Science and Technology Studies

Science and technology studies examines how scientific knowledge and technologies are produced, shaped, and used within social, political, and cultural contexts.

Social construction of technology: An approach that explains technological design and meaning through interactions among relevant social groups. It shows how social groups shape which technologies are developed and how they work.
Thomas Kuhn: An American historian and philosopher of science known for his account of paradigms and scientific revolutions. His work made scientific change and disciplinary communities central to later STS debates.
Bruno Latour: A French sociologist and anthropologist whose work shaped actor-network theory and laboratory studies. His studies followed how facts and networks are assembled in scientific practice.
Participatory design: A design approach that involves users and other affected groups in developing systems and products. It applies STS attention to participation and power within technological design.
Technological determinism: The view that technology develops autonomously and drives social change in a largely one-way manner. STS instead examines reciprocal shaping between technologies and social arrangements.
Social construction of scientific knowledge: A perspective examining how scientific claims and practices are shaped by social processes. It provides a central framework for studying scientific knowledge as socially produced.
Robert K. Merton: An American sociologist who developed influential accounts of science as a social institution. His sociology of science helped establish the study of scientific norms and institutions.
Sheila Jasanoff: An American scholar of science and technology policy known for research on science, law, and governance. Her work shows how scientific expertise and political order are made together.
Responsible research and innovation: A framework for aligning research and innovation with societal needs, values, and public accountability. It turns STS questions about consequences and governance into research practices.
Scientific realism: The philosophical view that science can describe a mind-independent reality, including unobservable entities. Debates with realist accounts have shaped STS arguments about facts and knowledge.

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