Scientists are widely regarded as high status individuals, who are smarter than the vast majority of the population. Science holds a very high status as a discipline, both within and outside of academe. This notwithstanding, popular stereotypes of scientists are often highly negative, with the image of the socially inept or even mad scientist being commonplace. This apparent contradiction is worth exploring. Additionally, we see the label scientific being used to justify pseudoscience and other results that are flatly contradicted by the bulk of scientific research (e.g., links between vaccines and autism). This is not due, as some argue, only or even primarily to a lack of understanding of science. Ultimately, there are two "sciences": science defined by the scientific methodology of the scientists, and the broader cultural use of science as a truthteller without real use of scientific methodology. This dichotomy is wrapped up in both the nature of modernity and the idea of post-modernity. This research uses a content analysis of film to examine the nature of stereotypical portrayals of scientists, and a factor analysis of NSF survey data to investigate the complex attitudes towards science and scientists.

This dissertation is an examination of trust in vaccine science, with a focus on ideas about vaccination outside the scientific consensus. It is grounded in empirical research, including 35 interviews and a review of publicly available documents, books, and academic articles. Theoretically, it is informed by theories in the sociology of science, social movements, and the sociology of expertise. In substantive chapters, it investigates the origins of the modern ‘anti-vaccine’ movement, the spread of the movement's ideas in different sociocultural and political contexts, and the perspectives and personal experiences of those who are part of the movement. Overall, it contributes to a growing body of literature that aims to change the conversation around vaccine hesitancy from an information-deficit problem to an issue about trust in institutions. The dissertation is organized into three main papers. The first is an analysis of a specific historic episode, namely the 1998 MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine-autism controversy. I find that institutional incentive structures unintentionally circulated misinformation about the MMR vaccine by former medical doctor Andrew Wakefield and posit the role that academic reward structures have in fostering public trust. The second paper examines vaccine hesitancy with a social movement lens, specifically focusing on the strategies used by the anti-vaccine movement to organize and frame their message. I introduce the concept of an ‘anti-scientific intellectual movement’ to understand the increasing trend of social groups opposing science as a set of institutions. The third paper is a study of the lived experiences of participants who were interviewed in 2019 about their views on vaccination and how their individual experiences and meaning-making activities impacted their trust in vaccine science. I find strong distrust in scientific institutions, a desire for open dialogue and debate, and dissatisfaction with the ‘anti-vaccine’ label which participants felt erased the nuance in their perspectives. Altogether, this dissertation makes significant contributions to ongoing discussions about the public face of science and how to effectively engage with public audiences to build trust. / Dissertation / Candidate in Philosophy

Novelty is a widespread notion that has not been given commensurate critical attention. This research is an ethnographically-inclined exploration of practices surrounding the accomplishment of novelty in an institution for which novelty is a central notion: the patent system of the United Kingdom. The research is based on interviews with patent examiners at the UK patent office, interviews with patent attorneys at various legal firms, and documentary analysis of legislation and numerous legal judgments. The thesis brings to bear themes from Science and Technology Studies and ethnomethodology to assess the extent to which they can account for the practices surrounding novelty in the UK patent system. As a fundamental legal requirement for the patentability of inventions, novelty is a central part of the practices of patent composition, assessment and contestation. Rather than being a straightforward technical criterion, however, novelty is shown to be a complex and heterogeneous phenomenon emerging from interwoven legal, bureaucratic and individual practices. The local resolution of whether or not a given invention is new, and the cross-institutional coherence of novelty as a practicable notion, raise questions concerning ontology, accountability, scale and inconcludability, and provide an opportunity for empirically grounded engagement with these longstanding analytical concerns.

