Why a proactive research culture is necessary for advancing social sciences in Sri Lanka?

This editorial points to the need for developing a positive research culture for advancing social science research in Sri Lanka. This is not to say that a positive attitude towards research is absent among social scientists and the scientific community in general in Sri Lanka. On the contrary, there is an emerging recognition that social science inputs are necessary for tackling the various challenging problems facing the country today. However, what is lacking is a firm faith in building a local social science knowledge base for exploring various approaches for understanding critical issues facing the country, constant debates about relevant issues and a critical engagement with the social, economic, and political environment in which we find ourselves. This is what I call a “proactive research culture” where we constantly turn to new research for generating new knowledge and finding answers to serious problems affecting the current and future generations.