Past as prologue: Approaches to the study of confirmation in science
AbstractIn the 1970s, quantitative science studies were being pursued by sociologists, historians, and information scientists. Philosophers were part of this discussion, but their role would diminish as sociology of science asserted itself. An antiscience bias within the sociology of...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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The MIT Press
2020-01-01
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Series: | Quantitative Science Studies |
Online Access: | https://direct.mit.edu/qss/article/1/3/1025/96097/Past-as-prologue-Approaches-to-the-study-of |
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author | Henry Small |
author_facet | Henry Small |
author_sort | Henry Small |
collection | DOAJ |
description |
AbstractIn the 1970s, quantitative science studies were being pursued by sociologists, historians, and information scientists. Philosophers were part of this discussion, but their role would diminish as sociology of science asserted itself. An antiscience bias within the sociology of science became evident in the late 1970s, which split the science studies community, notably causing the “citationists” to go their own way. The main point of contention was whether science was a rational, evidence-based activity. To reverse the antiscience trend, it will be necessary to revive philosophical models of science, such as Bayesian confirmation theory or explanatory coherence models, where theory-experiment agreement plays a decisive role. A case study from the history of science is used to illustrate these models, and bibliometric and text-based methods are proposed as a source of data to test these models. |
first_indexed | 2024-12-11T15:13:53Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-376f600f8bd5493b8da432550c1219dc |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2641-3337 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-12-11T15:13:53Z |
publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
publisher | The MIT Press |
record_format | Article |
series | Quantitative Science Studies |
spelling | doaj.art-376f600f8bd5493b8da432550c1219dc2022-12-22T01:00:40ZengThe MIT PressQuantitative Science Studies2641-33372020-01-01131025104010.1162/qss_a_00063Past as prologue: Approaches to the study of confirmation in scienceHenry Small0SciTech Strategies Inc., Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004 (USA) AbstractIn the 1970s, quantitative science studies were being pursued by sociologists, historians, and information scientists. Philosophers were part of this discussion, but their role would diminish as sociology of science asserted itself. An antiscience bias within the sociology of science became evident in the late 1970s, which split the science studies community, notably causing the “citationists” to go their own way. The main point of contention was whether science was a rational, evidence-based activity. To reverse the antiscience trend, it will be necessary to revive philosophical models of science, such as Bayesian confirmation theory or explanatory coherence models, where theory-experiment agreement plays a decisive role. A case study from the history of science is used to illustrate these models, and bibliometric and text-based methods are proposed as a source of data to test these models.https://direct.mit.edu/qss/article/1/3/1025/96097/Past-as-prologue-Approaches-to-the-study-of |
spellingShingle | Henry Small Past as prologue: Approaches to the study of confirmation in science Quantitative Science Studies |
title | Past as prologue: Approaches to the study of confirmation in science |
title_full | Past as prologue: Approaches to the study of confirmation in science |
title_fullStr | Past as prologue: Approaches to the study of confirmation in science |
title_full_unstemmed | Past as prologue: Approaches to the study of confirmation in science |
title_short | Past as prologue: Approaches to the study of confirmation in science |
title_sort | past as prologue approaches to the study of confirmation in science |
url | https://direct.mit.edu/qss/article/1/3/1025/96097/Past-as-prologue-Approaches-to-the-study-of |
work_keys_str_mv | AT henrysmall pastasprologueapproachestothestudyofconfirmationinscience |