» What is the work of a scientist. Features and main characteristics of the profession of a modern scientist. Science as a sociocultural phenomenon and as a social institution

What is the work of a scientist. Features and main characteristics of the profession of a modern scientist. Science as a sociocultural phenomenon and as a social institution

From the standpoint of modern sociology, a number of special features can be distinguished in the profession of a scientist that distinguish it from other types of intellectual activity. First, a scientist is a person who has special professional training and possesses special skills and methods of research activity (theoretical or empirical). He is not only the bearer of certain knowledge, but also actively uses them to further expand the scope of scientific knowledge. Secondly, in his activity he is guided, as we have already noted, by the “scientific ethos” and social value-normative attitudes that ensure the growth of scientific knowledge. In his professional activity the scientist must necessarily follow the scientific and methodological tradition, or paradigm, thanks to which he is able to obtain objective and reliable knowledge. Thirdly, the main motive for the activity of a scientist, as R. Merton noted, is the desire to receive professional recognition from his colleagues, since only they are able to appreciate the contribution that this scientist has made in increasing the amount of knowledge. Fourth feature: since the results of the scientist are in the highest degree creative and unique, then he has a wide range of psychological experiences - the joy of discovering the new, the unknown, the experience of pleasure and other emotions that strengthen the scientist in his professional vocation. This feature is also characteristic of other intellectual professions, for example, a composer who has created a new symphony, or a writer who has written a new work. But, unlike the latter, in the intellectual activity of a scientist there is a fair amount of rational actions, since scientific knowledge itself is a rational system. Fifth, a significant difference in the profession of a scientist (primarily in the field of fundamental research) consists in the fact that the results of his work, unlike the results of the activities of other intellectual professions, cannot be an object of sale. The solution to the problem of remuneration for the work of a scientist was the result of a long process of institutionalization of science, when it separated from society, turning into a relatively independent society. social institution. At the same time, the recognition by society of the high value of scientific knowledge served as the basis for an adequate interchange of the institute of science with society, "allowing at least members of the scientific profession to provide for their lives only through their professional activities." Specifically, this means that a scientist engaged in fundamental science receives a certain remuneration from society (the state) in accordance with his scientific degree. In universities, to encourage the research activities of teachers, special bonuses to salaries for degrees and titles are relied upon.
The sharp decrease in funding for domestic science in the post-Soviet years caused its severe crisis, primarily in the field of fundamental research. The salaries of scientists in academic institutions have decreased several times compared to the 1980s. However, most scientists continue to conduct research, stating that "they do not think of themselves outside of science." Approximately 80-90% of the respondents stated that they "firmly intend to stay in the country without changing their vocation." It should be especially noted that such a high commitment to the chosen cause, love for the profession are characteristic of workers and other intellectual professions, and not only scientists, such as doctors and teachers.
The applied scientist is in a somewhat different situation. His research is carried out on a specific order from the state or business, so the results obtained have a certain market value, as they are introduced into production. However, we must not forget that applied science does not have the degree of autonomy and independence from society that "pure" science has. academic science However, the requirements of a scientific ethos should also manifest themselves in the field of applied research, although, probably, in a more relaxed form. Here, the right to own intellectual property can be sold to a customer (for example, to a company), moreover, in applied developments, there are often cases of classification of discoveries and inventions.