Como cientistas escolhem teorias? O objetivo de nossa tese é entender a resposta de Thomas Kuhn a este problema clássico da filosofia da ciência. Ao retirar o problema da escolha de teorias do campo metodológico e transportá-lo para o campo sociológico, Kuhn expõe os fundamentos de uma abordagem sociológica do desenvolvimento científico. Como tantos outros filósofos, Kuhn defende que teorias científicas são escolhidas a partir de valores epistêmicos critérios como precisão, consistência, abrangência, simplicidade e fecundidade. Segundo ele, porém, estes valores estão sujeitos a interpretações distintas: cientistas podem concordar quanto ao que se deve esperar de uma teoria, mas, em função de históricos pessoais e profissionais particulares, podem discordar em relação a qual delas melhor manifesta essas características. Mas se os cientistas aplicam os valores de maneiras distintas, em que sentido estes valores ditariam as suas escolhas? E, principalmente, como seria possível, dada a variabilidade dos valores, o consenso em uma comunidade de cientistas? A resposta de Kuhn, inaugurando sua abordagem sociológica, é a de que o acordo entre os membros da comunidade seria gerado por uma série de mecanismos sociais. Em primeiro lugar, a pedagogia e o treinamento dos cientistas, que tornaria as avaliações dos cientistas mais parecidas. Depois, a teoria de onda: a produção de novas evidências e argumentos responsáveis por convencer os adeptos de teorias rivais. Por último, a reestruturação da comunidade: a exclusão de membros resistentes e a divisão da comunidade em disciplinas distintas. A fim de esclarecer a natureza desta sociologia, discutiremos dois conjuntos de temas relacionados: os tipos de explicações de crença: racional e causal; e os níveis explicativos desta sociologia: indivíduos, comunidades e grupos. A última parte de nossa tese consiste em uma tentativa de sistematizar um modelo de explicação sociológica da dinâmica das controvérsias científicas, assim como apontar alguns caminhos para uma pesquisa empírica direcionada a estes tópicos. / How do scientists choose theories? The aim of our thesis is to understand Thomas Kuhn\'s answer to this classic problem in Philosophy of Science. By removing the theory-choice problem from the methodological field and transporting it to the sociological field, Kuhn sets out the foundations of a sociological approach to scientific development. Like so many other philosophers, Kuhn argues that scientific theories are chosen based on epistemic values criteria such as accuracy, consistency, scope, simplicity, and fruitfulness. However, these values are, according to him, subject to different interpretations: scientists may agree on what to expect from a theory, but depending on particular personal and professional histories, they may disagree as to which theory best expresses these characteristics. But if scientists apply values in different ways, in which sense would these values dictate scientists choices? And, especially, how could a consensus in a community of scientists be achieved, given the variability of values? Kuhn\'s answer, inaugurating his sociological approach, is that agreement among community members would be generated by a series of social mechanisms. First, the pedagogy and training of scientists, which make scientists appraisals more similar. Secondly, the wave-theory: the production of new evidence and arguments that convince the followers of rival theories. Finally, the restructuring of the community: the exclusion of resistant members and the division of the community into distinct disciplines. In order to clarify the nature of this sociology, we will discuss two sets of related themes: the types of explanations of belief: rational and causal; and the explanatory levels of this sociology: individuals, communities and groups. The last part of our thesis consists of an attempt to systematize a model of sociological explanation for the dynamics of scientific controversies, as well as to point out the ways to an empirical research directed to these topics.

