Scientific Communities or Transepistemic Arenas of Research? : A Critique of Quasi-Economic Models of Science

Knorr, Karin

Scientific Communities or Transepistemic Arenas of Research? : A Critique of Quasi-Economic Models of Science

Files

Scientific_Communities.pdf(2.53 MB)

Date

1982

Publication type

Journal article

Published in

Social Studies of Science ; 12 (1982), 1. - pp. 101-130. - ISSN 0306-3127

Abstract

Most contemporary studies of science operate with some notion of scientific specialty communities as the basic units within which science is socially and technically organized. This paper presents a critique of scientific communities as sociological constructs which appear to be largely irrelevant to scientific work. Furthermore, the paper criticizes the prevailing quasi-economic models of such collectives for what appears to be a naive internalism and functionalism compared with the realities of scientific everyday life as they concern scientists themselves. It is argued that the arenas of action within which scientific (laboratory) inquiry proceeds are transepistemic that is, they in principle include scientists and non-scientists, and encompass arguments and concerns of a 'technical' as well as a 'non-technical' nature. The paper also argues that the transepistemic connection of research is built into scientific inquiry (and thereby into the products of research) through the decision criteria invoked in laboratory work. The paper draws upon one year of observation in a scientific laboratory in Berkeley, California, which provides the grounds and the illustrations for the theoretical arguments presented.

Subject (DDC)

300 Social Sciences, Sociology

Cite This

ISO 690

KNORR, Karin, 1982. Scientific Communities or Transepistemic Arenas of Research? : A Critique of Quasi-Economic Models of Science. In: Social Studies of Science. 12(1), pp. 101-130. ISSN 0306-3127. Available under: doi: 10.1177/030631282012001005

BibTex

@article{Knorr1982Scien-11590,
  year={1982},
  doi={10.1177/030631282012001005},
  title={Scientific Communities or Transepistemic Arenas of Research? : A Critique of Quasi-Economic Models of Science},
  number={1},
  volume={12},
  issn={0306-3127},
  journal={Social Studies of Science},
  pages={101--130},
  author={Knorr, Karin}
}

RDF

<rdf:RDF
    xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
    xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
    xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
    xmlns:bibo="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/"
    xmlns:dspace="http://digital-repositories.org/ontologies/dspace/0.1.0#"
    xmlns:foaf="http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/"
    xmlns:void="http://rdfs.org/ns/void#"
    xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#" > 
  <rdf:Description rdf:about="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/server/rdf/resource/123456789/11590">
    <dc:language>eng</dc:language>
    <void:sparqlEndpoint rdf:resource="http://localhost/fuseki/dspace/sparql"/>
    <dcterms:title>Scientific Communities or Transepistemic Arenas of Research? : A Critique of Quasi-Economic Models of Science</dcterms:title>
    <dspace:isPartOfCollection rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/server/rdf/resource/123456789/34"/>
    <bibo:uri rdf:resource="http://kops.uni-konstanz.de/handle/123456789/11590"/>
    <dc:creator>Knorr, Karin</dc:creator>
    <dcterms:abstract xml:lang="eng">Most contemporary studies of science operate with some notion of scientific specialty communities as the basic units within which science is socially and technically organized. This paper presents a critique of scientific communities as sociological constructs which appear to be largely irrelevant to scientific work. Furthermore, the paper criticizes the prevailing quasi-economic models of such collectives for what appears to be a naive internalism and functionalism compared with the realities of scientific everyday life as they concern scientists themselves. It is argued that the arenas of action within which scientific (laboratory) inquiry proceeds are transepistemic   that is, they in principle include scientists and non-scientists, and encompass arguments and concerns of a 'technical' as well as a 'non-technical' nature. The paper also argues that the transepistemic connection of research is built into scientific inquiry (and thereby into the products of research) through the decision criteria invoked in laboratory work. The paper draws upon one year of observation in a scientific laboratory in Berkeley, California, which provides the grounds and the illustrations for the theoretical arguments presented.</dcterms:abstract>
    <dcterms:hasPart rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/bitstream/123456789/11590/1/Scientific_Communities.pdf"/>
    <dcterms:isPartOf rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/server/rdf/resource/123456789/34"/>
    <dcterms:available rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime">2011-03-25T09:35:13Z</dcterms:available>
    <dc:rights>terms-of-use</dc:rights>
    <dc:contributor>Knorr, Karin</dc:contributor>
    <dcterms:issued>1982</dcterms:issued>
    <foaf:homepage rdf:resource="http://localhost:8080/"/>
    <dc:format>application/pdf</dc:format>
    <dc:date rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime">2011-03-25T09:35:13Z</dc:date>
    <dcterms:rights rdf:resource="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/"/>
    <dspace:hasBitstream rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/bitstream/123456789/11590/1/Scientific_Communities.pdf"/>
    <dcterms:bibliographicCitation>First publ. in: Social Studies of Science 12 (1982), 1, pp. 101-130</dcterms:bibliographicCitation>
  </rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>

Bibliography of Konstanz

No