Journal ArticleDOI
Black Boxism and the Sociology of Science: A Discussion of the Major Developments in the Field
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The sociologists of science are preoccupied with the producers of science in a way that takes little account of what is being produced, as pointed out by Storer and Cole as mentioned in this paper, who see the sociology of science as being concerned with the behaviour and organization of scientists.Abstract:
Science as an important area of human activity has attracted the attention of historians and philosophers as well as sociologists. However, sociologists in their attempt to establish an independent sub discipline, the Sociology of Science, have too often disregarded work in the History and Philosophy of Science. Moreover they have separated the Sociology of Science from the Sociology of Knowledge. All these have resulted in a conception of the sub discipline that suggests it should be devoted to the study of the producers of science without much or any reference to the internal cognitive nature and fonn of science. I believe it is essential to understand the relationship between these two to have a sound Sociology of Science, and that a separation of the study of the producers of certain cultural artifacts, that is of science, without reference to the fonn and substance of science itself is mistaken. To illustrate my observation that sociologists of science are preoccupied with the producers in a way that takes little account of what is being produced, I should like to refer to Storer (1966: 3-9) who sees the sociology of science as being concerned with the behaviour and organization of scientists. The internal organization of science, science as a social institution, as a profession and as a communication system are the chief areas of study. A similar view is expressed by Cole (1970). He states that the analysis of the social conditions which affect the processes of discovery, evaluation and diffusion of ideas comprise the domain of the sociology of science. These approaches, which are characteristic of North American work, exclude any discussion of the subject matter of science. Ignoring the cognitive aspect of scientists' activities, they restrict sociology to discussion of social relations and processes. Ideas are taken as given, they are objectified as citation or paper counts where each paper is taken toread more
Citations
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The social construction of facts and artefacts: or How the sociology of science and the sociology of technology might benefit each other
Trevor Pinch,Wiebe E. Bijker +1 more
TL;DR: The need for an integrated social constructivist approach towards the study of science and technology is outlined in this article, where both scientific facts and technological artefacts are to be understood as social constructs.
Journal ArticleDOI
Perspective Making and Perspective Taking in Communities of Knowing
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present models of language, communication and cognition that can assist in the design of electronic communication systems for perspective making and perspective taking in knowledge-intensive firms.
Book ChapterDOI
Struggles and Negotiations to Define What is Problematic and What is Not
TL;DR: In the space of a few short years the centre of interest in the sociology of sciences has radically shifted as discussed by the authors, and sociologists no longer confine their interest to a study of how institutions work, or the rules governing competition, or network or community organisation.
Journal ArticleDOI
The sociology of scientific knowledge: studies of contemporary science
TL;DR: Ben-David and Sullivan as discussed by the authors reviewed the "Sociology of Science" for this series, they did not need to mention the sociology of scientific knowledge, and they published a review article with "Socology of Scientific Knowledge" as the title, which indicated the phenomenal growth of the subdiscipline in recent years.
Journal ArticleDOI
State of the Field The Conceptualization of Scientific Specialties
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyze the phenomenon of research specialization in science and present a state-of-the-art review of evidence from so-called specialty case studies, which can be found in the literature.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
History of Science and Its Rational Reconstructions
TL;DR: In this article, it is argued that history of science without history of philosophy of science is empty, and history without philosophy-of-science is blind, and that any rational reconstruction of history needs to be supplemented by an empirical (socio-psychological) external history.
Journal ArticleDOI
Scientists at major and minor universities: a study of productivity and recognition.
TL;DR: Scientists at major schools are more likely to be productive and to win recognition than scientists at minor universities, which suggests that universities provide different environments for scientific research.
Journal ArticleDOI
Stratification in American Science
TL;DR: Although differential ranking in science is not readily visible to lay observers, American science is, in fact, sharply graded as mentioned in this paper and rewards and facilities for research are concentrated among relatively few investigators and organizations.