Science as practice: a methodological critique and case study

In this thesis, I attempt to develop the rudiments of a ’practice’ conception of scientific knowledge and activities as the basis for a suitable methodology for Science and Technology Studies. In order to do this, I examine the methodologies proposed by two sociologists who can be very broadly construed to be working within the tradition of the "Sociology of Scientific Knowledge’, Harry Collins and Steve Woolgar in the context of their application to a specific case, and attempt to develop an alternative conception by contrast. The thesis is structured as follows. I begin by describing Collins’ and Woolgar’s methodologies for the analysis of scientific knowledge development in some detail in Chapter One. In Chapter Two, I examine the application of these methodologies to the ’computer models of scientific discovery’ case (the case is of some interest because it is held to ’refute’ the possibility of the sort of analysis of scientific activities that Collins and Woolgar propose). I then use the material of the first two Chapters in Chapter Three to diagnose the shortcomings of Collins’ and Woolgar’s methodologies as illustrated by their application to the computer models of discovery case. This sets the stage for an alternative analysis of the computer models case which does not suffer from these shortcomings in Chapter Four. Finally, I develop a practice-based conception of scientific knowledge development in Chapter Five (which I derive from the material of Chapters One through Four), contrast it with the methodologies of Collins and Woolgar, and use it to illustrate and evaluate my alternative analysis.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Science and Technology Studies

Department dc:contributor.department

Science and Technology Studies

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1992

Author dc:creator

• Chaudhuri, Ranjan

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Fuller, Steven W.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Barker, Peter
• Fuhrman, Ellsworth R.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

etd-10062009-020105

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/45010