Studying Laboratories: from Sismondo book

The ppt made using Sismondo book

1. TD 626 An Introduction to Science and Technology Studies by Sergio Sismondo Chapter-10 Studying Laboratories 214354002 Gaurav Kapse 214350003 Shamaila Fatima

2. Outline Introduction How facts are made? Actor Network Theory Unformalizable expertise Learning to See Tinkering, Skills, and Tacit Knowledge Creating Orderly Data Crystallization of Formal Accounts Culture & Powers Extensions

3. Introduction… Bruno Latour ( Latour and Woolgar 1986 [1979]), Karin Knorr Cetina (1981), Harry Collins (1991 [1985]), Michael Lynch (1985), Sharon Traweek (1988), and Michael Zenzen and Sal Restivo (1982 ) Goodfield (1981) and Tracey Kidder (1981 ) M uch work in the laboratory is not – researchers may sit at microscopes for hours at a time ( Lynch 1991)

4. In their well-known book Laboratory Life, Latour and Woolgar announce their intention to treat the scientists being studied as an alien tribe:

5. H ow are facts made ? M ethodological tenets of the strong programme , an anthropological approach-Opens up scientific practices and cultures Indexical (Knorr Cetina 1981; Lynch 1985) nature of scientific reasoning and actions in the lab, reasoning and actions that are tied to circumstances and unpredictable in advance Microsociological or political interactions, Conversations, Negotiations, Rhetorical maneuvers S cientific practices in the lab are similar to practices of familiar ordinary life outside the lab Nothing “scientific” is happening there ( Knorr Cetina 1981 ) Two Schemes: Actor-network theory- Development of unformalizable expertise

6. Learning to See E lectrophoresis gels of DNA fragments or radioactively tagged proteins Determine what emulsion type

7. Tinkering, Skills, and Tacit Knowledge Ian Hacking (1983 )-Not representation but about intervention Hacking 1983: 229- “ experiments don’t work ” Involves -Tinkering (Knorr Cetina 1981) or bricolage ( Latour and Woolgar 1986 ) Collins –Story TEA Laser: T wo models of the transfer of knowledge: the “algorithmic” model assumes that a set of formal descriptions or instructions can suffice; the “ enculturational ” model assumes that socialization is necessary . Tacit Knowledge- Socialization Process BOX- problem for AI- no theory, socially situated domains

8. Creating Orderly Data Highlighted Photographs of Sections Measurement and observation: Experimentation, Interpretation, Models. Judgments are clarified and organized Example of exchange between collaborators Claims are made and then adjusted in the context

9. Crystallization of Formal Accounts Peter Medawar (1963) “Is the scientific paper a fraud?” Behind-the-scenes laboratory work like months of tinkering with experimental apparatuses, long discussions about the nature of data, false starts , and abandoned hypotheses are not included in formal accounts of an experiment. The end of the research process involves a kind of inversion ( Latour and Woolgar 1986).

10. Culture and Power Culture of Labs-Recent Studies Sharon Traweek’s Beamtimes and Lifetimes (1988) L ocal actions and interactions among actors

11. Extensions Laboratory-not bounded by four walls Laboratory studies-need not only experimental work The insights gathered from laboratory studies also apply to field contexts. Laboratory studies have even been applied to the social sciences .

12. Thank You….