Abstract for Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy 2011
Research on Scientific Science Policy Analysis and Evaluation
Gouk Tae Kim1
This research (1) explains the rise and development of the scientific science policy
framework, and (2) analyzes the implications of this emerging policy framework for
analyzing and evaluating STI (Science, Technology, and Innovation) policies and
programs. I also seek to explicitly extend the reach of the STS (Science and Technology
Studies) discussion and approach to the development of the scientific science policy
framework.
The scientific science policy framework has been developed to provide toolkits for
policy makers and practitioners when they need to analyze and evaluate their science
R&D investments. In the U.S., the science policy framework has primarily emerged as an
answer to the call for creating a new objective science policy framework for examining
science and technology policy expenditures.
One of the key assumptions of scientific science policy is that science policy and
R&D assessment should be formulated objectively based on scientific evidence. There
are new science policy programs and initiatives which can be regarded as the efforts of
the science policy research community and policy makers to respond to this new demand
for establishing a scientifically informed science policy approach.
Given the importance of the scientific science policy framework within the STI policy
field, understanding the historical dynamics of the scientific science policy framework
would offer new insights into the interactions among modern science, STI politics, and
policy. It would also promote discussion of how the scientific science policy framework
creates either new opportunities or challenges for the STI policy community. Because the
scientific science policy community has an interest in research that analyzes its history,
this research also benefits the development of this new framework.
This research also attempts to integrate interdisciplinary science policy approaches
including STS into analyzing the development of this new science policy framework
which has been established to design and develop analytical tools, explanatory models,
and datasets for evaluating science and innovation practices and policy strategies.
As a research method, I analyze the scientific science policy framework in the U.S.
with using documentary sources, including STI policy research literature,
conferences/forums, and Congressional reports. In addition, I am conducting the research
interview to gather perspectives from a range of science policy scholars and practitioners
on the scientific science policy framework.
Through this research, the following broader impacts on STI policy community could
be anticipated: First, this research will broaden the purview of the scientific science
policy framework to better integrate a range of social scientific perspectives. Doing so
should provide useful resources for future science policy researchers; second, this
research would encourage interdisciplinary scholars to translate their theories and
approaches into models that fit the needs of the scientific science policy community; third,
this research will also encourage the expansion of scientific science policy research into
covering socio-democratic aspects of science policy and science research such as the
public engagement in national science R&D initiatives.
1
ABD Ph.D. candidate in STS (Science and Technology Studies) Program at Virginia Tech (gtkim@vt.edu)