[Sigmetrics] The Research Focus of Nations: Economic vs. Altruistic Motivations

[gopal at annauniv.edu]

Dear All,

This paper was very interesting to read. I thank the authors for their
efforts.

However, I wish to take the following viewpoint.

Altruism or selflessness is the principle or practice of concern for the
welfare of others. In theory, this could include giving alms. Altruism
does not consider relationships.

Hence, I prefer using the terms "Intangible Outcomes" and "Tangible
Outcomes" of any research effort.

How do we measure "Intangibles" ?

Is "Insight" an Intangible ?

Your thoughts...

Warmest Regards




Gopal T V
0 9840121302
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dr. T V Gopal
Professor
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
College of Engineering
Anna University
Chennai - 600 025, INDIA
Ph : (Off) 22351723 Extn. 3340
      (Res) 24454753
Home Page : http://www.annauniv.edu/staff/gopal
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

> Dear Colleagues,
>
>
>
> I wanted to bring to your attention a paper that Dick Klavans and I
recently
> had published in PLOS One that we hope will contribute to discussions of
the
> different motives behind scientific progress, along with the
> appropriateness
> of metrics to address different motives.
>
>
>
> The Research Focus of Nations: Economic vs. Altruistic Motivations
(http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0169383)
>
>
>
> What motivates the research strategies of nations and institutions? We
suggest that research primarily serves two masters - altruism and
economic
> growth. Some nations focus more research in altruistic (or non-economic)
fields while others focus more research in fields associated with
economic
> growth. What causes this difference? Are there characteristics that
would
> suggest why a nation is more aligned with altruism or economic growth?
To
> answer this question, we have identified nine major fields of research
by
> analyzing the publication activity of 4429 institutions using Scopus
data.
> Two fields of research are clearly altruistic (there is relatively
little
> involvement by industry) and two fields are clearly aligned with
economic
> growth. The altruistic vs. economic nature of nations based on their
publication profiles across these fields is correlated with national
indicators on wealth, education, capitalism, individualism, power,
religion,
> and language. While previous research has suggested that national
research
> strategy is aligned with national wealth, our analysis shows that
national
> wealth is not highly correlated with the tradeoff between altruistic and
economic motives. Instead, the tradeoff is largely captured by a culture of
> individualism. Accordingly, implications for national research
strategies
> are discussed.
>
>
>
> With apologies for cross-posting.
>
>
>
> Cheers!
>
> Kevin
>
>
>
>
>
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