Nas últimas décadas um grande esforço governamental tem sido feito na adoção de políticas públicas e arranjos institucionais com o objetivo ampliar o índice de inovação tecnológica do País. No entanto, os estudos que dão suporte e influenciam a formulação de políticas públicas nem sempre levam em consideração elementos históricos, sociais, culturais que também condicionam este setor. Nesta pesquisa, a C&T é considerada um campo social com regras próprias, dentro do qual atores (indivíduos e instituições) estabelecem relações de poder e jogos de interesses que permeiam e condicionam a produção científica e tecnológica. A análise do campo científico é baseada no modelo estruturalista de Pierre Bourdieu e em alguns conceitos da Teoria Ator-Rede de Bruno Latour. O estudo de caso analisou a história e os desenvolvimentos da Divisão de Processamento de Imagens (DPI), do Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE). O foco de análise voltou-se para à combinação dos condicionantes macro-políticos com os elementos micro-sociológicos que atuam e orientam as práticas científicas e tecnológicas. Apesar de os elementos estruturais determinarem as ações dos sujeitos, o estudo de caso mostrou como é possível tal equação se inverter, ou seja, atores e instituições modificarem a estrutura, de um ponto de vista do construtivismo, mesmo que de forma limitada. A análise procurou trazer uma contribuição aos estudos de políticas de ciência e tecnologia a partir da perspectiva das ciências humanas, diferente da visão econômica que domina a área. / In the last decades, a great governmental effort has been made to adopt public policies and institutional arrangements to increase the national index of technological innovation. However, the studies that support as well as influence the formulation of public policies not always take into consideration historical, social and cultural elements that condition this specific area. In this research, S&T is considered a social field with its own rules, in which actors (individuals and institutions) establish power relations and interest games that permeate and condition technological and scientific production. Scientific field analysis is based on Pierre Bourdieu structural model and on some concepts of Actor-Net Theory from Bruno Latour. The case study has examined the history and the developments of Image Processing Department (DPI) of National Institute of Space Research (INPE). The analysis focus has been applied to the combination of macro political conditionings and micro sociological elements s that act over and direct technological and scientific practices. Although the structural elements determine individual or institutional actions, the case study has demonstrated how it is possible to invert that equation, that is, actors and institutions can change the structure, from a constructivist point of view, even if in a limited way. The analysis has intended to offer a contribution to scientific and technological policies from a human science perspective, different from the economic view which dominates this area.

Un rattachement ou une formation disciplinaire, pas plus que la relation à des espaces de travail et des instruments spécialisés, ne suffisent seuls à définir une culture scientifique. Ce sur quoi des chercheurs issus d’horizons divers travaillent, construit un mode singulier de conception de leurs activités, pratiques et rapport au monde. Leur réussite est irrémédiablement liée à un sujet, à la fortune que rencontre celui-ci comme innovation dans un contexte social qui le borne et qu’il crée simultanément. Comment s’organise cette (re)conversion vers une nouvelle thématique, alors que l’évolution des modes de financement privilégie aujourd’hui précisément ce cadrage ? Cette thèse propose une enquête sur la notion de « domaine de recherche », que nous définissons a priori comme le cadre des interactions entre l’activité professionnelle de chercheurs et la société autour d’un thème partagé ; elle défend sa dimension épistémique.Ce manuscrit décrit en parallèle le développement des bioénergies, une des principales formes d’énergie dites renouvelables ou encore durables, issue de la biomasse, ses acteurs et leurs jeux d’actions, dans un contexte de forte incitation à conduire une transition énergétique globale, mais aussi de controverses sociales vives. Les deux objectifs de cette thèse convergent :décrire le style de pensée inhérent à un domaine de recherche particulier est nécessaire à l’appréhension, au-delà des seuls discours et promesses, des modes effectifs de développement d’une innovation (ici la mobilisation à grande échelle de végétaux, microorganismes ou déchets pour produire des biocarburants) et donc in fine, à l’évaluation par tout un chacun, de sa pertinence. / Neither academic training within scientific disciplines, nor the daily work in the lab involving specialised equipments, define alone a scientific culture. What diverse researchers from various backgrounds work on, builds a specific way of designing their own activities, practices and relationships with the world. Their individual success is irrevocably bound to a subject, to its fortune as an innovation within the boundaries of a social context it simultaneously changes. How do they perform this (re)conversion to a new domain, as funding agencies nowaday favor this thematic framing? This thesis proposes an investigation into the notion of “research area”, which we a priori define as the frame of interactions between the professional activity of researchers and society around a shared theme; it stands up for its epistemic dimension.This manuscript parallelly describes the “bioenergy” development, a major form of renewable or sustainable energy derived from biomass, its social actors and their interrelations, as strong incentives towards a global energy transition meet sharp social controversies. The two objectives of this thesis meet: describing the inherent style of thinking within a particular research area is required to grasp, beyond the hopes and promises, the actual patterns of development of an innovation (in this case, the large-scale mobilisation of plants, microorganisms or waste to produce biofuels) and thus, ultimately, to collectively evaluate its relevance.

