Analysis of synthetic approaches described in papers of the journal Synthesiology

— Towards establishing synthesiological methodology for bridging the gap between scientific research results and society —

Abstract

The methodology of synthesis has been studied by analyzing 70 papers published in the academic journal, Synthesiology, launched in 2008. As a result, it has been found that each technological field has its distinctive features, e.g. there are many break-through type syntheses in biotechnology and nanotechnology, and the strategic selection types are commonly observed in the metrology and measurement field. In addition, we have found a common synthetic method as a whole. A kind of methodology called “technological synthesis” has been found to be important in the Full Research, and continuous follow-up process called “synthesis for social introduction” is also found to be one of the features to introduce the research results to society. Both the former and the latter involve feedback processes, and moreover, in the latter case, a dynamic synthetic method that can be called a spiral-up process is observed, where many feedback processes are repeated successively through social trials.