Peripheral actors rarely make an appearance in the general story of scientific practice, and their work in science is usually viewed as somewhat derivative of the practices of the main community. Contrary to this received model, here I argue that the peripheral contexts of science can be quite important and reveal novel conduits to creative scientific thinking. Not only can such contexts offer us a new window into how contributory expertise in science could be born amid difficult circumstances, they also allow us to see how new scientific communities could be founded during such encounters. Using case studies of M. N. Saha and other physicists in early twentieth-century India, I argue that such modest practices begin when peripheral protagonists seek to initiate new trading zones with the established centers of science. The resulting exchanges can give rise to new breakthroughs and conceptual changes in scientific practice. Such peripheral breakthroughs can be studied cognitively, giving us newer models of scientific practice as well as creating a new kind of self-image for such scientists.

This paper is an attempt to reconstruct how C.V. Raman, a peripheral scientist in the early 20th century colonial India, managed to develop a research programme in physical optics from his remote colonial location. His attempts at self-training and self-education eventually led him to the discovery of the Raman Effect and to the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930. In trying to re-construct an account of the ways in which Raman developed his research programme in optics by grasping various elements of a scientific practice from the Western scientific community, we see how a newcomer in science could be surprisingly creative in achieving new breakthroughs, and how through such efforts he or she can establish new trading zones with another established community that has the potential to develop into independent practices.

The numerous transdisciplinary research initiatives currently addressing a variety of complex social issues could benefit from a deeper understanding of the ways in which intellectually diverse groups work together to address problems. This research focused on a small group of investigators in a transdisciplinary institute as they sought to work collaboratively in the domain of infectious disease research. The unit's members described many challenges and successes that provided insights into the character and dynamics of transdisciplinary research, including how members developed a shared conceptual framework. The process proved enormously complex and was the product of long-term interactions among group members. Because participants were rooted in different disciplines and did not share professional trajectories, communication and understanding took extra effort, patience, and the development of a counterintuitive set of cognitive skills. Over time an integrated work process evolved within the group through a combination of strong interpersonal relationships, the mediating role of interactional expertise, and the development of shared boundary objects. Group members began working more closely with other team participants throughout the lifespan of projects. That experience over time allowed individuals to connect the details of their work together with the overarching goals and strategies of the group. This study employed the theory of trading zones to illustrate the ways researchers worked across boundaries to establish shared ideas, values, and goals. It developed and applied the concept of a transdisciplinary trading zone to describe the group's ability to coordinate its action despite both epistemic and communication barriers. Ultimately, the researchers studied sought a balance between being "productive," understood as providing practical tools to industry and government, and generating novel scientific solutions to complex research problems. The group's success in securing a shared research aspiration despite its member's disciplinary and professional differences resulted from an iterative process of interaction that included learning from failed attempts and a constant and persistent negotiation of goals and values among those involved. / Ph. D.

I denna uppsats presenterar vi en ny infallsvinkel på hur datatolkning i moderna organisationer bör hanteras, såväl praktiskt som teoretiskt. Studien genomfördes med ett kvalitativt och abduktivt tillvägagångssätt byggt på grounded theory med deltagande observationer och intervjuer med aktörer inom organisationen. Vårt teoretiska ramverk är byggt utifrån Carliles (2002) teorier om semantiska barriärer och påbyggda genom Iveroths (2011) tidigare forskning utifrån common meaning. Således är vårt teoretiska ramverk lämpligt för att tolka hur barriärer som hindrar en synkron datatolkning mellan olika aktörer i organisationer belysts i tidigare litteratur, hur dessa barriärer kan överbryggas samt olika synsätt på kunskapen som ett regelrätt mått.Avsaknad av kunskapskonsensus i organisationer grundar sig i semantiska barriärer för datatolkningen som måste överbryggas med sociala interaktioner. Organisationer går mot kunskapskonsensus genom att utifrån datakällan arbeta med – i) teknologiskt medierade trading zones men även ii) socialt dimensionerade överbryggningsaktiviteter med målet att skapa kunskapskonsensus mellan och inom aktörsgemenskapen.