Submitted by Celso Magalhaes (celsomagalhaes@ufrrj.br) on 2018-08-15T12:28:03Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2017 - Daniel Delatin Rodrigues.pdf: 2033524 bytes, checksum: 9fb78d209b631253006de85fe5778f97 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-15T12:28:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2017 - Daniel Delatin Rodrigues.pdf: 2033524 bytes, checksum: 9fb78d209b631253006de85fe5778f97 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-06-01 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico - CNPq / The aim of the thesis was analyse the theory and practice of ecological restoration. Formed as a scientific field in the 1980s, ecological restoration proposed a new type of engagement with biodiversity which differed considerably from the strategies taken by preservationism and conservationism in the last century. More than protecting or conserving, the practice of ecological restoration seeks to create ecosystems. Numerous controversies on how it is possible to create new ecosystems will involve ecological restoration?s specialists. Starting from a dialogue with sociology and anthropology of science, the thesis explores the formation process of this field and aims to highlight what horizons of action are constituted by the ecological restoration?s practices. The work was done following three main lines. First it analyses two specialized journals editorials - written between 1981 and 2016 - to identify the most problematic issues defined by the scientists. Later the thesis explores the configuration of the field in Brazil and, finally, it discusses the relations between ecological restoration, ruralities and agriculture in Brazil. The aim is to circumscribe the emergence of different forms of ecological restoration. We will show that the theory and practice of this field of study are indissolubly linked to three aspects: the type of science which is considered by scientists able to define actions; the definition of a reference system that should guide scientists in the creation process of ecosystems and the different understanding of human-nonhuman relations. Ecological restoration works by projecting potential relationships among a multiplicity of agents. In this work ecological restoration will be considered as an (eco) political technology which involves the creation and modulation of socio-ecological relations and not only ecologica / O objetivo desta tese foi analisar a teoria e a pr?tica da restaura??o ecol?gica. Formada como campo cient?fico na d?cada de 1980 a restaura??o ecol?gica prop?s um novo tipo de compromisso com a biodiversidade que se diferenciava muito das estrat?gias assumidas pelo preservacionismo e conservacionismo no s?culo passado. Mais do que proteger ou conservar, a pr?tica de restaura??o ecol?gica busca criar ecossistemas. In?meras controv?rsias envolver?o os especialistas da ?rea a respeito de como isso pode ou deve ser feito. Essa tese ir? acompanhar o processo de forma??o desse campo buscando ressaltar, a partir dos instrumentos te?ricos vindo da sociologia e antropologia da ci?ncia, quais horizontes de a??o s?o constitu?dos pela pr?tica. O trabalho foi realizado a partir de tr?s linhas principais: an?lise dos editoriais de duas revistas especializadas na ?rea entre os anos de 1981 e 2016, para identificar o campo problem?tico dos cientistas; an?lise da forma??o do campo no Brasil e, por fim, a discuss?o sobre as rela??es entre restaura??o ecol?gica, ruralidades e agriculturas no Brasil. O objetivo foi delimitar a emerg?ncia de diferentes formas de restaura??o ecol?gica. Veremos que a teoria e a pr?tica do campo est?o indissoluvelmente ligadas a tr?s aspectos: ao tipo de ci?ncia considerada apta pelos cientistas para definir as a??es; ? defini??o de um sistema de refer?ncia que deve orientar os cientistas na cria??o dos ecossistemas e ao modo como ser?o definidas as rela??es entre humanos e n?o-humanos. Ela ir? trabalhar projetando rela??es potenciais de uma multiplicidade de agentes. Nesse trabalho a restaura??o ecol?gica ser? considerada como uma tecnologia (eco)pol?tica que concerne ? cria??o e modula??o de rela??es socioecol?gicas e n?o apenas ecol?gicas

