LECTURE 2:

Sociology of SIX1015 Science, Technology and Society

Science
Dr. Maisarah Hasbullah (Group 1)
Dr. Suzana Ariff Azizan (Group 2)

1
Objectives of Lecture 2

In this lecture students will learn about:

1. Definition of the 2. Four different 3. The chain of

sociology of science aspects of science discovery

5. Scientist as a 4. Internal and

6. The Mertonian
member of scientific external sociologies
norms- CUDOS
community of science

7. The Lysenko affair

1. Definition of the
2. Four different 3. The chain of
sociology of
aspects of science discovery
science

5. Scientist as a 4. Internal and

6. The Mertonian member of external
norms- CUDOS scientific sociologies of
community science

7. The Lysenko
affair
 What is sociology?

1. Definition of
Sociology of What is sociology of
science?
Science

What is sociology of
science about?
d) Vocational aspect –

Definition –
Human side of science -
Science as a social
institution
 • Science as a social-institutional
system.
• The system’s components
Definitio include professional activities,
n scientific ethos, social
certification, social values,
organizational, political, and
financial aspects of science. 
The sociology of science examines
a variety of connected matters:

THE EFFECTS OF
THE WAYS IN ITS SOCIAL THE PROCESSES
WHICH IT IS STRUCTURE INVOLVED IN THE
SCIENCE ON
CONDITIONED BY PRODUCTION OF
SOCIETY; IN TURN.
ITS SOCIAL AND SCIENTIFIC
CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE.
CONTEXTS;
 • Science began as a great enterprise
then evolved into a social institution

A bit During the great ages of technological

invention, there were no scientists as
about such, and consequently no organized
body exercising a moral and intellectual
history of influence that could be called scientific.

science The men of science were theologians

like Roger Bacon, painters like Leonardo,
astrologers like Kepler, philosophers like
Pascal and Descartes and so on.
• It was only in the 1880s that
science and the scientist became
recognized elements in the
ordinary life of Western nations.
It was only in the 1890s that
these elements entered as a
matter of course into the
universities.
1. Definition of the
2. Four different 3. The chain of
sociology of
aspects of science discovery
science

5. Scientist as a 4. Internal and

6. The Mertonian member of external
norms- CUDOS scientific sociologies of
community science

7. The Lysenko
affair
 Instrumental Archival

2. Aspects
of Science
Methodologica
Vocational
l
a) Instrumental Aspect

• Science as a means of
solving problems.
• Viewed as closely
connected with
technology
• Subject for economic
and political study
b) Archival Aspect

Science as organized
knowledge
• Research and publication.
• Public resource.
• Historical process of
accumulating scientific
knowledge can be
studied.
c) Methodological aspect

• science as objective
knowledge, no political
"knowledge derived from
considerations. observation, study and
experimentation; data are
• Special method- collected objectively and tested
experimentation, empirically“
observation, and
theorizing to obtain
reliable information
about the natural world.
d) Vocational aspect –

• science as profession
1. Definition of the
2. Four different 3. The chain of
sociology of
aspects of science discovery
science

5. Scientist as a 4. Internal and

6. The Mertonian member of external
norms- CUDOS scientific sociologies of
community science

7. The Lysenko
affair
3. The chain of discovery

Scientist Discovery Knowledge Technology Industry

with by in as In
VOCATION METHOD ARCHIVE INSTRUMENT SOCIETY

SOLVING
RESEARCH PUBLICATION APPLICATION
PROBLEMS
1. Definition of the
2. Four different 3. The chain of
sociology of
aspects of science discovery
science

5. Scientist as a 4. Internal and

6. The Mertonian member of external
norms- CUDOS scientific sociologies of
community science

7. The Lysenko
affair
Internal and external sociology of science
SOCIETY

TECHNOLOGY
Invention

INTERNAL EXTERNAL
SOCIOLOGY SOCIOLOGY
OF SCIENCE OF SCIENCE

Discovery
Social component in science
• The rate of scientific change, for
example, is strongly influenced
by the disciplinary structure of
the scientific community, and
not simply by the scientific
ideas that happen to be current
• External societal forces such as
technological needs also affect
the direction of scientific
development.
• Social and cultural contexts may
influence scientific
development.
• For example: Charles Darwin’s
theory of the evolution species by
natural selection was based on his
acquaintanceship with the practical
skill of breeding domestic animal,
his readings of economic treatise
Thomas Maltus, findings of other
naturalists.
• It was also influenced by social
environment of Victorian England,
with its characteristic agricultural
and industrial capabilities, class
relationships, political and religious
ideologies.
1. Definition of the
2. Four different 3. The chain of
sociology of
aspects of science discovery
science

5. Scientist as a 4. Internal and

6. The Mertonian member of external
norms- CUDOS scientific sociologies of
community science

7. The Lysenko
affair
 Co m
mun
ation icati
er v on
Obs Scientists

Natural world

Public archive
Ob Discussion
se
rva
tio
n tion
i ca
Scientists o mmun
C

Academic science as a social system

5. Scientist as a member of
scientific community

• An important characteristic of science- that

it does not, and never has consisted of
isolated individuals each pursuing
knowledge without communication or
contact with others.
• Scientists involve in communal activities
e.g scientific education, the publication of
scientific papers, debates on controversial
scientific questions.
• An essential feature of science is its
communal nature-the existence of a
'scientific community' an 'invisible college'
cutting across barriers of class, race, and
nation.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Collaboration and communication

Scientists often work collaboratively.

