Innovation and technological research in social science and humanities: a diagnosis based on the Chilean case

Abstract

Innovation has become a key factor for economic growth, but the imaginaries about it often exclude social sciences and humanities. In this framework, this work analyzes the trends in innovation and technological research in this field in Chile between 2017 and 2021.For this purpose, a set of data has been built from multiple secondary sources, which was analyzed using statistics and semantic network analysis. A total of 201 instruments of innovation and technological research has been identified, those has been carried out mainly by enterprises, though universities and NGOs also have an important presence. The instruments have mostly a multidisciplinary character or are associated with disciplines such as education, economics, and psychology. In the same way, nine lines of work has been identified, which reflects the diversity of the field and the opening of spaces for social science and humanities in the transepistemic arenas of innovation and technological research. This research visibilizes the diversity of built capabilities in social innovation in Chile, which can become the basis for the devising of responses to short- and long-term social issues.