We tend to think of scientific and technical knowledge as true, universal, and based on solid evidence. Where does such a powerful thing come from? The Methods sections of published papers make research sound clean, controlled, and following standard protocols. It is easy to overlook the fact that research is a social process, dependent on individuals’ skill and communities’ social values and behaviors. After all, research is done by people for people. So how is it really done? Where does our knowledge about science and engineering come from? How is it made, and by whom? How can we find out?

In this course, you’ll investigate how people produce data, knowledge, and designs in science and engineering. For example, how do we know that probiotics are good for us or that the Higgs boson exists? How do we know which bridge, transistor, or space shuttle design is best? To study these questions, we’ll focus on research laboratories, because they are our society’s most common sites of knowledge production. To study how science and engineering research really happens, you will learn how to interview and observe researchers and analyze their written work. These are qualitative research methods used by sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, and other kinds of social scientists.

How can we understand our beliefs about science and engineering without knowing how that knowledge is made? We’ll address this question by reading about real research communities and by studying past and current controversies about scientific and technical knowledge. We’ll also visit laboratories so that you can practice using qualitative methods and investigate how people do research in a variety of fields. These data and the process of studying research in action will help you more fully understand science and engineering as changing bodies of knowledge and as dynamic work communities. In addition, learning how to think like a social scientist, such as by paying close attention to the people and environment around you, is a widely applicable skill:  This mindset will make you a better worker, collaborator, friend, and citizen. 

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