Social Science

Social science is an umbrella term for a broad variety of disciplines concerned with “the social” and all the particular aspects relating to it—in short, human societies, institutions, and activities as they have developed throughout history and around the globe. Rather than a singular social science, it is more accurate to speak of the social sciences comprising a plurality of diverse and often competing—or even incommensurable—theories, research methods, and bodies of empirical data or knowledge. Compared to the natural sciences and the humanities (i.e., the classical liberal arts and sciences), most social sciences do not date back as far in history. [Page 725]They have mostly been formed and expanded with the formation of the modern nation state and the far-reaching effects of the industrial revolution.

While engineering is obviously dedicated to advancing social purposes (e.g., by creating inventions or reshaping the built environment), science has long been considered an activity concerned with something purely nonsocial (i.e., objective and natural). Studies in the history, philosophy, and sociology of science have challenged this assumption, arguing, for example, that scientific paradigms are influenced by their sociohistorical context and that scientific investigations are inseparably bound to the scientist's perspective. In addition, the conditions under which science is practiced and the forms in which science takes part in generating outcomes are evidently social. These conditions and forms, together with scientific practices themselves, have been subject to social science inquiry.

Each social science discipline has embodied a characteristic interest in science and technology (S&T). For example, anthropology examines the role of S&T in different societies or cultures; economics is interested in how S&T contribute to economic innovation across sectors; political science investigates the role of the state in funding or regulating S&T; and sociology analyzes the societal configuration of institutions and organizations concerning S&T, among other things.

The interdisciplinary field of science, technology, and society studies (STS) shares a constitutive perspective on the interrelation between S&T and society—be it articulated as the “coproduction of science and society,” the “mutual shaping of technology and society,” or the “interdependency of social and technological change.” Thus, rather than being viewed as given entities, S&T are analyzed with regard to how they are constituted by, while also constituting, society (or its respective units, e.g., organizations).

Most social science research, including STS, has typically been conducted in settings removed from those in which the natural and engineering sciences are practiced, which is essentially true for participant observation or ethnographic laboratory studies as well because their pursuit is based on the methodological ideal of upholding an analytical distance that remains untainted by the deep research engagement with the subject of study. However, recent developments in genomics and particularly in nanoscale S&T have brought about remarkable change to this constellation.

In light of the intense controversy about the potential future impacts of genome analysis in the early 1990s, major research funding agencies decided that a substantial part of the funding for research and development (R&D) should be allocated to investigate important ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI). Despite the proliferation of such studies, there has been criticism that they have not become embedded in the R&D process and thus have not gained influence on the course of genomics.

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