Exchange of ideas and evidence within the scientific
community provides inspiration to researchers.
The scientific community motivates researchers in
their investigations by providing recognition and,
sometimes, a sense of competition.
The scientific community provides the cumulative
knowledge base on which science is built.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

• The diversity of the scientific
community helps facilitate
specialization and provides
different points of view that
invigorate problem solving and
balance biases.
1. Definition of the
2. Four different 3. The chain of
sociology of
aspects of science discovery
science

5. Scientist as a 4. Internal and

6. The Mertonian member of external
norms- CUDOS scientific sociologies of
community science

7. The Lysenko
affair
6. The Mertonian norms-
CUDOS
Every scientist play various
communal roles such as educator,
research supervisor and is subject
to communal norms of behaviour.

Robert K. Merton suggested in

1942 that behaviour of academic
scientists could be related to a
compact and coherent set of
norms.

Revised list of CUDOS:

Communalism

science is public knowledge, freely

available to all.

scientific discoveries should be

communicated immediately to the
scientific community by publication.

Issue/ challenge: e.g patent

Universalism
There are no privileged sources of scientific
knowledge.

Discovery claims and theoretical arguments

should be given weight according to their
intrinsic merits, regardless of the nationality,
race, religion, class, age of the scientist.

All can publish paper, receive award, give

opinion

Issue/ challenge: e.g discrimination

Disinterestedness

science is done for its own sake.

no personal stake in the acceptance or

rejection of any particular scientific idea.

Being objective and honest

Issue/ challenge: e.g seeking for personal

recognition and rewards, conflict with
financial and political interest
Originality

Science is the discovery of the

unknown

An investigation that adds nothing new

to what is already well known and
understood makes no contribution to
science.

Plagiarism is regarded as a serious

scientific misconduct
Scepticism

Scientists take nothing on trust.

scientific knowledge should be

continually scrutinized for possible
errors of fact, or inconsistencies of
argument.

This can be observed in peer review of

communications, of research grant
applications, academic presentations– a
validation within scientific community,
enjoining strict intellectual discipline and
high critical standards on all scientists.
1. Definition of the
2. Four different 3. The chain of
sociology of
aspects of science discovery
science

5. Scientist as a 4. Internal and

6. The Mertonian member of external
norms- CUDOS scientific sociologies of
community science

7. The Lysenko
affair
 The case of Lysenko
(1927-1962)
• Soviet biologist, agronomist,
geneticist during Stalin regime.
• Director of the Institute of Genetics
of the Soviet Academy of Sciences
• The Lysenko affair - a classic
example of how politics can corrupt
Trofim Denisovich Lysenko science and undermine its rational
(1898-1976) basis
• prohibition of scepticism norm
 • Rejected mendelian genetics,
adhered to neo-lamarckism -
viewed that heritable
characteristics were shaped
directly by adaptation to the
Lysenkoism environment.
• This was applied to agriculture
during the Stalin era with
disastrous consequences.
 • Vernalization is a well-known
agricultural phenomenon, whereby
seeds of crop plants, such as
wheat, are exposed to cold to
stimulate their germination.
Vernalization • Lysenko claimed that chilling seeds
by Lysenko before sowing allowed reducing
the vegetation period, and that
manipulations with temperature
could induce heritable adaptive
variation, specifically the ability of
the plant to grow in cold areas.
• Lysenko claimed that a winter variety
could — through inheritance — be
transformed into a spring variety. As a
result, Lysenko promised to breed
new cold-resistant crop varieties in
only two to three years.
• This method was later proved
impractical.
• Lysenko’s research into vernalization
promised to make it possible to sow
grains in the spring instead of the
previous fall, therefore adapting
agriculture to severe weather
conditions.
• It was subsequently applied on a
large scale without prior testing.
• The case of poor scientific
method and overrated support
by the government and press.
 • Genetics in the Soviet Union stagnated
because Soviet geneticists were not allowed
to challenge Lysenko’s ideas about heredity.
• During the height of Lysenkoism in the Soviet
Union, scientists were not allowed to do
research that would challenge Lysenko’s
views, they were not allowed to publish
Suppression papers that challenged Lysenko, and they
were not allowed to teach or even discuss
of Lysenko’s views that contradicted Lysenkoism, such as
opposition Mendelian genetics.
• More than 3000 biologists were fired,
arrested, or executed.
• Nikolai Vavilov was disgracefully dismissed
from the presidency of the Agriculture
Academy in 1938 and died in prison in 1940.
Main references

Barzun, J. (1966). Science as a social institution. Proceedings of

the Academy of Political Science, 28 (2), 3-14.
Kolchinsky, E. I., Kutschera, U., Hossfeld, U., & Levit, G. S. (2017).
Russia’s new Lysenkoism. Current Biology, 27(19), R1042-R1047.
Ziman, J. M. (1987). An introduction to science studies: The
philosophical and social aspects of science and technology.
Cambridge University Press.- Chapter 1, 6 & 8.
Zuckerman, H. (1988). The sociology of science. In N. J. Smelser
(Ed.), Handbook of sociology (pp. 511-574). California: Sage
Publications.
https://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/intro_01
• Thank you.