Scientific research should be carried out and controlled by the governments
rather than private companies. Do you agree or disagree?
Some people enunciate the idea that governments should take responsibility for
conducting and controlling scientific research. I totally concur with this view
because the interference of governments will have profound impacts on the
success and usefulness of it.
On the one hand, the outright control of governments over the process of carrying
out a research project is of significant benefit. Firstly, almost every research
program requires an enormous amount of effort, so the co-operation of many
governments of different countries is of necessity. For instance, in order to find out
radical solutions to global warming, both developed and developing countries
have to do research to deal with environmental problems in their own countries.
The act of only private companies or small organizations is not enough. Secondly,
only the government is capable of providing enormous financial assistance to
various research projects. If a project fails to achieve its objectives, the
government has the resources to cope up with the losses incurred.
On the other hand, the main motive of the government in conducting research is
public welfare. If a scientific project is funded and managed by private companies,
its credibility will suffer. Pharmaceutical companies, for example, tend to provide
financial support for clinical trials that bring benefits for their marketing
strategies so as to maximize their profit. Without government control, some
companies could carry out illegal research related to nuclear weapons or
unethical human experimentation, which poses a serious threat to society.
In conclusion, I agree with the idea of putting the scientific research conducting
process under government control so that the success, accuracy and applicability
can be secured.