Lynch1997f
| Lynch1997f | |
|---|---|
| BibType | ARTICLE |
| Key | Lynch1997f |
| Author(s) | Michael Lynch, David Bogen |
| Title | Sociology's asociological "core": An examination of textbook sociology in light of the sociology of scientific knowledge |
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| Tag(s) | EMCA, Sociology, Sociology of Scientific Knowledge |
| Publisher | |
| Year | 1997 |
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| Journal | American Sociological Review |
| Volume | 62 |
| Number | |
| Pages | 481-493 |
| URL | Link |
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Abstract
The sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) has challenged many of the "core" conceptions of theory and method that remain entrenched in sociology textbooks. In conjunction with recent developments in history and philosophy of science, sociologists of science speak of the disunity of science and describe the local-historical origins of particular scientific facts and laws. "Core" sociology textbooks devote no attention to the methodological implications of recent sociology of science. Elementary textbooks present upbeat versions of the discipline that emphasize sociology's scientific methodology; they describe sociological methods as implementations of a general research process designed along hypothetico-deductive lines. Viewed from the vantage point of SSK, such widely disseminated elementary versions of sociology promote an asociological conception of science. In this paper we suggest that the "epistemic flattening" accomplished by SSK's research on the natural sciences provides a valuable antidote to current anxieties about the coherence and scientific status of sociology.
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