The primary objective of this thesis is to study the role of surveys as power factor with a particular focus on studies of Internet users. The conditions and practices of the private research field are related to the academic discourse on the essence of science as well as to media's role in society. The methodological basis of the quantitative studies and their practices are examined in relation to a range of competing theories on the nature of science and its role in society. Earlier contributions to the criticism of quantitative surveys are also discussed. The methodological problems are further highlighted by concrete examples based on own analyses of various data collections. One empirical part of the thesis consists of analyses of survey studies as reported in the press coverage of the Internet in 1997, 1999 and 2000. The goal of the analyses is to show that surveys are an important mechanism for creating truth effects. The methodological tools are part of the struggle for mastery of the discourse –thereby confirming or changing existing power relations – in part through the dissemination of selected results in the media. Through a perusal of the newspaper articles with regard to the context in which the keywords "Internet" and "survey" appear and what the specific actor says, to whom, with which intention, an overall discourse appears, which reveals that the leading commercial actors endeavour to promote the development of the Internet in accordance with their aspirations. The published results are also related to other, more complex analyses of data collections from the same period. In another empirical part of the thesis findings from some fifty interviews with various experts are presented. The aim is to evaluate the methodological sources of error associated with sampling, the carrying out of studies, the analysis of results and other factors that have to do with the value of the surveys as basic facts, as well as the survey buyers’ awareness of the nature of the errors and their relevance for the results. The quantitative surveys appear as an uncontrolled and uncertain source of knowledge. The survey industry is profit-oriented and characterised by competition whereby methodological issues often land up in the background. The final discussion addresses a set of mechanisms by which the interested parties from the media industry use the ratings in the internal competition or in various administrative documents. They achieve this by establishing a "common currency" on the basis of such studies, which is valid in relation to other interested parties, such as media owners and advertisers. Different strategies developed by the survey industry in order to lend more market value to their products are also discussed. The methodological problems, the lack of openness to external scrutiny and the dependence on the economic field signify that the praxis of the survey field essentially deviates from the basic concepts of science. Surveys take therefore undue  advantage of scientific legitimacy.

En esta tesis se aporta al análisis de los contenidos relacionados con la manera cómo se presenta la ciencia en los libros de texto escolares desde una perspectiva sociológica de las ciencias. En esta tesis se desarrolla y aplica una metodología en la que se emplean elementos del trabajo del sociólogo de la ciencia Bruno Latour para analizar una muestra de libros de texto escolares de química de educación secundaria publicados en territorio español desde 1845 hasta 2010. Las bases teóricas que sustentan el trabajo son el enfoque de HFC y su línea de investigación en NdeC, la sociología de las ciencias, los libros de texto y las investigaciones en didáctica de las ciencias referentes al tema central de esta tesis: teoría, estructura y modelos atómico. La revisión teórica se ha desarrollado con un enfoque historicista en el que lo relevante es mostrar las diferentes transformaciones y la evolución de los cuatro tópicos mencionados, con el fin de ubicar al lector en un escenario en el que se sustenta cómo la sociología de las ciencias ha sido excluida de la investigación en didáctica de las ciencias, pero en el que a la vez se señalan las condiciones que posibilitan aportes desde la sociología, tanto desde lo teórico como desde lo metodológico, para el análisis de cómo se construye el conocimiento científico en los libros de texto escolares de ciencias y cómo esas aportaciones pueden inscribirse dentro del enfoque HFC. El marco metodológico de carácter ampliamente cualitativo y descriptivo apuesta a la complejización, entendida como la posibilidad de combinar el análisis de algunos aspectos que dan cuenta de la ciencia y la práctica científica desde lo epistemológico, la evaluación de los eventos temporales del pasado y una revisión de las imágenes, que se ponen en común con el método propuesto en este trabajo, en el que los elementos del modelo de la circulación de la ciencia, los humanos y los no-humanos reflejan la presencia de redes dentro de los libros