Sociology of Science

1
Sociology of Science

• Thomas Wahl

2
Question

• Do you believe in science?

3
What is Sociology?

• Study of Society
  
• - What is a Society?
• - How is it constructed, maintained and changed?
• Study of Human Social Activity
• - How do people behave?
• - What external (non-cognitive) explanations
  can we find for this behaviour?

4
Famous Early Sociologist
5
Objects of study
6
Sociological branches
7
A sociological explanation

• Macro (structural functionalism)
• Biology as a model.
• Institution X is a function for society as a
  whole (society organism)
• Ex. Familys are a function to transfer our norms
  to the next generation
• Love is a function to maintain families
• Micro
• Ex. Humans have a tendency to fall in love with
  people with whom they share the same
  class/ethnicity/status because the share the same
  social life and behaviour and are exposed to each
  other with in their limited sphere

8
Modern developments

• Culture studies
• Gender studies
• Post modernism
• Post structuralism
• Critical realism
• Environmental sociology

9
Relativism Reflexion

• Sociology teach us that what we regard as
  natural, unavoidable, god or true are results of
  historical and social powers and contexts
• To know way we regard something as a fact we need
  to look in to the context that supports the
  truth.

10
The importance of Context

• No science AND society only science IN society
• No science AND agency only science AS agency

11
Technology and society
12
Sociology of Science

• Science as
• A Culture
• System of norms
• Discourse
• Society
• Community
• Agency
• Religion
• Capitalism

13
The strong program

• As formulated by David Bloor in Knowledge and
  Social Imagery (1976), the strong programme has
  four indispensable components
• Causality it examines the conditions
  (psychological, social, and cultural) that bring
  about claims to a certain kind of knowledge.
• Impartiality it examines successful as well as
  unsuccessful knowledge claims.
• Symmetry the same types of explanations are used
  for successful and unsuccessful knowledge claims
  alike.
• Reflexivity it must be applicable to sociology
  itself.

14
Ethnometodology what do scientist do when the
do science?

• Woolgar Latour - Laboratory Life
• The talk, write, send papers, argue, presents,
  defend, drinks coffee,
• Agency to the artefacts
• Computer says no

15
Inscriptions DATA AGENCY TO MACHINES
16
What function does method have for science?
Comparability Communication

• It's the details that sell your story!

17
The Scientific discourse

• 0ut-there-ness
• Neutrality
• Modality
• Credibility

18
Constructing facts
Facts are
Brought in
Placed out
Scientific optimism
Reflexive construtivism
Scientific Community
19
Scientific statements

• I belive X
• Professor Z claims X
• Results from test show that X
• X is a fact

20
Sociology of translations

• Problematisation
• What is the problem that needs to be solved? Who
  are the relevant actors? Delegates need to be
  identified that will represent groups of actors.
  During problematisation, the primary actor tries
  to establish itself as an obligatory passage
  point (OPP) between the other actors and the
  network, so that it becomes indispensable.
• 2. Interessement
• Getting the actors interested and negotiating the
  terms of their involvement. The primary actor
  works to convince the other actors that the roles
  it has defined for them are acceptable.
• 3. Enrollment
• Actors accept the roles that have been defined
  for them during interessement.
• 4. Mobilization of allies
• Do the delegate actors in the network adequately
  represent the masses? If so, enrollment becomes
  active support.

21
Why mess things up?

• How does experts learn?
• How to argue for science?
• How do you construct good solid facts?
• There is no where to run!

22
Question

• Do you BELIVE in science?