Speaking about the personality of a scientist and the peculiarities of his professional activity, one cannot avoid the question of the social roles that he performs. Any specific scientist works within a certain organization, in a real team, and cannot ignore the social norms and requirements that have developed in them. According to domestic and foreign sociologists and psychologists, a scientist working in an organization performs approximately 4-5 interrelated social roles: professional scientist, employee, team member, leader (administrator). The first and fundamental social role is that, acting as a professional, a scientist performs certain research operations, theoretical or experimental, in accordance with the generally accepted scientific methodology (tradition, paradigm), which ensures the receipt of true, reliable knowledge. In this incarnation, the scientist identifies himself with the scientific community as a whole, and in this capacity, of course, he shares all the requirements of the scientific ethos. Its main task is to achieve new knowledge, facts, solve "puzzles" (actual scientific problems), systematize and develop scientific knowledge.
Working in a certain institution, be it a research institute or a university, a scientist works on the basis of a certain contract, is an employee, although, as you know, in scientific institutions and universities there is a competitive recruitment and organizations of this kind differ significantly from ordinary formal organizations ( manufacturing enterprise, bank, etc.), since professionals work here and collegiality in decision-making is inevitable. Nevertheless, as an employee of an institution, he is obliged to fulfill certain duties, obey official, service requirements, and follow the orders of leaders of various ranks. One of the most important formal requirements is a regular report on the scientific work done. It is appropriate to note here that in our country, especially in the university environment, the old bureaucratic traditions are still quite strong, according to which professors and associate professors are primarily employees and must first of all follow the orders of ministries and departments, although these orders may hinder the development of their creative potential. In the United States, for example, the practice of life-long election to the position of professor (the so-called "tenure") has long been established, which guarantees him certain independence and autonomy.
Working in a specific team (department, laboratory), a scientist cannot but accept the norms, values ​​and traditions of interpersonal relations that have developed here. The organizational and psychological climate, the psychological environment of the team, plays a particularly important role here. In scientific teams, the role of expert knowledge is extremely highly valued, and therefore the most scientifically productive scientists
have, as a rule, high authority, are informal leaders.
The administrative role of the leader is related to the fact that only a professional scientist can manage a scientific team, and the abilities and talents of a leader alone are not enough here. Therefore, administrators usually stand out from the scientific community itself, but they must also possess certain organizational skills and abilities, and be able to solve emerging problems. In the old Soviet years (and this tradition, unfortunately, has remained to this day), a scientist-administrator had to be able to cope with many economic and material tasks: get the necessary equipment, “break through” additional rates, carry out repairs, etc.
It is quite obvious that of all the social roles performed by scientists in social organization, the most significant role of a professional researcher, since it is she who ensures the receipt of new scientific results and, consequently, the progress of science as a whole. No wonder, therefore, careful attention to this figure of sociologists and psychologists. Special studies have shown that a research scientist in a research team engaged in the implementation of a specific research program has a kind of "role profile". This means that a scientist-researcher as a kind of average person (namely, such is the result of statistical processing of the results of surveys and interviews) concentrates a number of dominant properties in himself. Among them, such as “generator of ideas”, “erudite” and “critic” are especially distinguished. At the same time, studies have found that in creative scientific teams it is really possible to distinguish these three types of personality of a scientist, mutually complementing each other. "Idea Generator" is the author of many intellectual undertakings, producing new original ideas. He is inclined to consider the generation of new knowledge as the dominant of his behavior in the team. It is also characterized by a certain detachment and deep immersion in the subject of research. "Erudite" is the most versatile educated scientist, to whom colleagues often turn for scientific information. He knows how to find and generalize the necessary information, analyze it and systematize it. He freely navigates the information field of science and constantly strives to enrich his knowledge. "Critic" is a type of scientist who is highly demanding on quality scientific research, strictness in assessments and conclusions. In the scientific team, he is focused more on evaluation activities. The "critic" performs the functions of a biased and interested judge, helping his colleagues to avoid mistakes and hasty conclusions. In this study, it was found that in effective groups there is an "active role profile", i.e. there are more or less pronounced carriers of these roles. In groups with a passive role profile, where there is no such role specialization, scientific efficiency is lower.