de texto que muestran la manera cómo circula la ciencia. En el método desarrollado se entienden los diferentes actores que participan para describir cómo se mueve la ciencia desde su epicentro hasta la esfera de lo público, a manera de nodos que pueden estar conectados en mayor o menor grado dependiendo de la manera como los autores de los libros de texto entienden y reflejan qué son la ciencia y el trabajo científico. Los resultados se presentan a través de esas cuatro perspectivas: una que desde el modelo de circulación de la ciencia y la teoría de redes permite evidenciar cómo se habla de la ciencia, de los científicos y la práctica científica en los libros de texto. Otra que da cuenta de las creencias epistemológicas de los autores de los libros con respecto a diferentes aspectos de la ciencia y la práctica científica, otra en la que se analizan las referencias temporales como indicio de la importancia de la contextualización histórica de los contenidos analizados y una que revisa el manejo de las imágenes alrededor de los principales actores en el relato científico escolar. Las conclusiones se articulan alrededor de las relaciones HFC- NdeC y sociología de las ciencias, la evaluación de los libros de texto y la metodología desarrollada, los contenidos que hablan sobre la ciencia en los libros de texto y la imagen de ciencia que transmiten, sobre los libros de texto como actores en la red de la ciencia y sobre los profesores que usan los libros. / This work analyzes from a sociological perspective how chemistry textbooks talks about scientific activity. We have developed and applied a new methodology based on Bruno Latour’s work. We have analyzed a sample with 61 Spanish chemistry textbooks published from 1845-today, we have stressed in atomic model, atomic structure and atomic models chapters. HPS, NOS, sociology of science and textbooks as multifaceted actors make up the theoretical framework of this work. Our main aim is to demonstrate how sociology of science has been excluded from science education research despite of the fact that it could contribute to HPS-NOS to talk about a more realistic science (closer to scientists’ science) in classrooms and science textbooks. Results were organized around four points: how science circulates in science textbooks using networks to visualize it, the role of textbook author’s epistemological conceptions, the role of time to talk about science of past and to connect it with science in the present and how the images are used to emphasize an specific image of science.

During the 1990's an increased debate concerning a new way of funding, organising and doing research is discernible. Characteristic elements in this are: collaboration between university and industry, context of application, user orientation and interdisciplinarity. A parallel development related to the environmental issues can also be distinguished, where the discourse of sustainable development has become the dominating political vision. How these changing contexts affect and influence a funding agency is analysed in this thesis. The source for the analysis is the Foundation of strategic environmental research, Mistra. Mistra was established in 1994 aiming at a renewal of Swedish environmental research, in which contributing to the vision of sustainable development is a central goal. Other characteristic objectives in Mistra are: solution orientation, user involvement, interdisciplinarity, and contributing to the competitiveness of Sweden. The main purpose of the thesis is to analyse ideas and notions about science and knowledge concerning the environmental problematic as viewed in Mistra. A specific interest is also directed to views and notions of the role of science in contemporary society. The main conclusion concerns awareness of epistemological issues in Mistra regarding different forms of knowledge and ways of doing research. This is especially apparent in the discussion related to evaluation of research, interdisciplinary, social sciences and user involvement. Moreover, I stress that this tendency also could be recognized in theories of knowledge production. Understanding Mistra as an example of contemporary knowledge production the post-positivist notions of knowledge, which is particularly argued for in theory of Mode 2, is therefore questioned. Consequently, issues of prerequisites and conditions of the occurrence of reflexivity and post-positivist epistemological thoughts are stressed and epistemological notions mirrored in contemporary knowledge production are discussed using the two concepts of unreflected ambivalence.