The Professional Quest for Truth

The Professional Quest for Truth PDF

Author: Stephan Fuchs

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 1992-07-01

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 143840347X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This book argues that the power of science as the most respected and authoritative world view is based on its superior material and organizational resources, not on its superior rationality. Fuchs approaches science as a social construct, and utilizing a theory of scientific organizations, he analyzes knowledge production in scientific fields—how they differ in their resources and how these differences affect how science is conducted. The book explains why certain fields produce science and facts, while others engage in hermeneutics and conversation; why certain specialities change through cumulation rather than fragmentation; and why some fields are relativistic while others are positivist in their self-understanding. This general theory of knowledge is applicable not only to science, but to all varieties of professional groups engaged in knowledge production.

Reconfiguring Truth

Reconfiguring Truth PDF

Author: Steven C. Ward

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 9780847682607

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This refreshingly original book links the postmodern critique of notions such as "reality" and "truth" with approaches to knowledge found in science and technology studies (STS), a field also discontent with traditional epistemology. Exploring STS approaches to knowledge, such as actor-network theory, Ward forges a path through the impasse of the modernism vs. postmodernism debate. Reconfiguring Knowledge is an important work for social scientists and theorists, philosophers, historians, and scholars of science and technology.

Assembling Health Care Organizations

Assembling Health Care Organizations PDF

Author: K. Lindberg

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2012-07-06

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 113702464X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Assembling Health Care Organizations combines an institutional theory perspective with a materialist view of the technologies, devices, biological specimens, and other material resources mobilized and put to work in health care work.

Minority Report

Minority Report PDF

Author: William T. Lynch

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2020-10-16

Total Pages: 381

ISBN-13: 1786612380

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In Philip K. Dick’s The Minority Report, ‘precogs’, who are imaginary individuals capable of seeing the future are relied upon to stop crime, with a consensus report synthesized from two of three precogs. When the protaganist is indicted for a future murder, he suspects a conspiracy and seeks out the “minority report,” detailing the suppressed testimony of the third precog. Science works a lot like this science fiction story. Contrary to the view that scientists in a field all share the same “paradigm,” as Thomas Kuhn famously argued, scientists support different, and competing, research programs. Statements of scientific consensus need to be actively synthesized from the work of different scientists. Not all scientific work will be equally credited by science as a whole. While this system works well enough for most purposes, it is possible for minority views to fail to get the hearing that they deserve. This book analyzes the support that should be given to minority views, reconsidering classic debates in science and technology studies and examining numerous case studies.

Science-Based Innovation

Science-Based Innovation PDF

Author: A. Styhre

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2008-02-27

Total Pages: 275

ISBN-13: 0230582516

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Knowledge management has become a well-known term, but science-based innovation remains relatively unexploited. Bridging the gap between knowledge management theory and studies of science of technology, such as in the pharmaceutical industry and biotechnology firms, this book provides a timely insight into the innovation of the knowledge economy.

The Challenges of Ivan Illich

The Challenges of Ivan Illich PDF

Author: Lee Hoinacki

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 2002-07-18

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 9780791454213

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Original essays explore the thought and influence of philosopher, educator, social critic, and theologian Ivan Illich.

Selective Remembrances

Selective Remembrances PDF

Author: Philip L. Kohl

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2008-11-15

Total Pages: 435

ISBN-13: 0226450643

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

When political geography changes, how do reorganized or newly formed states justify their rule and create a sense of shared history for their people? Often, the essays in Selective Remembrances reveal, they turn to archaeology, employing the field and its findings to develop nationalistic feelings and forge legitimate distinctive national identities. Examining such relatively new or reconfigured nation-states as Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Israel, Russia, Ukraine, India, and Thailand, Selective Remembrances shows how states invoke the remote past to extol the glories of specific peoples or prove claims to ancestral homelands. Religion has long played a key role in such efforts, and the contributors take care to demonstrate the tendency of many people, including archaeologists themselves, to view the world through a religious lens—which can be exploited by new regimes to suppress objective study of the past and justify contemporary political actions. The wide geographic and intellectual range of the essays in Selective Remembrances will make it a seminal text for archaeologists and historians.

Publishing in the Organizational Sciences

Publishing in the Organizational Sciences PDF

Author: L. L. Cummings

Publisher: SAGE Publications

Published: 1995-02-10

Total Pages: 347

ISBN-13: 1452214352

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This is a ′must-have′ book. It is a primer to publishing for all Ph.D. students and junior faculty members. --Anne Tsui, Graduate School of Management, University of California, Irvine "The most difficult transitions faced by entering doctoral students are those associated with (1) becoming a scholar rather than a student and (2) moving from the business world to the academy. What is research? What is quality research? What skills are required to produce a quality manuscript? What role does the journal system serve and how does it work? How are manuscripts refereed? What do professors at research universities do? How are they evaluated and rewarded? What does it take to be successful as a scholar at a research-oriented academic institution? These and other issues are effectively addressed through the 28 thought-provoking yet entertaining essays of unusually consistent quality contained in Publishing in the Organizational Sciences. The essays are timeless, promoting journeys and treks through a landscape that is otherwise unlikely to be encountered. Students love the book and the conversations it promotes. I cannot think of a more appropriate vehicle for introducing these critically important issues to the next generation of scholars in the organizational sciences." --Robert W. Zmud, Department of Information and Management Sciences, Florida State University Presenting a range of analytical and emotional issues, Publishing in the Organizational Sciences is a comprehensive overview of all aspects of the publishing process. Unique in its content, this volume is written especially for the prospective author/scholar who wants to learn more about the field to advance their career and publishing success. Some of the topics covered in this provocative volume are the manuscript review process, publication system, newcomers′ perspectives, values, reviewing manuscripts, rejection, becoming a reviewer, and editorial process. More than just a "how-to" book, Cummings and Frost examine the process from the perspective of the writers, reviewers, editors, and readers, ranging from the newcomer to the established scholar. The authors explain the entire context of scholarly publishing and how it should work toward advancing knowledge and successful management practice. This comprehensive, detailed volume is a must for students and professionals in organization and management studies.