Considers the idea of ignorance of ignorance in the scientific culture. Topics discussed include a historical background of ignorance in science, including the ideas of Socrates, Galileo, Descartes, and Bacon; teaching and practice; and philosophical reconstruction and the relationship between knowledge and ignorance. (Contains six references.)…

Discusses scientific ignorance and uncertainty. Highlights include approaching knowledgeable ignorance, including a taxonomy of ignorance and uncertainty frameworks and measures; social constructivism, subjectivity, and scientific realism; strategies for working with scientific ignorance; and frameworks for ignorance representation. (Contains 43…

Defines grey documentation as documents issued informally and not available through normal channels and discusses the role that grey documentation can play in the social work knowledge base. Topics addressed include grey documentation and science; social work and the empirical approach in knowledge development; and dissemination of grey…

Examines the concept of medical ignorance. Highlights include awareness of fallibility; the increasing supply of information; philosophies of ignorance; a phenomenology of ignorance; special issues related to medical ignorance; and mapping ignorance, including known unknowns, unknown unknowns, errors, tacit knowing, taboos, and denials. (Contains…

Describes distinctions between ignorance and knowledge and examines scientists' use of ignorance claims in the construction of science and in science for public policy based on an interdisciplinary approach. Ignorance claims in journalism are also examined, including journalists' coverage of the claims of formal scientific discourse and of public…

Describes an explosion in Port Chicago (California) that a journalist later ascribed to a nuclear weapon, explains how his conclusions can be refuted, discusses the sociology of publishing such spectacular claims, and suggests how historians might better assist journalists in evaluating such claims. (40 references) (LRW)

Examination of the relationship between environmentalists and scientists concludes that environmentalism has had little impact on science. Topics discussed include the degree to which scientific research has become more applied; efforts to integrate and coordinate research projects; the synthesis of scientific information for policy purposes; and…

Discusses the importance of field methods in education and social research. Highlights include the argument against antinaturalism; scientific realism and social science; challenges to the validity of inferences from field studies; and threats to the validity of field research. (Contains 52 references.) (LRW)

Describes the creation of the Cold Fusion Archive at Cornell University and raises questions about documenting how scientific knowledge is created, diffused, and evaluated. Types of materials collected are described; issues involving the acquisition, organization, and preservation of materials are addressed; and the scope and limitations of…

Reviews and analyzes a key legislative initiative following World War II which sought to assign to the federal government a role in gathering and communicating scientific and technical information to private industry. Creation of the Office of Technical Services and its eventual transformation to the National and Technical Information Service is…

Examines how the new sociology of science can approach data access issues. A perspective is developed based on an analysis of the process of scientific production, data streams, and intellectual policy issues. (Contains 55 references.) (JLB)

Discusses grassroots AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) groups and their creation, dissemination, and interpretation of knowledge; and considers whether their knowledge production model applies to other public policy issues, using toxic exposure and women's health research as examples. Theoretical implications are considered, and the…

Discussion of bibliometric analysis of interdisciplinary research in emerging fields focuses on a study of neural networks research that examined citation analyses, publishing patterns and subject terms, and journal subject classification. Roles that journals can play in interdisciplinary information transfer are considered. (Contains 42…

Examines the extent to which scientific research in the former Soviet Union was endogenous and the degree to which it was integrated into the scientific world system during the 1970s and 1980s. Autarchy, self-reliance, and distinctiveness in scientific traditions are discussed; the center-periphery concept is examined; and results of a survey of…

Discusses a study conducted by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) which examined the federally funded research system and the role of data for decision making in research policy. Highlights include data needs; research expenditures and personnel; the research process; measuring the outcomes of research; and the research evaluation process.…