Abstract

ESCOBAR ORTIZ, Jorge Manuel. HOW TO MEASURE THE SOCIAL APPROPRIATION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: THE DEFINITION OF INDICATORS AS A PROBLEM. Innovar [online]. 2021, vol.31, n.80, pp.153-166.  Epub June 06, 2021. ISSN 0121-5051.  https://doi.org/10.15446/innovar.v31n80.93672.

This article studies the alternatives proposed to define indicators regarding the social appropriation of science and technology (ASCyT, in Spanish) in the Colombian scientific policy. Two perspectives have emerged on this issue: the first establishes an equivalence between ASCyT and the public perception of science and technology (PPCyT, in Spanish), and proposes that PPCyT indicators should be considered as ASCyT indicators; the second lists some government actions in favor of science and technology and proposes that the investment in R&D (InCyT, in Spanish) must be judged as an ASCyT indicator. This work shows that both proposals are unsatisfactory. First, it is not explained what reason justifies the equivalence between ASCyT and PPCyT, which allows us to conclude that such equivalence has been suggested arbitrarily. Second, it is not clarified why InCyT could be deemed as an indicator of the changes in democratization, scientific culture, and the generation of critical thinking promised by the ASCyT discourse. This study adopts a qualitative methodology comprised of a bibliographic research of Colombian scientific policy documents -such as laws, decrees, national policies, and public perception surveys- and a critical analysis of the ASCyT discourse in such documents.

Keywords : Social appropriation of science and technology; science and technology indicators; investment in science and technology; public perception of science and technology; scientific policy.

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