Policy and administration in the field of science nowadays are largely based on approaches to the description and evaluation of scientific activities typical of the “knowledge economy” as a branch of economic statistics. These approaches cause serious problems concerning difficulties of interpreting statistical data and image of science in broader context of the “knowledge society”. The statistical tools of the “knowledge economy” do not make it possible to assess with appropriate accuracy the significance of scientific work for both the”«knowledge-based economy” and the “knowledge society” that contains such economy as an integral part. The concept of knowledge society takes into account various aspects of the “desirability of scientific results”, and not all of these aspects can be studied by statistical methods. Since the features of knowledge society may be inherent in different types of socio-economic organizations, the slogan «towards knowledge society» does not in itself reflect the essence of the desirable future and does not define what kind of policies will be implemented under this slogan. The inclusion of the fundamental political and philosophical category of the common good in the concept of the knowledge society opens up new way for study social process and the role of science in society.
