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Issues in evaluating appropriate technology for developing countries are discussed. Measures to help incorporate technology assessment in the policy and planning apparatus of development programs are suggested. Preimplementation and postimplementation of technology assessment and the institutionalization of technology assessment are considered. (SLD)

The article presents information about the efforts of the Indian government to apply scientific knowledge and research for the economic betterment of the people. The function of setting policy guidelines and encouraging science and technology research at the national level is performed by the Department of Science and Technology. The expenditure on science and technology stands at 4 billion rupees per year. The government is the primary sponsor of research in the country. It is investing heavily to develop industrial capability.

Globalization of nuclear technology seems to follow the pattern of globalization of technology in general, suggesting that nuclear technology may be diffused to an ever increasing number of nations in the coming years. The brief historical and theoretical background in this discussion suggests that nuclear nonproliferation efforts have proved only marginally effective as the cases of China, India, Pakistan, Israel, North Korea and Iran amply demonstrate. The paper argues that the real threat at this stage lies in the proliferation of nuclear technology to non-state agents who would not hesitate to use it against sovereign nations for their own clandestine purposes. The international efforts of all nuclear nations regardless of their political ideologies or systems of government must, therefore, concentrate on preventing it from falling into the hands of such non-state agents. A global plan of action is suggested to accomplish this goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation raises a critical question in the sociology of knowledge: How does a dramatic event affect the development of a previously neglected social science research topic? A working hypothesis suggested the reactive nature of our discipline: After-the-fact enthusiasm about a publicly dramatized event. The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington heightened awareness about apparent lack of terrorism theory and research in sociology. A preliminary literature search through a dozen major American sociological journals and an equal number of textbooks dating back to 1995, supported this impression. The search was subsequently expanded to compare pre- and post-9/11 (end of 2003) American sociological output on terrorism with similar output reported in non-American sociological as well as other social science journals. The British output surpassed the American output in the pre-9/11 period. But a reverse trend is visible in the post- 9/11 period. Despite an overall post-9/11 surge in terrorism research, there is little evidence as yet of any emerging social science research centers, or that of a systematic body of theory, on this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides historical background and a critique of sociologically oriented studies of science in India since their inception in early sixties. The critique is formulated around three major areas, namely, history of science, science policy studies, and behavioral approach to the study of scientific research. Chronologically, history of science is the oldest, followed by science policy concerns and the behavioral approach. Numerically, science policy studies seem to outnumber the other two themes. Major contribution of science policy studies is to have brought science to the national forefront. Their major drawbacks include divorce from policy making, high level abstraction, nonacademic, governmental sources, and lack of theoretico-methodological sophistication. It is proposed to declare a moratorium on the traditional type of science policy studies and direct attention toward building a sound theoretico-empirical understanding of how the research and development process actually works, and can work more efficiently to solve social objectives.

This article explores the limitations of social sciences. A social scientist knows, at least up to a point, the limitations and scope of social inquiry. He takes genuine pride in worth and applicability of his science but a realistic view of its immaturity. Unfortunately, however, social science to most laymen means a panacea for all their personal problems, from unemployment to dating dilemmas. Perhaps one of the greatest drawbacks of the social sciences is that their subject matter is man, who himself is highly unscientific. This means that man is inexact, irrational and individualistic. He does not conform to nature, to the extent that lower animals do; he is not subject to the physical forces as much as the physical objects are; and hence, man is unpredictable. Further difficulties are presented by the social scientist himself. Science can serve its purpose best only when scientist feels committed to the ethics of science. A social scientist's frame of reference is a further handicap to objective impartiality because his thoughts, feelings and intentions are shaped by those processes that he studies. In addition to these limitations, special theory and methodology face many more obstacles of scientific and extra-scientific nature.

This paper addresses the problem of complex formal organizations. The chances are that the resilience of human nature would allow further and further adaptation till the point that man loses all creativity, judgment or even self-consciousness. For example, a shoemaker or a carpenter had to employ his creative genius for his final product which gave him an opportunity to enjoy the fruits of his labor and thoughtfulness. Contrary to this, the man in the organization is sometimes not even aware of the overall purpose for which he is working. Without interfering with the basic objectives of the organization, the man in the lower ranks can always be given a choice of action according to his discretion. An organization can adapt itself to individual factors only when its overall structure is less rigid and more informal and offers to the individual an opportunity for free interaction with his fellowmen who ought to consider his desires, needs and aspirations as fellowmen do in any other social groups. There is hardly any doubt that a certain degree of informality in the formal structure of an organization is beneficial from the point of view of its members as social and psychological beings.