The Effect of the Social Context of Scientific Work on the Methods and Findings of Science
The world society is in a constant state of fluidity regarding
everything from social customs and slang to technology and
inventions. With even more abundance, scientific understanding and
questioning evolve as time progresses. As the human race changes and
grows, scientific knowledge of the world and universe must expand to
accommodate the growth. To a large extent, the social situations
surrounding the scientific work affect the specific sciences that are
investigated.
Historically, the use of science to explain natural phenomenon has
existed for many centuries. Ancient establishments such as Stonehenge
and Mayan temples demonstrate that these otherwise underdeveloped
cultures had accurately grasped such scientific concepts as astronomy
and its effect on the sun, weather, and the tides. Just as this
science was a necessity for the Mayans, for example, to regulate crops
based on the measured passage of time, more modernizing societies have
an inevitable demand for modernizing scientific acquisitions.
Scientific explorations result from the desire or requirement to
explain certain unknowns. Scientists recognized or studied today are
those that were once able to elucidate scientific mysteries, such as
Pavlov’s illumination of behavioral response or Mendel’s simple
explanation of genetic inheritance. In these situations, the outcome
of the investigation had significant social implications. People later
recognized the importance of such findings, and pressed for more
information. This resulted in the continuation, even to present-day,...
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...n research would or wouldn’t have
been done without the social context that surrounded it. For
example, if Mendel had not originally investigated genetics or Pavlov
had not defined stimulus-response behaviors, there is no way to
confirm that these studies would have not been more or less culturally
significant if they had been performed in other cultural settings.
In the end, it is most reasonable to assert that social climate and
context directly influences what scientific unknowns are
investigated. This is best demonstrated by such crucial and
recognized scientific breakthroughs as space exploration and the
atomic bomb, both of which directly resulted from societal pressure
gain such scientific knowledge. Clearly, the progression and
situation of society goes hand in hand with that of the scientific
world.
Scientific research is constantly being battled in politics. The point of communication in science is to try and get across a proven theory to the public. Under the scrutiny of political agendas, these efforts face many hurdles. Informing the public of climate changes has had a positive impact on the acceptance of science. There are several techniques the scientific community communicates their findings to the public.
Science is a study that can be viewed and interpreted in various ways. Some believe science to be based on facts and specific results, while others believe it to be based on creativity and spontaneity. In his account of the 1918 flu epidemic, The Great Influenza, John M. Barry characterizes scientific research as work that requires creativity, spontaneity, and intelligence through his use of rhetorical devices such as allusions, metaphors, and rhetorical questions.
This essay examines the advantages and disadvantages of using a method primarily for gathering research on human subjects that can be examined for later use. It will give a basic outline of the methods of investigation, their uses and their suitability. I will also look at the scientific method as a whole and examine the criticisms of this method using the writings of Hume and Popper.
However opposing theorists (Ponterotto, 2005) have highlighted that even though the broad groupings in the social sciences are not derived from paradigms present in the natural sciences, the individual sub-disciplines may still be underpinned by a paradigm or a research programme with similar rese...
Thomas, Lewis "The Hazards of Science" The Presence of Others. Comp. Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruskiewicz. New York: St. Martins, 1997 236-242.
Overall, John M. Barry was able to define and characterize scientific research. Using rhetorical strategies such as, comparison, specific diction, and contrast Barry is able to show how scientific research is uncertainty
A nobel prize winning, architect of the atomic bomb, and well-known theoretical physicist, Professor Richard P. Feynman, at the 1955 autumn meeting of the National Academy of science, addresses the importance of science and its impact on society. Feynman contends, although some people may think that scientists don't take social problems into their consideration, every now and then they think about them. However he concedes that, because social problems are more difficult than the scientific ones, scientist don’t spend too much time resolving them (1). Furthermore he states that scientist must be held responsible for the decisions they make today to protect the future generation; also they have to do their best, to learn as much as possible,
Opportunistic scientists, the most hypocritical deviants of the modern age, revolve around the scientific method, or at least they used to. The scientific method once involved formulating a hypothesis from a problem posed, experimenting, and forming a conclusion that best explained the data collected. Yet today, those who are willing to critique the work of their peers are themselves performing the scientific method out of sequence. I propose that scientists, or the "treasure hunters" of that field, are no longer interested in permanent solutions, achieved through proper use of the scientific method, and rather are more interested in solutions that guarantee fame and fortune.
Earlier Science was treated as an institution but now, it includes many things like "scientific experiments, "theories" etc. The authors argue that this knowledge should viewed in terms of "socially constructed" and not the one known as "scientific truth". This article points that in the social constructivist view, the 'science' it is just another system of knowledge which contains empirical researches and studies. It is basically concerned with what is "truth", how it has emerged, accepted and explained in social domain. ...
The Fear of Science To live in the today's world is to be surrounded by the products of science. For it is science that gave our society color television, the bottle of aspirin, and the polyester shirt. Thus, science has greatly enhanced our society; yet, our society is still afraid of the effects of science. This fear of science can be traced back to the nineteenth century, where scientists had to be secretive in experimenting with science. Although science did wonders in the nineteenth century, many people feared science and its effects because of the uncertainty of the results of science.
Dr. Michael Shermer is a Professor, Founder of skeptic magazine, and a distinguished and brilliant American science writer to say the least. In His book The Moral Arc: How Science Makes Us Better People he sets out to embark on the daunting task of convincing and informing the reader on sciences’ ability to drives the expansion of humanity and the growth of the moral sphere. Although such a broad and general topic could be hard to explain, Shermer does so in a way that is concise, easy to understand, and refreshing for the reader. This novel is riddled with scientific facts, data, and pictures to back up shermers claims about the history of science, humanity and how the two interact with one another.
New York: Science Editions, 1994. Redhead, M.L.G. & Co., Inc. (1980, November ). The New York Times. A Bayesian Reconstruction of Methodology of Scientific Research Programs. Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science, pp.
Using the author’s field research I felt that many of them tried to enter their situation as an outsider looking in as most researchers do. Given time most of them were able to some what be accepted into their social surroundings. No matter what role or relationship the researchers developed along the way they still had to make choices to would affect their data in different ways. They just had to pick the correct approach and apply it. Finally all stories proclaimed different discussions of social science by using different forms of "objectivity" and "subjectivity."
The Effects of Scientific Development on Society Our basic objective is to examine the scientific developments in history and how they affect human life and society. To meet that objective, we will first develop tools to analyze the relationship between science and the increasingly complex decisions we have to make regarding the way we apply science to human welfare. If we have learned anything at all about the uses of science in the second half of this century, it is that it has had an unmistakable influence on contemporary trends and outcomes. Science has helped to make the world smaller, spatially, and larger, numerically.
The social sciences have and will continue to be in the future will play an important role in studying and solving problems for both society and its individuals. The disciplines that it encompass vary widely but often need to come together to solve issues and study certain facets of humanity. For my personal use social science is a tool to better understand others, be more sensitive to issues that people may face and to anticipate the way people and society may act in certain situations. A social science lens can be productive in that it helps people be more indiscriminate though understanding people and their behavior. I hope to use the socials sciences to impact other people’s lives in a positive manner. The social sciences to me when used in a well-intended manner are able to not only explain phenomena but also be a solution and or make a situation better. The intent of this essay is to better understand and define the social sciences, touch on the many disciplines of the science in addition to its relationships with other scientific areas.