“A hypocrite, a redneck, a young old man, holy simplicity, a moral deformity, a peddler of news, impudent, bouncer, proud, coward" - a description of all these and 20 more types of character was given in his famous treatise "Characteristics" by Aristotle, based on observation of people's actions. As we can see, ancient Greek philosophers were among the first to understand how a stable human disposition is formed. And only the subsequent development of science after centuries showed that the study of this difficult phenomenon, namely character, is also associated with the study of temperament. Note that it is very difficult to distinguish between these concepts, but we will try to do it.

And again Aristotle. Parents and the state should participate in the formation of character

In his treatise, Aristotle gave a description of the spiritual qualities - mores - of a person in accordance with age, social status and profession. The philosopher emphasized that character is not a natural property, its features are formed in the process of life and are the result of experience.

However, the scientist gave importance education. He believed that it cannot be a private matter, the state must necessarily help parents take care of the child, influencing his moral warehouse, developing what is lacking from nature.

Characteristics of Aristotle are distinguished by insight and subtlety of observation. By the way, the tradition he started was developed in the Renaissance and the New Age, most of his descriptions are applicable to modern people.

Factors influencing the formation of character. Scientists from different centuries adhere to the same point of view

Disputes have been going on among scientists since the earliest times. They can not come to an agreement in any way, namely, to decide on what nevertheless influences the formation of character.

Alexander Dummer / Unsplash.com

According to some, the leading role in this process belongs to heredity. Representatives of another point of view completely refute the first, believing that the character of a person is formed only under the influence of social factors and the process of education.

Or maybe all the same and those and those factors influence?

As an analysis of the monographs of Alexander Bain, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Ernst Kretschmer shows, both innate and acquired factors have a decisive influence here. The former are usually attributed to heredity and individual psychological characteristics of the individual, and to the latter - upbringing and social environment. In the process of human development, they enter into certain relationships and interactions.

It is worth noting that, in a broad sense, all traits to a certain extent an individual inherits from relatives, since they depend on the genotype of the organism. However, over time, under the influence environment they can change for the better or the worst side. A study by modern scientists from the University of California at San Diego also proves this. Experts believe that in addition to upbringing, genes also influence what the character will be like, writes Science Alert.

Project leader Chi-Hua-Chen and his team analyzed about 60,000 genetic samples provided by the private biotechnology company 23andMe, as well as about 80,000 samples collected by the Genetics of Personality Consortium. With the help of these data, the researchers were able to find out what features of genetics influence the formation of a particular character.

In particular, it turned out that personality openness depends on differences in the WSCD2 and PCDH15 genes. Emotional inconstancy is determined by alleles on chromosome 8p23.1 and differences in the L3MBTL2 gene. Almost the same changes are observed in neurotics, as well as in those who suffer from chronic depression.

Such results prove that DNA can carry a predisposition to a certain behavior model, however, a person’s bad actions cannot be justified by genetics, education is more “guilty” here, scientists say.

Such different, but the same concepts: character and temperament

Their main difference is in typology. Even the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, who lived in the V century. BC, singled out four types of temperament in humans: sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric, melancholic. They are still actively used in psychology today.

The structure of the character is represented by its properties, which reflect the attitude of the individual to himself, society and the world around him. Characters can be completely different, and they have a huge variety of types. Therefore, experts even distinguish them into groups, leading among them are the intellectual, emotional, moral and volitional components.

Another one not to be missed important point A: temperament and character tend to depend on each other. As the Soviet psychologist Sergei Leonidovich Rubinshtein said: "Temperament is an element of character, its core." And it really is. For example, persistence in a choleric person is expressed in vigorous activity, in a phlegmatic person - in concentrated deliberation. Choleric works energetically, passionately, phlegmatic - methodically, slowly. On the other hand, a person with a strong character can suppress some negative sides their temperament, controlling its manifestations.

We add that the basic properties of temperament are formed much earlier than the formation of character is completed. Therefore, temperament is to a much greater extent physiological, innate.

London Scout / Unsplash.com

Non-scientific and near-scientific typologies of character

What factors influence the formation of character, from the point of view of scientists, we understand. But we also want to talk about non-scientific or pseudo-scientific ideas, so that you, dear readers, are critical of the approaches mentioned below.

