ABSTRACT
There is a myth prevalent among social scientists and even their critics to the Left and Right. It has many variations, but its theme is simple enough. The scenario goes something like this: The government, or one of its major agencies, has "a need to know". Social science as a legitimizing device performs necessary ideological services for a society that has already announced the end of ideology as a populist activity. Social science has had a role in providing an objective rationale for equality of opportunity in education. However, it is clear from the record that the United States Supreme Court had a number of pending cases, such as Brown v. Board of Education, that were going to be decided against the historic "separate but equal" doctrine outlined in Plessy v. Ferguson. The case of the ill-famed Project Camelot is typical of what happens in the absence of consensus about the goals of research.
