An analytic framework must be developed to help decision making about the nature of interactive research in social science and take account of wider social and political contexts. The reflexive application of social science to ISS enables us to understand better the nature of social relations and the specific constraints of contemporary regimes of accountability. This investigates alliances in the Indian pharmaceutical industry, using a sample of 33 companies.
Most linkages are through sponsored research and alliances with universities.
To date, researchers and research funders have succumbed to the temptation of constructing and then believing in users of their own making. There are other ways of conceptualising and identifying use, but these require researchers and funders to develop and work with more convincing models of knowledge diffusion and relevance. Social scientists need to develop a common language for the skills interactive research calls for and talk about approaches that work well and less well in different settings with different stakeholders. Contract research as interactive social science Peter Simmons and Gordon Walker Interactive research has been characterised as a distinctive mode of knowledge production and contrasted to contract research. This article questions this stark distinction and, from experience of research for a British regulatory agency, outlines conditions that will tend to facilitate or inhibit an 'interactive' approach to contract research.