According to their orientation, according to their direct relation to practice, individual sciences are usually divided into fundamental and applied. The task of the fundamental sciences is the knowledge of the laws governing the behavior and interaction of the basic structures of nature, society and thinking.
These laws and structures are studied in their pure form, as such, regardless of their possible use. Therefore, the fundamental sciences are sometimes called pure. The immediate goal of applied sciences is the application of the results of fundamental sciences to solve not only cognitive, but also social and practical problems. Therefore, here the criterion of success is not only the achievement of truth, but also the measure of satisfaction of the social order. At the intersection of applied sciences and practice, a special area of research is developing developments that translate the results of applied science into the form of technological processes, structures, industrial materials, etc.
Applied sciences can develop with a predominance of both theoretical and practical problems. For example, in modern physics, electrodynamics and quantum mechanics play a fundamental role, the application of which to the knowledge of specific subject areas forms various branches of theoretical applied physics metal physics, semiconductor physics, etc. Further application of their results to practice gives rise to a variety of practical applied sciences metallurgy, semiconductor technology, etc., the direct connection of which with production is carried out by the corresponding specific developments. All technical sciences are applied.
As a rule, fundamental sciences are ahead of applied sciences in their development, creating a theoretical reserve for them. Applied science accounts for up to 8090% of all research and funding in modern science.
One of the urgent problems of the modern organization of science is the establishment of strong, systematic relationships and the reduction of the time of movement within the framework of the cycle fundamental research applied research development implementation.
In the Classifier of directions and specialties of higher professional education with a list of masters programs (specializations) developed by scientific and methodological councils departments of UMO in the areas of education, the following are highlighted:
1. Natural sciences and mathematics (mechanics, physics, chemistry, biology, soil science, geography, hydrometeorology, geology, ecology, etc.);
2. Humanities and socio-economic sciences (culturology, theology, philology, philosophy, linguistics, journalism, book science, history, political science, psychology, social work, sociology, regional studies, management, economics, art, physical culture, commerce, agroeconomics, statistics, art, jurisprudence, etc.);
3. Engineering sciences (construction, printing, telecommunications, metallurgy, mining, electronics and microelectronics, geodesy, radio engineering, architecture, etc.);
4. Agricultural sciences (agronomy, zootechnics, veterinary medicine, agroengineering, forestry, fisheries, etc.).
The Nomenclature of specialties of scientific workers, approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Russian Federation on January 25, 2000, indicates the following branches of science: physical and mathematical, chemical, biological, geological and mineralogical, technical, agricultural, historical, economic, philosophical, philological, geographical, legal, pedagogical, medical, pharmaceutical, veterinary, art history, architecture, psychological, sociological, political, cultural and earth sciences.
Each of the named groups of sciences can be subjected to further fragmentation. In statistical collections, the following sectors of science are usually distinguished: academic, industry, university and factory.
2. Research and its stages
2.1 Classification of scientific studies
The form of existence and development of science is scientific research. The Federal Law of the Russian Federation of August 23, 1996 «On Science and State Scientific and Technical Policy» defines research activities as activities aimed at obtaining and applying new knowledge.
The purpose of scientific research is the definition of a specific object and a comprehensive, reliable study of its structure, characteristics, relationships based on the principles and methods of cognition developed in science, as well as obtaining results useful for human activity, introduction into production with a further effect. The object of scientific research is a material or ideal system, and the subject is the structure of the system, the interaction of its elements, various properties, patterns of development.
The results of scientific research are evaluated the higher, the higher the scientific nature of the conclusions and generalizations made, the more reliable and effective they are. They should form the basis for new scientific developments.
One of the most important requirements for scientific research is a scientific generalization, which will allow establishing the dependence and connection between the phenomena and processes under study and drawing scientific conclusions. The deeper the findings, the higher the scientific level of the study.
Scientific research is classified on various grounds. For example, the Federal Law «On Science and State Science and Technology Policy» distinguishes between fundamental and applied research. Fundamental scientific research is understood as experimental or theoretical activity aimed at obtaining new knowledge about the basic laws of the structure, functioning and development of a person, society, and the natural environment. Applied scientific research is defined as research aimed primarily at applying new knowledge to achieve practical goals and solve specific problems. According to the source of funding, scientific research is budgetary, contractual and unfunded. Budget research is financed from the budget of the Russian Federation or the budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Contractual research is financed by organizations customers under economic contracts. Unfunded research can be carried out at the initiative of a scientist, an individual plan of a teacher.
By duration, scientific research can be divided into long-term, short-term and express research.
In science, one can single out empirical and theoretical levels of research and organization of knowledge. The theoretical level of scientific knowledge presupposes the presence of special abstract objects (constructs) and the theoretical laws connecting them, created for the purpose of an idealized description and explanation of empirical situations, i.e. for the purpose of understanding the essence of phenomena.
Their goal is to expand the knowledge of society and help to better understand the laws of nature. Such developments are used mainly for the further development of new theoretical studies, which can be long-term, budgetary, etc.
The elements of empirical knowledge are facts obtained through observations and experiments and stating the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of objects and phenomena. Stable repeatability and relationships between empirical characteristics are expressed using empirical laws, often of a probabilistic nature.