Conference On The Production, Use, and Evaluation of Social Scientific Knowledge

The historian of science Thomas Kuhn famously argued that science does not occur in a vacuum, detached from culture and politics. Rather, scientific inquiry is inextricably embedded in social processes. Charles Camic, Neil Gross, and Michele Lamont will lead a conference in December 2007 to develop a research agenda that would do for the social sciences what Kuhn did for the physical sciences: namely, investigate the social processes that shape the production, evaluation, and application of social scientific knowledge.

The social sciences are themselves important objects of social inquiry, Camic, Gross, and Lamont argue. Conference participants will examine the social environments constituted by different academic disciplines, how they choose avenues of research, and how they produce knowledge. What are the norms, routines and social dynamics underpinning peer evaluation, graduate student training, and demarcations between disciplines? Another topic that will be discussed is the application of social scientific knowledge in the private sector and by public policymakers. Finally, the participants will consider what standards of scientific assessment are reflected by the structures and activities of funding panels and fellowship competitions. Scholars from fields such as economics, psychology, sociology, anthropology, history, and philosophy will attend the conference, as well as representatives of business schools, survey research centers, and grant-making organizations. Conference attendees will also contribute to an edited volume on the production of knowledge in the social sciences.