments and private and public organizations expressing the basic social needs and interests, the societal evaluation shows the expected contribution of scientific research to the desired future, the improvement of social environment and the conditions of human life. And just the points connected with such an evaluation are in the focus of the paper. The author subjects to a thorough analysis the concept of societal evaluation as opposed to economic and scrutinizes its possible ways as applied to science as well as looks into the structure of this procedure and formalisms fit for it.

Keywords: research and development, science, economic evaluation, social evaluation, procedure of evaluation, methods of evaluation.

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