{"id":5729,"date":"2020-12-15T16:37:28","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T21:37:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/?p=5729"},"modified":"2020-12-15T16:37:28","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T21:37:28","slug":"mertonian-norms-in-the-modern-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/2020\/12\/15\/mertonian-norms-in-the-modern-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Mertonian Norms in the Modern World"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Throughout <\/span>\u201cThe Normative Structure of Science” Robert<\/span><\/i> Merton introduces and explains the sets of institutional imperatives that we refer to as the Mertonian norms.\u00a0 These four institutional imperatives help comprise what Merton uses to define the ethos of modern science, as he explains throughout the reading.\u00a0 By looking at cultural, political, and institutional influences Merton was able to describe a sociology of science that had never been done before.\u00a0 The four characteristics that he discusses throughout this reading are: universalism, communism, disinterestedness, and organized skepticism. I will explain these ethos of science that Merton describes, and share how there are many outside influences that impact the legitimacy of these norms in the modern world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The first institutional imperative Merton describes is universalism. I understand universalism as allowing science to be a universal intellect regardless of race, class, gender, or nationality. Anyone who wants to pursue scientific studies should be able to, and this should be able to happen regardless of their cultural background. Merton explains how the ethos of science is at risk when a culture does not stand by universalism when he says: \u201cEthnocentrism is not compatible with universalism\u201d.\u00a0 This quote explains the main threat to this norm, as in the modern world many people still have flawed ethnocentric views of the world.\u00a0 People who hold these views will continue to discriminate based on race, class, gender, or nationality, prohibiting an inclusive universal scientific community.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The second imperative described is communism.\u00a0 Also referred to as communalism, this can be described as no one claiming ownership of a certain piece of knowledge.\u00a0 In an ideal world all scientists would have equal access to materials and tools as this would lead to collective cooperation.\u00a0 This cooperation would allow scientists to be rewarded for their achievements not through private ownership, but through due recognition and national pride.\u00a0 Communalism is not the reality throughout the entire scientific community, as capitalism has created many discrepancies in the conception of intellectual property.\u00a0 Merton describes this limitation by pointing towards the <\/span>US v American Bell Telephone Co <\/span><\/i>case from 1897.\u00a0 Included in the case it states: \u201cThe inventor is one who has discovered something of value. It is his absolute property. He may withhold the knowledge of it from the public.\u201d\u00a0 Patents reflect this threat to communalism, and to this day we see inventors debating whether or not to patent their breakthroughs ideas.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The third institutional imperative is disinterestedness.\u00a0 This norm explains that scientists should conduct their research and work for the collective benefit of the scientific community as a whole.\u00a0 They should not have selfish interests while conducting their work, but have a desire to produce knowledge to further humanity.\u00a0 This is very flawed in the modern age as scientists have many pressures that lead them to strive for personal gain rather than benefiting the scientific community.\u00a0 Scientists are credited for the quantity of their work just as much as quality nowadays, and competing for awards or research funding has made many scientists be selfish in their studies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The last contributing aspect to the ethos of science that Merton discusses is called organized skepticism.\u00a0 This defines how scientific work should be subject to a review process that is both strenuous and informative.\u00a0 By allowing scientists\u2019 work to undergo many peer reviews and duplications the community ensures that the claims that have been made are correct.\u00a0 I believe that this is the most solidified of the four norms Merton describes as this is still a backbone of the scientific community.\u00a0 Peer review and duplication are essential for any scientific work to come to publication, and they will continue to be utilized as long as knowledge production is occurring.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Throughout \u201cThe Normative Structure of Science” Robert Merton introduces and explains the sets of institutional imperatives that we refer to as the … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10697,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[470626],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5729"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10697"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5729"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5730,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5729\/revisions\/5730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/st112a-fall20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}