Scientific Research | Writing for Academic IELTS PDF Download

This is an scientific research essay. For this essay, you need to discuss whether the funding and controlling of scientific research should be the responsibility of the government or private organizations.

Q. Governments should be responsible for funding and controlling scientific research rather than private organizations. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Hint

• This is a fairly complex topic so you may want to do an internet search and do some reading about it before you attempt to write a practice answer.
• The model answer below puts forward two ideas against private organizations holding such responsibility.
• There are more arguments around the topic in opposition to this that could be discussed, but with 40 minutes to plan and write your answer you will need to choose carefully which ideas you want to present.
• Note the way that the body paragraphs have been organised in a comparison / contrast style.
• You are asked which of the two is best placed to manage research so it makes sense to compare the relative benefits / disadvantages of each. 
• Another way to approach this scientific research essay would be to present ideas for and ideas against in separate body paragraphs.

Sample Answer

• Undertaking scientific research is imperative if countries want to progress and compete in a globalized world. However, the funding and controlling of this research remain contentious issues. In my opinion, the government should have the predominant responsibility for these.
• One of the first issues is the knowledge that we gain from research. If governments are responsible then they are driven by the need to make advances in knowledge in order to improve people’s lives. This is because they are accountable to the public and the research is paid for by taxes. On the other hand, private organizations are driven by profit. This may mean that some research that could be valuable to society may not begin because there is no monetary gain.
• Another issue related to this is the research process. When the funding for research comes from the same organization that is going to gain from a favorable outcome, there is a strong potential for biased results. Taking drugs companies as an example, legislation usually requires rigorous trials for new drugs that can take many years to complete. The companies have large amounts of money invested in such research and the need for positive results is paramount. It is difficult for a scientist to remain impartial in these circumstances. However, if this is controlled and funded by governments, their accountability means that such conflicts of interest are less likely to occur.
• On balance, I would argue that although it is not realistic to remove all opportunities for privately funded research, governments should have the main responsibility for the monitoring and controlling of this. Strong checks and balances need to be in place to ensure future research is ethical and productive.