The Social Studies of Science Merton Kuhn SSK

The Social Studies of Science Merton | Kuhn | SSK | SSP

Robert Merton | Kuhn | SSK | SSP Science as a social institution • how science is organized and regulates itself • emphasis on nature of relationships • social aspects of production of knowledge • no discussion about content or nature of knowledge • knowledge blackboxed due to empirism & economical metaphor • scientific knowledge independent of scientific activity

Merton | Thomas Kuhn | SSK | SSP science as a social community • The Structure of Scientific Revolution (1962) • scientific criteria not universal • development of scientific knowledge as object of sociological research • external factors play a role in scientific choices

Merton | Kuhn | SSK | SSP How are cognitive and social aspects of science related? • obduracy of classification due to: – normative value – economic metaphor • philosophy =/= sociology of science – science is social – empirical & naturalistic

Merton | Kuhn | SSK | SSP Macro and Micro Sociological Analysis • Macro: Edinburgh School – Barnes, Bloor, Shapin – ‘interest’ of relevant groups • Micro: Bath School – Collins – Empirical Program of Relativism (EPOR) • interpretative flexibility • closure • wider context

Classification of social and cognitive aspects

Merton | Kuhn | SSK | SSP Sociology of Scientific Practice • investigation of activities, judgements and interpretations • form of methodological internalism – microscopic study – ‘how’ over ‘why’ questions – constructivist approach

Merton | Kuhn | SSK | SSP Sociology of Scientific Practice • linguistic turn – Latour & Woolgar – process of persuasion • Analysis of practical reasoning – -Knorr-Cetina, Lynch – analysis of scientific writing • Discourse analysis – Gilbert & Mulkay – study of the organization of meaning

Merton | Kuhn | SSK | SSP Sociology of Scientific Practice • Breakdown of classification scheme • process of negotiation • meaning of scientific observations and interpretations are socially constructed through contesting and modification • scientific outcomes may depend on – argumentative skills – prestige – material resources

Merton | Kuhn | SSK | SSP Sociology of Scientific Practice • Core of science is social because – Process of persuasion – contextual contingenties • Breakdown of classification scheme • But in transition from ‘scientists knowledge claim’ to ‘taken-for-granted fact’ we see construction of classification scheme • distinction between cognitive - social is result instead of building blocks of the process of scientific inquiry