What is the sociology of scientific knowledge?

The sociology of scientific knowledge studies science as a social activity, examining how social conditions, structures, and external factors shape scientific development. It identifies points of contingency and interpretative flexibility where choices between competing interpretations are influenced by historical, political, or economic circumstances. Emerging mainly as a British practice in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the field is complemented by the study of scientific ignorance.

What we know

• The sociology of scientific knowledge studies science as a social activity, focusing on social conditions, effects, structures, and processes. [2]
• Researchers in the field identify points of contingency or interpretative flexibility where scientific variations link to historical, cultural, political, or economic factors. [2]
• The field emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s, initially operating almost exclusively as a British practice before expanding to France, Germany, and the United States. [2]
• The sociology of scientific ignorance serves as a complementary field to the sociology of scientific knowledge. [2, 4]

Still open

• Scientists have criticized sociological theories of scientific knowledge for ignoring the objective reality of nature when attempting to explain how scientific knowledge is created.

Where to go next

• compared withHow does the sociology of knowledge differ?
• a case in pointWhat is the sociology of scientific ignorance?
• whenWhen did this sociological field emerge?
• whoWho were the major theorists in the field?
• the bigger pictureHow does cognitive sociology shape these studies?
• an unexpected connectionHow do children's songs relate to scientific sociology?Wikidata alternative classification groups the study of children's songs and nursery rhymes under the exact same identifier code as the sociology of scientific knowledge.

Sources

• [1]sociology of scientific knowledge (Wikidata Q981008) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Sociology of scientific knowledge · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Sociology of knowledge · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Sociology of scientific ignorance · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Michael Mulkay · CC BY-SA 4.0