| Information is essential to the conduct of science and the creation of technology. Yet, the less developed countries (LDC's) have particular difficulty in assessing and acquiring scientific and technological information. It has been suggested that this difficulty is related to prevailing social and economic conditions in the LDC. The goal of this research has been to describe the patterns that this relationship takes.;Each of the 87 countries in the final factor analysis was assigned a composite factor score establishing relative rank and distance on each dimension. Multiple regression analyses were performed with each of the three information dimensions acting as dependent variables and the seven socioeconomic dimension as the independent variables. Select information activity variables were also analysed using this procedure. It was found that the WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS composite factor could be explained by GROSS ECONOMY and ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. TECHNOLOGY was best explained by SOCIAL INDICATORS, GROSS ECONOMY, NONFOOD AGRICULTURE and ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. The LIBRARIES factor was predicted by GROSS ECONOMY.;The 87 LDC's studied fall into two tiers based on GROSS ECONOMY forming two distinct distributions. Each of these, in conjunction with SOCIAL INDICATORS, TRADE and/or ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, is related to the level of information activity. However, information activity is itself three dimensional with each dimension being only slightly correlated with the other two. The research suggests that any national information policy should be deliberately aimed at the dimension to be impacted and should consider the relationship between trade, on the one hand, and scientific and technological development, on the other.;Data were collected on socioeconomic conditions and information activities in the LDCs. The socioeconomic data were comprised of 100 variables selected from the World Bank's World Tables, 1980. The information activity data were comprised of 49 variables representing a variety of sources and original survey data. These two data sets were factor analysed yielding seven socioeconomic dimensions (i.e., SOCIAL INDICATORS, GROSS ECONOMY, TRADE, NONFOOD AGRICULTURE, POPULATION STRUCTURE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT and INFLATION INDICES) and three information activity dimensions (i.e., WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS, TECHNOLOGY, and LIBRARIES). WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS is an indicator of a country's general ability to communicate in writing and to publish in mainstream scientific and technical publications. TECHNOLOGY is an indicator of a country's ability to use foreign and create indigenous technology. LIBRARIES measures the library resources of a country. |
