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
Reads0
Chats0
TLDR
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.Abstract:
The need for an integrated social constructivist approach towards the study of science and technology is outlined. Within such a programme both scientific facts and technological artefacts are to be understood as social constructs. Literature on the sociology of science, the science-technology relationship, and technology studies is reviewed. The empirical programme of relativism within the sociology of scientific knowledge and a recent study of the social construction of technological artefacts are combined to produce the new approach. The concepts of `interpretative flexibility' and `closure mechanism', and the notion of `social group' are developed and illustrated by reference to a study of solar physics and a study of the development of the bicycle. The paper concludes by setting out some of the terrain to be explored in future studies.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Some elements of a sociology of translation: domestication of the scallops and the fishermen of St Brieuc Bay
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe a scientific and economic controversy about the causes for the decline in the population of scallops in St. Brieuc Bay and the attempts by three marine biologists to develop a conservation strategy for that population.
Some elements of a sociology of translation: domestication of the scallops and the fishermen of St Brieuc Bay
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe a scientific and economic controversy about the causes for the decline in the population of scallops in St. Brieuc Bay and the attempts by three marine biologists to develop a conservation strategy for that population.
Book
The duality of technology: rethinking the concept of technology in organizations
TL;DR: In this paper, a new theoretical model with which to examine the interaction between technology and organizations is developed. But the model is based on the assumption that technology is an objective, external force that would have deterministic impacts on organizational properties such as structure.
Journal ArticleDOI
Using Technology and Constituting Structures: A Practice Lens for Studying Technology in Organizations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose an extension to the structurational perspective on technology that develops a practice lens to examine how people, as they interact with a technology in their ongoing practices, enact structures which shape their emergent and situated use of that technology.
Journal ArticleDOI
From sectoral systems of innovation to socio-technical systems: Insights about dynamics and change from sociology and institutional theory
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors make four contributions to the approach by addressing some open issues in the sectoral systems of innovation (SOSI) approach, namely, explicitly incorporating the user side in the analysis, suggesting an analytical distinction between systems, actors involved in them, and the institutions which guide actor perceptions and activities.