112 



Social science views of Government witnesses 



Only a few of the administration spokesmen gave attention to the 

 social science aspect of the NSF proposal. Secretary of Commerce 

 Wallace said his Department's research activities embraced social as 

 well as physical sciences and that their less advanced development 

 was a reason for supporting them.^^ Dr. R. E. Dyer, Director of the 

 National Institutes of Health, said that the Public Health Service had 

 found it "* * * impossible to study man apart from his environment." 



Many problems of public health [he went on], are dependent for their ultimate 

 solution upon greater understanding of the social and economic conditions. 

 Geography, demography, sociology, and economics are all essential considerations 

 in the study of disease.^" 



A statement submitted by P. V. Cardon, Administrator of the 

 Agricultural Research Administration of the JDepartment of Agricul- 

 ture, gave favorable mention to the inclusion of the social sciences in 

 NSF and noted that "for many years the Department of Agriculture 

 and the State agricultural experiment stations have carried on social 

 research, and investigations in this field have proved important in the 

 solution of economic and social problems of agriculture." *^ 



The principal Government witness on behalf of the social sciences 

 was Watson B. Miller, Federal Security Administrator (preciu"sor 

 agency to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare). He 

 observed that social inventions were "just as real and valuable as 

 material inventions" but were not usually recognized as inventions, 

 and were rarely patented, or sold at a profit. Therefore these important 

 incentives were not available to stimulate social science research. 

 Aliller gave examples of many social science inventions, and filed 

 with the subcommittee a summary of social science research activities 

 being carried on by his agency. 



The increasing use being made of teamwork in research. Miller 

 concluded, made it important that the various scientific resources 

 "be integrated in such a way as to reinforce each other." For ex- 

 ample — 



When a broad human problem is approached to attempt to divide it into aca- 

 demic fields is often highly artificial. Suppose we are planning a coordinated 

 attack on malaria. We would probably start with such natural science techniques 

 as study of the mosquito, study of the germ, study of insecticides and drugs, but 

 we would eventually get to such socio-economic problems as the ownership of 

 mosquito-breeding waters, methods of keeping roadside and farm ditches free of 

 weeds and obstructions, methods of house screening, methods of obtaining com- 

 munity cooperation, and sources of funds for the campaign.^^ 



rV. Structuring the Issue 



The hearings before the Senate Subcommittee on War Mobilization 

 provided a voluminous record of information and identified many 

 issues and considerations that were germane to the Senate's decision 

 on the proposed NSF. The social science issue seemed to be regarded 

 by the subcommittee as a principal issue. Its preliminary report, 

 December 21, 1945, included a compromise bill, S. 1720, and called 

 attention to the fact that one of the "major recommendations em- 



39 Ibid., pp. 140, 143. 



*" Ibid., p. 522. 



" Ibid., p. 727. 



«2 Ibid., pp. 796-800, especiaUy p. 798; 



