Societies influence research through government priorities, industry investment, community needs, public-health urgency, environmental concerns, ethics and advocacy. This influence is not automatically improper: choosing which scientifically worthwhile questions receive scarce resources is partly a social decision.
A defensible priority process makes criteria visible. Possible criteria include severity of the problem, number of people affected, equity, likelihood of useful results, cost, time, risk and long-term benefit. Values should not be used to change measurements or fabricate results; they can legitimately shape which questions are asked and funded.