Task 02: Research
In today’s world, private companies rather than the government pay for and conduct most scientific research. Do you think the advantages outweigh disadvantages?
Sample Answer :
Nowadays, most scientific studies are financed and carried out by private enterprises instead of governments. In my opinion, the benefits of this are greater than its drawbacks.
On the one hand, having research paid for and conducted by private companies can be greatly beneficial. In fact, unlike government organizations, most companies’ primary objective is making profits, so their motivation to minimize the costs arising upon research activities is much more considerable. Therefore, they tend to prevent their scientists and other workers from wasting any resources, including time and money. As a result, the research goals can be reached quicker, more efficiently, and more cost effectively . In addition, when governments leave scientific research for businesses, the financial pressure on the national budget can be partly relieved. Instead, it can be allocated for investing in other important sectors such as education or transportation.
On the other hand, I believe that letting private businesses sponsor or undertake such studies will bring about more significant disadvantages. First, there are very few private companies that are willing to do unpaid work while shouldering a huge financial burden at the same time. Consequently, they may require the public to pay to access or share their research results, so that they can afford to cover their expenses as well as to ensure their personal income. Second, when allowing companies to do scientific research, the authorities can not make sure the entire research process is supervised. It is possible that companies with a priority for maximizing profits will sell their research to other organizations, such as terrorists or criminals, who take advantage of such research to harm society.
In conclusion, I claim that private investment in and conduct of scientific research may result in several advantages which are, however, outweighed by the undesirable consequences.
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