People who have worked or studied in some Western countries share a common impression that these countries have strict clear systems that govern work and education issues, making it easy for everyone who deals with them. The level of productivity in these countries is also high which provides better chances of success for any public or private sector.
I’m not here to analyze or interpret details of the scientific and professional success formula, but this article will deal with one of the reasons that I personally felt could relate to the delay in our scientific research and productivity.
My observations are based on real life incidents I witnessed through my studies and work expertise not only in the Kingdom but also in the US. We’re always thinking of ways that can qualify us to come up from the very bottom of the heap and bring us scientific and cultural advancement. Unfortunately, these ambitious thoughts remain as idealistic assumptions that don’t look for the reasons for our failures in order to be able to fix them.
One of the major reasons behind failure of scientific research here is the weakness or shortage of available information resources in many cases. We’re always complaining about the unavailability of accurate statistics concerning many scientific, social and educational issues that are crucial to our lives. We don’t really know precisely the number of patients who have contagious diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B and others. We also don’t have any statistics about the attempts by both genders to commit suicide or accurate information about domestic violence and many other issues that exist and are important for research and studies.
We’re not only concerned with medical and social issues but also many intellectual, cultural and professional issues that matter a lot to people and influence their lives. Immigration issues, segregation at work, bribes, managerial corruption, education level, religious extremism and many other issues have no reliable data available, forcing us to depend on people’s guesses and hunches.
Many Saudi men and women researchers use the Internet to look for important information they need in their research, unfortunately, there aren’t enough scientific studies that focus on the Kingdom. I have tried when I was doing my own research in the US to find some information about diseases and illnesses in the Kingdom, but there wasn’t anything I could use. I was told that if I wanted specific references I had to visit universities’ libraries personally, which is not a very practical idea.
Researchers many times do not live in the same country or city that they need information about, and non-electronic information is not as available as it used to be in the past. We can’t easily find one piece of information among books and references as easily as we can online with the click of a mouse.
It’s also very difficult to find statistical information to support research. There is always secrecy and confidentiality in relation to certain scientific results or observations. For instance, you might find bizarre infectious diseases that the Ministry of Health doesn’t talk about until a later stage, or if some information leaks out from hospitals. Even the cases the ministry announces aren’t always presented in a clear defined way that fulfills the curiosity of people and eases their panic. It seems as if some officials don’t trust their people and don’t feel they are worthy of sharing honest, important information with them.
I also want to also tackle the crime of incest, since it is a hazy topic without any solid information or statistics. We don’t know the number of victims, the number of incest crimes recorded, or the possible relation between the crime and family education or financial status. Do we know if there are more cases in certain areas than others?
It’s obvious that we suffer from unnecessary phobia to deal directly with social and cultural issues that don’t match our “perfect” ideologies. It seems that people who have problems or different types of thinking must be amputated from this society without us considering helping them or understanding their problems so we could eliminate them.
It’s also worthy of mentioning that trying to reach realistic solutions requires that the study be based upon correct information taken from real resources and not subsidiary resources that cannot be trusted. Scientific research needs a lot of financial support.
There are researchers who go to universities and King Abdul Aziz for Science and Technology seeking financial aid for important projects they are undertaking, and they find nothing but empty promises and managerial bureaucracies that kill their ambitions.
Having a highly equipped center for scientific studies and research, with branches or centers in different educational institutions and universities, would be the best way to support academics who serve our country.
