Basicresearch
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Basicresearch,alsocalledpureresearchorfundamentalresearch,isscientificresearchaimedtoimprove
scientifictheoriesforimprovedunderstandingorpredictionofnaturalorotherphenomena.[1]Appliedresearch,in
turn,usesscientifictheoriestodeveloptechnologyortechniquestointerveneandalternaturalorother
phenomena.Thoughoftendrivenbycuriosity,[2]basicresearchfuelsappliedscience'sinnovations.[3]Thetwoaims
areoftencoordinatedinresearchanddevelopment.
Althoughmanydiscoverieshavebeenserendipitous,[2]discoverysciencespecificallyseeksdiscoveries,and,along
withtheoreticalscienceandexperimentalscience,isnowkeytobasicresearchandissometimesexpressly
planned.[4]
Contents
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Overview
Basicversusappliedscience
Physics
Seealso
References
Furtherreading
Overview
Basicresearchadvancesfundamentalknowledgeabouttheworld.Itfocusesonrefutingorsupportingtheoriesthat
explainobservedphenomena.Pureresearchisthesourceofmostnewscientificideasandwaysofthinkingabout
theworld.Itcanbeexploratory,descriptive,orexplanatoryhowever,explanatoryresearchisthemostcommon.[5]
Basicresearchgeneratesnewideas,principles,andtheories,whichmaynotbeimmediatelyutilizedbut
nonethelessformthebasisofprogressanddevelopmentindifferentfields.Today'scomputers,forexample,could
notexistwithoutresearchinpuremathematicsconductedoveracenturyago,forwhichtherewasnoknown
practicalapplicationatthetime.Basicresearchrarelyhelpspractitionersdirectlywiththeireverydayconcerns
nevertheless,itstimulatesnewwaysofthinkingthathavethepotentialtorevolutionizeanddramaticallyimprove
howpractitionersdealwithaprobleminthefuture.[5]
IntheUnitedStates,basicresearchisfundedmainlybyfederalgovernmentanddonemainlyatuniversitiesand
institutes.[6]Asgovernmentfundinghasdiminishedinthe2010s,however,privatefundingisincreasingly
important.[7]
Basicversusappliedscience
Appliedsciencefocusesonthedevelopmentoftechnologyandtechniques.Incontrast,basicsciencedevelops
scientificknowledgeandpredictions,principallyinnaturalsciencesbutalsoinotherempiricalsciences,whichare
usedasthescientificfoundationforappliedscience.Basicsciencedevelopsandestablishesinformationtopredict
phenomenaandperhapstounderstandnature,whereasappliedscienceusesportionsofbasicsciencetodevelop
interventionsviatechnologyortechniquetoaltereventsoroutcomes.[8][9]Appliedandbasicsciencescaninterface
closelyinresearchanddevelopment.[10][11]Theinterfacebetweenbasicresearchandappliedresearchhasbeen
studiedbytheNationalScienceFoundation.Theyconductedastudywheretheyfollowedkeyeventsthatoccurred
inbasicscientificresearchwhichledtomajorinnovations(i.e.oralcontraceptives,videotaperecorders).Their
studyfoundthatbasicresearchplayedakeyroleinthedevelopmentinalloftheinnovations.Thenumberofbasic
scienceresearchthatassistedintheproductionofinnovationpeakedbetweenthe20and30yearmarkbehindthe
innovationitself.Whileinnovationoccursprimarilyintheprivatesectorunderthetitleappliedscience,inalmost
allcasesbasicscienceresearchwasanecessaryprecursor.Roughly76%ofbasicresearchisconductedby
Universities.[12]
Adistinctioncanbemadebetweenbasicscienceanddisciplinessuchasmedicineandtechnology.[8][9][13][14][15]
TheycanbegroupedasSTM(science,technology&medicine)orSTS(science,technology&society).These
groupsareinterrelatedandinfluenceeachother,[16][17][18][19][20]althoughtheymaydifferinthespecificssuchas
methodsandstandards.[9][13][20][21]
TheNobelPrizemixesbasicwithappliedsciencesforitsawardinPhysiologyorMedicine.Incontrast,theRoyal
SocietyofLondonawardsdistinguishnaturalsciencefromappliedscience.[22]
Physics
"Basicscience"or"fundamentalscience"mayalsorefertophysics.Inphilosophyofscience,thebranchesof
scienceareoftendescribedsuchthatfundamentalphysicsisthefoundationunderlyingtheothers,calledspecial
sciences,thatrestuponandinprinciplearederivablefromandreducibletofundamentalphysics.[23][24][25]Ina
conceivedunityofscience,thespecialsciencesinvestigatedomainswhoseentitiesandlawsemergefromthe
domainoftheidealizedfundamentalphysics.[26]Basicsciencemayalsobeusedtorefertothenaturalsciencesin
general,ascomparedtothesocialsciencesandappliedsciences.[9][10][13][16][17][18]
Whereasfundamentalphysicsseekslawsofuniversalregularity,specialsciencesusuallyincludeceterisparibus
laws,predictivelyaccuratetohighprobabilityin"normalconditions"orwith"allelseequal",buthaving
exceptions.[24]Althoughexceptionless,chemistry'slawswerepresumablyreducedtofundamentalphysicsto
quantummechanicsandthenquantumelectrodynamics[27][28]andsochemistry,presumedtoemerge,isaspecial
science.[26]Bridgingphysicalsciencestobiologicalsciencesviabiochemistry,andinfluencingsciencesgenerally,
chemistryhasbeenviewedasthecentralscience.[29][30]
Seealso
Blueskiesresearch
Hardandsoftscience
Normativescience
Puremathematics
References
1."Whatisbasicresearch?"(PDF).NationalScienceFoundation.Retrieved20140531.
2."Curiositycreatescures:Thevalueandimpactofbasicresearch(http://www.nigms.nih.gov/Education/factsheet_Curiosit
yCreatesCures.htm)Archived(https://web.archive.org/web/20131020130308/http://www.nigms.nih.gov/Education/factshe
et_CuriosityCreatesCures.htm)October20,2013,attheWaybackMachine.,NationalInstituteofGeneralMedical
Sciences,NationalInstitutesofHealth.
