Science as a social construct

Question 1

What are the norms of scientific practice, legitimised in terms of institutional values?

Answer 1

Communism, Universalism, Disinteredness, Organised Scepticism

Question 2

What is communism?

Answer 2

If you discover something it doesn’t belong to you. Scientists work always based on others work. Very little reward for discovering something

Question 3

What is universalism?

Answer 3

Rejection of approaches giving national characteristics to different sciences

Question 4

What is Disinterestedness?

Answer 4

Acting to benefit a common scientific enterprise rather than personal gain. Remain disinterested and objective

Question 5

What is organised scepticism?

Answer 5

Questions scientific claims before they can be accepted

Question 6

What is Thomas Kuhns model of science?

Answer 6

Pre-science –> normal science –> crisis –> revolution –>new normal science –> crisis, and so on

Question 7

What is pre science?

Answer 7

disagreement, debate over fundamentals, all facts are equally important

Question 8

What is normal science?

Answer 8

governed by single paradigm, attempts to articulate a paradigm and improve match between it and nature, puzzle solving (what majority of scientists do)

Question 9

What is crisis?

Answer 9

Anomalies become series, professional insecurity develops, radical solutions proposed, philosophical/metaphysical arguments

Question 10

What are David Bloors 4 tenets of the strong programme in SSK?

Answer 10

Causal, impartial, symmetrical, reflexive

Question 11

What is a social constructivists explanation for a scientific theory?

Answer 11

The theory os not the only one that could have been established, categories used are human impositions rather than in nature and the reasons for the theories success are not evidential reasons.

Question 12

What are the 4 ways sociologists use constructivism?

Answer 12

The construction of reality, the construction of scientific things, the construction of theories, the construction of nature

Question 13

What are some non scientific reasons for disbelief in scientific work?

Answer 13

Faith in experimental capabilities and honesty, bsed on previous working partnership, personality and intelligence of experimenters, reputation of running a lab, previous history of failures, whether the scientists worked in industry or academia