So, the generally accepted factor among astrologers that influences a stable disposition is the date of birth or the name of a person.

In turn, such a direction as physiognomy has made a significant contribution to the study of character. Namely, this doctrine claims that there is some connection between the appearance of a person and his belonging to a certain type of personality. This means that by external signs it is possible to establish psychological characteristics a person of one type or another. In particular, the Swiss writer Johann Kaspar Lavater developed the most famous physiognomic system, in which the main way of understanding the human character is the study of the structure of the head, the configuration of the skull and facial expressions.

A popular but unscientific approach is palmistry or hand reading, common among gypsies and psychics. They determine the character of a person and even his fate by the skin relief in the palm of his hand.

The implausibility of this approach lies at least in the fact that the formation of folds / lines on the skin is a completely random process.

You can take, for example, and crumple several identical sheets of paper, it is not surprising that each sheet is crumpled in its own way. However, palmistry gave rise to a scientific direction - dermatoglyphics, which says that the pattern on the fingers is not an entirely random phenomenon. What to believe or not to believe is up to you.

By its nature, character is a socio-psychological formation of a personality. It reflects the objective relationship of people and their relationship to various social phenomena, events and things. A person's behavior, which, as a rule, depends on his stable disposition, always leaves an imprint on all actions, thoughts and feelings. Therefore, it is so important to be able to control yourself, and sometimes change your difficult character for the better.

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Reference

The term "research" refers to the process scientific study any phenomenon. Researchers have appeared in ancient world when the number of unknown objects was very large. The first of these were various philosophers and religious figures. As a rule, they studied the features of not a single area, but several at once. For example, the ancient Egyptian priests were simultaneously engaged in chronology, astronomy, mathematics, and medicine. Especially many great scientists appeared in Ancient Greece, their names - Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Hippocrates, Archimedes - remain known to this day.

Description of activity

Modern scientific activity has many directions. Its employees can engage in research of both theoretical and practical nature. Depending on this, they either study all kinds of documents, or conduct various experimental observations. However, they are united by following the common principles that operate in the scientific community, and knowledge of the works of predecessor scientists. The results of scientific work are fixed in the form of inventions or various articles, monograms. The number and quality of publications directly affects the status of a specialist, this factor is especially significant when degree.

Wage

average for Russia:average in Moscow:average for St. Petersburg:

Job responsibilities

To fulfill his job duties, the researcher actively collects as much information as possible that will help him in his scientific activities. He should study various sources and make observations. This specialist must competently draw up a model of the experiment, determine what is necessary for its implementation. In the course of the experiment, he is obliged to consolidate his observations: in writing, using a voice recorder, photo or video.

Features of career growth

Researchers are indispensable employees in research centers, laboratories, educational organizations. They can engage not only in research, but also in teaching. With the rapid development of technology, the need for scientists working in the technical direction is currently very high. Inventors in the field of medicine also enjoy well-deserved attention.

Employee characteristic

A good researcher is a competent, inquisitive person with high intelligence and logical thinking. He needs a good memory, quick wit, flexibility of mind. He must be ready to work with a large amount of information, as well as be able to systematize it and make meaningful conclusions. To make important discoveries, he will need creative thinking. It should be taken into account that scientific activity for a researcher often becomes a way of life, here he will need passion for his work and the ability to concentrate on it to the utmost.

A scientist is a representative of the scientific community whose purposeful activity to form scientific picture world in one form or another has received recognition from the scientific community.

A scientist is a specialist in a scientific field who has made a real contribution to science.

A scientist is a scientist, an expert in one or more fields of science.

In a broad sense, the concept of a scientist refers to any person who himself systematically expands the knowledge of mankind or participates in the activities and maintenance of the traditions of certain scientific and philosophical schools. In a narrower sense, only those people who apply scientific method. A scientist can be an expert in one or more fields of science.

