Measuring R&D in the social sciences: data availability and gaps

Laudeline Auriol, OECD

Strategic Workshop: Addressing the Shortage of

Data on the Social Sciences and Humanities14-15 September 2010

Social sciences and humanities (SSH) in the Frascati manual

• SSH were included only from the 3rd edition of the Frascati manual in 1976

• Definition of R&D: Research and experimental development (R&D) comprise creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications.

The Frascati fields of science classification

• A fields of science (FoS) classification is proposed in the Frascati Manual

• It is recommended as a principal sub-classification in the higher education and private non-profit sectors (institutional classification)

• It is also recommended as a functional classification in the government, higher education and private non-profit sectors

Revision of the FoS classificationRevised version from 2006

STI/EAS/STP/NESTI(2006)19/FINAL

• The major 6 fields were sub-categorised into the 2-digit level

• “Other” categories were attached to every major field in order to keep the classification flexible and allow for the appearance of new areas of studies.

• The “other” categories of engineering and technology, social sciences and humanities in the FM 2002 were split into several sub-categories.

• In particular, “bio-technology” and “nano-technology” were newly introduced in the “Engineering and technology” field.

• Data collection and reporting of the major six fields guarantee international comparability of the R&D data over time.

The FoS classification at the first digit level

1. Natural sciences2. Engineering and technology3. Medical and health sciences4. Agricultural sciences5. Social sciences6. Humanities

5. Social sciences

5.1 Psychology• Psychology (including human - machine relations);• Psychology, special (including therapy for learning, speech,

hearing, visual and other physical and mental disabilities);5.2 Economics and Business• Economics, Econometrics; Industrial relations;• Business and Management;5.3 Educational sciences• Education, general; including training, pedagogy, didactics;• Education, special (to gifted persons, those with learning

disabilities);5.4 Sociology• Sociology; Demography; Anthropology, ethnology,• Social topics (Women’s and gender studies; Social issues; Family

studies, Social work);

5. Social sciences

5.5 Law• Law, criminology, penology;5.6 Political science• Political science; public administration; organisation theory;5.7 Social and economic geography• Environmental sciences (social aspects); Cultural and economic

geography; Urban studies (Planning and development); Transport planning and social aspects of transport (transport engineering to be 2.1);

5.8 Media and communications• Journalism; Information science (social aspects); Library science;

Media and socio-cultural communication;5.9 Other social sciences• Social sciences, interdisciplinary;• Other social sciences;

6. Humanities6.1 History and Archaeology• History (history of science and technology to be 6.3, history of

specific sciences to be under the respective headings); Archaeology;

6.2 Languages and Literature• General language studies; Specific languages; General literature

studies; Literary theory; Specific literatures; Linguistics;6.3 Philosophy, Ethics and Religion• Philosophy, History and philosophy of science and technology;• Ethics (except ethics related to specific subfields); Theology;

Religious studies;6.4 Arts (arts, history of arts, performing arts, music)• Arts, Art history; Architectural design; Performing arts studies

(Musicology, Theater science, Dramaturgy); Folklore studies;• Studies on Film, Radio and Television;6.5 Other humanities

Data collected at the OECD level

• 2nd digit level:– GERD by sector of performance and FoS– Headcount researchers (and female

researchers) by sector of employment and FoS• 1st digit level:

– Tot. R&D personnel by sector and FoS (FTE)– Researchers (and female researchers) by

sector of employments and FoS (FTE)– HERD/PNP exp. by source of funds and FoS– HERD/PNP exp. by type of costs and FoS

R&D expenditure in the social sciences as a percentage of total HERD

R&D expenditure in the social science as a percentage of total GOVERD

Percentage distribution of HERD in the SSH across disciplines

HERD Australia Austria Czech Rep. Finland Hungary Norway Portugal RomaniaSocial sciences and humanities 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Humanities 23.2 40.1 38.4 26.8 37.0 32.3 38.1 47.8Art (arts, history of arts, performing arts, music) 6.0 8.2 3.5 9.2 4.6 2.3 7.8 0.9History and archaeology 6.0 11.4 6.5 3.2 5.0 2.2 9.9Languages and literature 5.8 14.8 2.5 8.1 16.2 4.2 13.6Other humanities 2.4 0.3 6.9 3.1 6.6 20.5 2.7 46.4Philosophy, ethics and religion 3.1 5.4 19.0 3.2 4.6 3.1 4.1 0.6

Social Siences 76.8 59.9 61.6 73.2 63.0 67.7 61.9 52.2Economics and business 26.4 21.8 13.1 26.4 21.4 6.0 17.9 43.6Educational sciences 13.0 5.3 14.5 15.1 10.9 9.9 14.6 5.9Law 6.5 11.8 5.1 4.6 7.6 5.9 4.4 0.5Media and communications 2.0 2.8 0.8 4.4 2.0 1.6 2.2Other social sciences 3.7 23.5 2.5 11.3 33.8 1.6 0.9Political Science 5.8 1.8 2.0 3.7 2.6 2.5 2.0 1.3Psychology 11.3 3.6 0.0 4.0 2.0 5.6 8.9 0.0Social and economic geography 1.6 4.4 2.6 1.7 1.2 0.8 2.4Sociology 10.2 4.6 0.0 10.9 4.1 1.5 7.9

Percentage distribution of GOVERD in the SSH across disciplines

GOVERD Australia Austria Czech Rep. Finland Hungary Norway Portugal RomaniaSocial sciences and humanities 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Humanities 7.0 64.8 51.7 12.4 57.1 12.1 34.1 58.9Art (arts, history of arts, performing arts, music) 1.7 31.7 7.0 1.7 4.0 9.6 1.6History and archaeology 3.5 25.5 21.6 2.3 35.2 21.8 8.4Languages and literature 0.1 5.5 3.9 6.9 6.2 2.0 18.4Other humanities 0.2 0.7 12.7 0.8 10.4 0.7 29.0Philosophy, ethics and religion 1.5 1.4 6.5 0.7 1.3 0.0 1.5

Social Siences 93.0 35.2 48.3 87.6 42.9 87.9 65.9 41.1Economics and business 38.4 15.4 0.0 24.8 15.7 20.0 4.8Educational sciences 5.7 3.0 12.3 5.2 0.2 3.5 4.4Law 13.1 1.9 1.7 1.9 1.9 3.4Media and communications 0.7 5.4 0.3 2.7Other social sciences 5.3 18.4 3.1 13.2 5.5 19.6Political Science 1.2 1.5 1.0 4.9 4.2 1.1 9.2Psychology 14.0 0.7 1.3 9.6 2.8 2.5 1.0Social and economic geography 0.7 0.0 2.6 6.1Sociology 19.1 6.2 8.2 35.2 4.9 21.1 2.1

To summarise

• Gaps in the measurement of social science R&D are linked to:– The late inclusion of SSH in the Frascati definition and

recommendations– To the more general weaknesses and challenges in the

measurement of R&D

• In particular, better data on the business (services) and private non-profit sectors would be needed (in Portugal, the share of R&D in social sciences reaches 14% of BERD)

• There are many existing fields of science classifications used at national level for different purposes the Frascati classification is a compromise aimed at achieving a minimum level of comparability at international level

• Better correspondence with ISCED fields of study would be needed

Thank you!laudeline.auriol@oecd.org