Norms and Values of Korean Scientific Community

연구규범과 가치관을 통해 본 한국과학기술자사회의 성격: 공공부문 연구자를중심으로

By analyzing a nation-wide survey, this article examines research related norms and values of 684 scientists in 16 universities and 7 government supported research institutes. The survey shows that Korean scientific community tends to reject communality and disinterestedness while it accepts universalism as a norm. Organized skepticism is received a lukewarm support. In contrast, Korean scientific community tends to perceive the intellectual property and secrecy as legitimate and believe that scientists should consider the applicability of scientific research outcome and its social impacts when they choose research topics. When other variables are controlled for, the more basic research a scientist conducts the scientist is more likely to support communality and reject secrecy. The younger scientists are less likely to accept disinterestedness and the claim that the scientists should keep distance from social issues than the older. Scientists who work in the government-supported research institutes are more likely to view secrecy for more than 6 months as legitimate and reject the claim that science should not be affected by society than university scientists. The implications of these findings are discussed.