Ethical, Legal and Social Implications ("ELSI") research has played an increasingly important role in scientific research. Tens of millions of dollars, many of which are public, are spent funding scientific research projects. Taxpayers are demanding that scientific advancement move forward, hand-in-hand with careful examination of the many ethical…

On the basis of a multistage exploration of evaluation texts, electronic searches, and nominations from the field and from managing social science, the author concludes there is little research literature on managing evaluation studies, evaluators and other workers, and evaluation units. The discussion explores what this limited literature tells…

In spite of the importance often attached to the role played by leadership in university-based cooperative research centres, we know very little about what "leadership" means in this specific context. The research reported here used a qualitative approach to identify fifteen dimensions of leadership performance for directors of university-based…

The philosophical basis for the federal human subject protection policy is congruent with the values of the social work profession. The pragmatics are more complicated. The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes toward, knowledge about, and practices of institutional review boards (IRBs) across colleges and universities as reported by…

Donald W. Compton, the first director of evaluation services at the National Home Office (Atlanta) of the American Cancer Society, tells the story of building the unit in conditions of high demand and a limited budget. Along the way, evaluation was brought to regional divisions and to local offices in part as a response to United Way and to his…

The authors tell about their heterogeneous 91 person research and evaluation unit at an operating foundation in St. Paul, Minnesota. They focus on evaluation for program improvement, one of several purposes of studies they work on. The three authors write from their different manager positions within the unit. Included are the context of the…

Comparisons of female research and development (R&D) managers technical specialist groups, male research and development managers, and nontechnical managers indicated female and male R&D managers were similar and both groups have task oriented rather than social-emotional leadership styles. Female R&D managers scored high in the Enterprising area,…

The broad vision of an environmental research institute that conducts regional research to inform local decision making has proven to be compelling.

The report attempts to assess events now in progress, discern future trends, and explicate emerging problems, with the end in view of making tomorrow's science administration and leadership more successful. The major points considered include the following: the environment of the science administrator-leader is becoming increasingly unstable,…

This article examines some of the controversial issues emerging from the privatization of biomedical research and commercialization of biotechnology. The aim is to identify the dominant social, political, and ethical risks associated with the recent shift from academic to corporate science and from the increasing emphasis on investing in research…

This Topical Paper presents the viewpoints of several practitioners in the field of institutional research. It's oriented toward providing the initiate to the profession with guidelines to successfully implement a practice. Specific topics covered are: (1) organization and administration of institutional research; (2) building the foundations of…

Contributing factors to the development of liability-type relationships are discussed, along with practical suggestions for restructuring the role of the research administrator. An agenda for further conceptualization and research is included. (Author/MLW)

The role of the research administrator in assuring that ethical judgments are made is discussed. Included are some of the ethical questions faced in providing advice and judgment on policies, procedures, and issues that conflict with each other and that may represent very different value systems. (JMF)