The Social Construction of Science

1. The Social Construction of Science.- 1.1. Introduction.- 1.2. The Theoretical Perspective Developed in this Book.- 2. What is Science?.- 2.1. The Need for Precise Definitions.- 2.2. Structure and Meaning in the Analysis of Science.- 2.3. Science and Its Sub-Universes of Meaning.- 2.4. Science as a System of Theoretical Production.- 2.5. Social Control in Science.- 2.6. Research.- 2.7. Types of Research: Basic Research vs. Practice Oriented Research.- 2.8. The Negotiation of Meaning in Science.- 2.9. Summary.- 3. Science and Professionalism.- 3.1. Introduction.- 3.2. Science and Professionalism.- 3.3. The Role of Autonomy in Science.- 3.4. Scientific Autonomy and Politics.- 3.5. The Inertia of Contemporary Science.- 3.6. The Professional Orientational Reference Group.- 3.7. The Context of Legitimation vs. the Context of Research.- 3.8. Professionalism and the Articulation of Beliefs in an Era of Resource Scarcity.- 4. Scientists Have Goals.- 4.1. Introduction.- 4.2. The ‘Common-Sense’ Notion of Goals in Scientific Research.- 4.3. The Institutional Context of Goal Direction in the Physical Sciences.- 4.4. The Political Receptivity of Scientific Fields.- 4.5. What is a Goal?.- 4.6. What Are the Goals of Science? An Australian Case Study.- 5. Cognitive and Social Dimensions in the Analysis of Science.- 5.1. Introduction.- 5.2. Cognitive and Social Institutionalisation.- 5.3. The Cognitive Field of a Scientist.- 5.4. Cognitive Structures in the Context of Research.- 5.5. Operationalising Social and Cognitive Concepts.- 5.6. Some Methodological Observations About My Own Research.- 6. Research and Its Legitimation: Two Cognitively Oriented Case Studies.- 6.1. Introduction.- 6.2. Some Methodological Details.- 6.3. Case Study 1: The Selective Surfaces Research Group(SSG).- 6.4. Case Study 2: The Dopamine/Octopamine Research Group (DOG).- 6.5. Comparing the Two Case Studies.- 7. General Conclusions.- 7.1. Suggestions for Future Work.- Notes.- Index of Names.- Index of Subjects.