Abstract
Our review essay contributes to the long-standing and vibrant discussion in science and technology studies (STS) on methods, methodologies, and theory–method relationships. We aim to improve the reflexivity of research by unpacking the often implicit assumptions that imbue research conduct and by offering practical tools through which STS researchers can recognize their research designs and think through them in a new way. To achieve these aims, we analyze different compositions of theories, methods, and empirics in three different STS approaches—actor–network theory, the biography of artifacts and practices, and ethnomethodology—by employing the concept of a theory–methods package (TMP). A selection of theoretical cornerstone texts and case studies in infrastructure research from each tradition serves as our material. Our findings point, first, to differences between the TMPs of the reviewed approaches and to the internal diversity of theory–method relationships in each approach. Second, we found some intriguing similarities between the approaches and discuss potential complementarities of their theory–method fits.
Highlights
How do theories, methods, and empirics relate to one another in science and technology studies (STS)? Our review essay advances this ongoing discussion of the methodology and methods of STS by analyzing different theory– method fits to think through them in a new way
Our argument develops along three key dimensions: first, we address the interrelationships between theories, methods, and empirics in STS in a general way and introduce our analytical concept of a theory–methods package (TMP)
We unpack the TMPs of actor–network theory (ANT), biography of artifacts and practices (BOAP), and EM, which were selected for the following reasons:
Summary
Methods, and empirics relate to one another in science and technology studies (STS)? Our review essay advances this ongoing discussion of the methodology and methods of STS by analyzing different theory– method fits to think through them in a new way. Methodological questions pose a persistent problem, especially in sociology, where the key research principles of the discipline and uniquely sociological methods to expose and study social facts have concerned scholars since its canonized classics (Durkheim [1895] 1982; Weber 1949; Swedberg 2021). — their theoretical underpinnings are often implicit—STS methods do not stand alone but remain connected to their meta-theoretical parents. By recognizing these synergies, we aim to discover the complementarities of different theory– method combinations. The approaches reviewed here are not competing commitments but present scholars with different theory–method fits as the “right tools” for a given research task
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