Understanding the Research and Academic Field of STS

Abstract

AbstractBy analyzing and investigating AmI and the IoT as science-based technologies in the context of the European society, this book is positioned within the research and academic field of STS. With its two broad streams of scholarship consisting of (1) research on the nature and practices of S&T and (2) on the risks and other negative implications of S&T, STS is concerned with the study of the complex, dialectic interplay between scientific and technological developments and innovations and other dimensions of social life, treating S&T as cultural productions and historical events. In light of this, it involves distinctive assumptions, aims, methodological designs, analytical concepts, perspectives, and objectives. The intent of this short chapter is to provide insights into key underpinnings, methodological and analytical aspects, multi- and inter-disciplinary perspectives, and educational goals pertaining to the research and academic field of STS. This chapter is structured as follows. Section 2.1 covers key STS’s emphases, aims, and premises. Section 2.2 provides an account on the contribution of Michel Foucault and Thomas Kuhn to the field of STS. Section 2.3 elucidates STS’s methodological and analytical orientations. Section 2.4 introduces the multiple disciplinary perspectives associated with the research field of STS and the primary aim of espousing such perspectives. Section 2.5 gives a descriptive account on the interdisciplinary approach, focusing on the rationale behind its use in current research as well as characterizing aspects. This chapter ends, in Sect. 2.6, with a brief discussion on some educational facets and goals of STS.KeywordsScientific KnowledgeInterdisciplinary ApproachDisciplinary PerspectiveSingle DisciplineTechnology ForesightThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.