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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Social science research and technical assistance: two African experiences
Author:Nellis, JohnISNI
Year:1982
Periodical:Cultures et développement
Volume:14
Issue:2-3
Pages:297-329
Language:English
Geographic terms:Kenya
Tanzania
Subjects:social sciences
rural development
villagization
Abstract:In their study, 'Usable Knowledge' (New Haven, 1979), Charles E. Lindblom and David K. Cohen assert that the contribution of professional social science to social problem-solving is overestimated. At the same time they imply that the utility of ordinary knowledge is underestimated. This paper does not attempt to confirm or deny the core arguments of Lindblom's and Cohen's study. Rather, the objective is to demonstrate some of the additional difficulties, or obstacles to efficacious problem-solving social science which exist in one of the underdeveloped regions of the world. The exercise differs from the arguments of 'Usable Knowledge' in the following ways: It relies, in the main, on materials drawn from two applied research situations in Africa Tanzania: Village Settlement Programme (1960s) and Kenya: Special Rural Development Programme (1960/70s). In its case-study manner, the exercise is much more limited than the synthesis in 'Usable Knowledge'. It focuses on the issues of how difficult it is to resolve the tensions between scholarly and applied research, and it does not discuss interactive processes as alternatives to analytical problem-solving. App., notes, ref.
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