Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T10:27:42.716Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Science, Technology, and Systems: A Hierarchy of Inquiry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

Donald M. Vietor ,
Harry T. Cralle  and
Michael Chandler
Donald M. Vietor
Affiliation:
Soil and Crop Sci. Dep., Texas A&M Univ., College Station, TX 77843-2474
Harry T. Cralle
Affiliation:
Soil and Crop Sci. Dep., Texas A&M Univ., College Station, TX 77843-2474
Michael Chandler
Affiliation:
Soil and Crop Sci. Dep., Texas A&M Univ., College Station, TX 77843-2474
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The environment for agricultural research and development, technology transfer, and production is marked by conflict among persons with diverse ideas and goals for agriculture. The objective of this analysis was to identify and compare models for researching and problem solving that can provide a conceptual framework for understanding and improving complex situations marked by conflict. The research activities of scientists involved in development of genetically-engineered-herbicide resistance were modeled as reductionist science, technology development, and optimizing systems. An analysis of these models of goal-seeking research indicated that values and assumptions implicit in goals such as greater productivity were not evaluated or questioned. Views of experts influenced development and application of technologies and systems more than concerns of producers and society. A soft systems methodology and research system is proposed to involve more diverse ideas or views of the world, to shift the role of the researcher from expert to facilitator, and to move toward consensus concerning research and technology development in agriculture.

Keywords

Soft systemssystems methodologyGEHRresearching systeminterdisciplinary researchaction researchhuman activity systems
Type
Symposium
Information
Weed Technology , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , June 1992 , pp. 452 - 461
Copyright
Copyright © 1990 by the Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

1. Anonymous. 1990. Beneath the Bottom Line. Agricultural Approaches to Reduce Agrichemical Contamination of Groundwater. Office of Technology Assessment. U.S. Govt. Print. Off. Washington, D.C., 337 p.Google Scholar
2. Bawden, R. J., Macadam, R. D., Packham, R. J., and Valentine, Ian. 1984. Systems thinking and the practices in the eduction of agriculturalists. Agric. Systems 13:205–225.Google Scholar
3. Bradshaw, D. E., and Marquart, D. J. 1990. New age professionals for a new agricultural age. Agrichem. Age, May, p. 24–25.Google Scholar
4. Burkhardt, J. 1988. Biotechnology, ethics, and the structure of agriculture. Agric. and Human Values V:53–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5. Busch, L., and Lacy, W. B. 1983. Science, Agriculture, and the Politics of Research. Westview Press, Inc. Boulder, Colo. 303 p.Google Scholar
6. Buttel, F. H. 1985. The land-grant system: a sociological perspective on value conflicts and ethical issues. Agric. and Human Values II:78–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7. Callicott, J. B. 1988. Agroecology in context. J. Agric. Ethics 1:3–9.Google Scholar
8. Checkland, P. B. 1981. Systems Thinking, Systems Practice. John Wiley, Chichester. 311 p.Google Scholar
9. Comstock, G. 1989. Genetically engineered herbicide resistance, part one. J. Agric. Ethics 2:263–306.Google Scholar
10. Heichel, G. H. 1990. Communicating the agricultural research agenda: implications for policy. J. Prod. Agric. 3:20–24.Google Scholar
11. Holt, J. E., and Schoorl, D. 1990. The application of open and closed systems theory to change in agricultural institutions. Agric. Systems 34:123–132.Google Scholar
12. Holt, J. E., and Schoorl, D. 1989. Putting ideas into practice. Agric. Systems 30:155–171.Google Scholar
13. Johnson, G. L. 1990. Ethical dilemmas posed by recent and prospective developments with respect to agricultural research. Agric. and Human Values VII: 23–35.Google Scholar
14. Kolb, D. A., Rubin, I. M., and McIntyre, J. M. 1979. Organizational Psychology: An Experiential Approach. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Google Scholar
15. Macadam, R., Britton, I., Russell, D., and Potts, W. The use of soft systems methodology to improve the adoption of Australian cotton growers of the Siratac Computer-Based Crop Management System. Agric. Systems 34:1–14.Google Scholar
16. Madden, J. P. 1986. Toward a new covenant for agricultural academe. p. 267–279, in Busch, L., and Lacy, W. B., eds. The Agricultural Scientific Enterprise: A System in Transition. Westview Press, Inc. Boulder, Colo. Google Scholar
17. Miller, A. 1985. Psychosocial origins of conflict over pest control strategies. Agric. Ecosystems Environ. 12:235–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18. Murdock, S. H., Albrecht, D. E., and Hamm, R. R. 1990. Agricultural policy, agricultural sciences, and rural development. J. Prod. Agric. 3:162–169.Google Scholar
19. Schoorl, D., and Holt, J. E. 1990. Cultural change in agricultural research organizations–an urgent need. Agric. Systems 32:159–173.Google Scholar
20. Sun, M. 1986. Engineer crops to resist weed killers. Science 231:1360–1361.Google Scholar
21. Tauer, L. W., and Love, J. 1989. The potential economic impact of herbicide-resistant corn in the USA. J. Prod. Agric. 2:202–207.Google Scholar
22. Thompson, P. B. 1988. Ethical dilemmas in agriculture: the need for recognition and resolution. Agric. and Human Values V:4–15.Google Scholar
23. Vickers, G. V. 1983. Human Systems Are Different Harper and Row, New York, p. 44–57.Google Scholar
24. Vietor, D. M., and Cralle, H. T. 1990. Comparison: Stage 5 of the Soft Systems Approach. p. 212–236 in Wilson, K., and Morren, G.E.B. Jr. Systems Approaches for Improvement in Agriculture and Resource Management Macmillan Publishing Co., New York.Google Scholar
25. Wilson, K., and Morren, G.E.B. Jr. 1990. Systems Approaches for Improvement in Agriculture and Resource Management Macmillan Publishing Co., New York. 361 p.Google Scholar