In a narrower sense, only those people who apply the scientific method are called scientists. A scientist can be an expert in one or more fields of science. The Russian concepts of science and scientist do not quite correspond to the English concepts of science and scientist, since in English language the latter are often used in an even narrower sense, and refer only to the natural sciences and people involved in the natural sciences.

The scientist is engaged scientific activity, the study of various fields of science, the environment, the human body, the development of inventions, the commission of various discoveries, conducts scientific discoveries, writes scientific papers.

The main formal sign of recognition of scientific qualifications is the publication of research materials in authoritative scientific publications and reports at authoritative scientific conferences. In Russia, a formal attempt has been made to separate authoritative scientific publications from others in the form of a list of publications in which publications are recognized by the Higher Attestation Commission.

The scientist must obtain the degree of candidate of science, doctor of science by defending a dissertation. A scientist is required to be able to publicly defend his opinion, a high level of development of intellectual abilities, he must be strong-willed, noble, intelligent, gifted, wise and educated person, have prudence, patience.

In the scientific community, pedagogical work is highly valued. The right to lecture at a prestigious educational institution is a recognition of the level and qualifications of a scientist. Creation is also highly valued. scientific school, that is, the training of several scientists who develop the ideas of the teacher.

To obtain an academic title (associate professor or professor), in addition to an academic degree, it is required to conduct pedagogical work, in particular, to have educational and methodical publications. There are also smaller formal signs of recognition of qualifications, for example, permission to lead scientific work graduate students is a necessary step in the transition from a candidate to a doctorate.

A scientist can work in various institutions: in the Academies of Sciences, research institutes, laboratories, etc.

Nowadays, the profession of a scientist is losing its relevance and prestige in the labor market. The level of remuneration of a scientist, as a rule, is low.

The terms "originality", "independence of thought", "imagination" and "intuition" are often interchangeable, but for our purposes we will have to distinguish between their semantic shades. Formal definitions are not enough here, since their interpretation again depends on the meaning given to these words; in addition, dictionaries give so many alternative definitions of abstract concepts that it is sometimes extremely difficult to choose the appropriate meaning. In the following, we will use quite a few abstract terms, and as an introduction it would be useful to list them, accompanied by a few explanations. As the discussion proceeds in more detail, the exact meaning assigned to each term will become more apparent.

From my point of view, the innumerable mental and physical qualities inherent in the scientist as such can be roughly classified into six major categories:

1) enthusiasm and perseverance;
2) originality: independence of thinking, imagination, intuition, giftedness;
3) intelligence: logic, memory, experience, ability to concentrate, abstract;
4) ethics: honesty with oneself;
5) contact with nature: observation, technical skills;
6) contact with people: understanding of oneself and others, compatibility with people around, the ability to organize groups, convince others and listen to their arguments […]

To the question “which of the qualities is most important?” answer is not easy at all. Within the constraints of the scientific environment and the subject matter, success may depend to varying degrees on the scientist's technical skills, his gift for observation, or his ability to interact with colleagues. But regardless of the field of interest or social conditions of the work of a scientist, he needs other qualities.

Any attempt to rank these latter in order of importance would be arbitrary, but for me personally it is beyond doubt that the rarest gift is the originality of the personality of a scientist and his thinking . In the above list, enthusiasm is in the first place, because without motivation to research work the other qualities are meaningless. However, in practice, lack of enthusiasm is rarely a problem: laziness is quite unusual among scientists. As for originality, the opposite is true. Independence of thought, initiative, imagination, intuition and giftedness - the main manifestations of originality in science - are undoubtedly the rarest qualities characteristic of the scientific elite. It is simply amazing to what extent this one quality can compensate for the lack of all the others.

Hans Selye, From Dream to Discovery: How to Become a Scientist, Moscow, Progress, 1987, p. 46-47.

Wherein:

"There are a number of negative qualities capable of making a young scientist intolerable to his colleagues. Among them:

Hans Selye, From Dream to Discovery: How to Become a Scientist, Moscow, Progress, 1987, p. 175.