This article engages with problems that are usually opaque: What trajectories do scientific debates assume, when does a scientific community consider a proposition to be a fact, and how can we know that? We develop a strategy for evaluating the state of scientific contestation on issues. The analysis builds from Latour’s black box imagery, which we observe in scientific citation networks. We show that as consensus forms, the importance of internal divisions to the overall network structure declines. We consider substantive cases that are now considered facts, such as the carcinogenicity of smoking and the non-carcinogenicity of coffee. We then employ the same analysis to currently contested cases: the suspected carcinogenicity of cellular phones, and the relationship between vaccines and autism. Extracting meaning from the internal structure of scientific knowledge carves a niche for renewed sociological commentary on science, revealing a typology of trajectories that scientific propositions may experience en route to consensus.
AsharHannaShapiroJonathan Z.1990. “Are Retrenchment Decisions Rational? The Role of Information in Times of Budgetary Stress.” Journal of Higher Education61:121–41.
4.
BeroLisa. 2003. “Implications of the Tobacco Industry Documents for Public Health and Policy.” Annual Review of Public Health24:267–88.
5.
BhutaniVinodJohnsonLoisSivieriEmidio. 1999. “Predictive Ability of a Predischarge Hour-Specific Serum Bilirubin for Subsequent Significant Hyperbilirubinemia in Healthy Term and Near-Term Newborns.” Pediatrics103:6–14.
6.
BiglanAnthony. 1973. “Characteristics of Subject Matter in Different Academic Areas.” Journal of Applied Psychology57:195–203.
7.
BourdieuPierre. 1975. “The Specificity of the Scientific Field and the Social Conditions of the Progress of Reason.” Social Science Information14:19–47.
8.
BoykoffMaxwell T.BoykoffJules R.2004. “Balance as Bias: Global Warming and the U.S. Prestige Press.” Global Environmental Change: Human and Policy Dimensions14:125–36.
9.
BrandtAllan M.1998. “Blow Some My Way: Passive Smoking, Risk and American Culture.” Pp. 164–88 in Ashes to Ashes: The History of Smoking and Health, edited by LockS. L.ReynoldsA.TanseyE. M.Atlanta: Rodopi.
10.
CardisE.. 2010. “Brain Tumour Risk in Relation to Mobile Telephone Use: Results of the INTERPHONE International Case-Control Study.” International Journal of Epidemiology39:675–94.
11.
ColeJonathan R.ZuckermanHarriet. 1975. “The Emergence of a Scientific Specialty: The Self Exemplifying Case of the Sociology of Science.” Pp. 139–74 in The Idea of Social Structure: Papers in Honor of Robert K. Merton, edited by CoserL. A.New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
12.
ColeStephen. 1983. “The Hierarchy of the Sciences.” American Journal of Sociology89:111–39.
13.
CollinsHarry M.1974. “The TEA Set: Tacit Knowledge and Scientific Networks.” Science Studies4:165–86.
14.
CollinsHarry M.1975. “The Seven Sexes: A Study in the Sociology of a Phenomenon, or the Replication of Experiments in Physics.” Sociology9:205–224.
15.
CollinsHarry M.1992. Changing Order. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
16.
CollinsHarry M.2004. Gravity’s Shadow: The Search for Gravitational Waves. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
17.
CollinsHarry M.EvansRobert. 2002. “The Third Wave of Science Studies: Studies of Expertise and Experience.” Social Studies of Science32:235–96.
18.
CollinsHarry M.EvansRobert. 2007. Rethinking Expertise. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
19.
CsardiGaborNepuszTamas. 2006. “The Igraph Software Package for Complex Network Research.” InterJournalComplex Systems:1695.
20.
ElwoodJ. MarkGallagherRichard P.HillG. B.PearsonJ. C. G.1985. “Cutaneous Melanoma in Relation to Intermittent and Constant Sun Exposure: The Western Canada Melanoma Study.” International Journal of Cancer35:427–33.
21.
EpsteinSteven. 1998. Impure Science: AIDS, Activism and the Politics of Knowledge. Berkeley: University of California Press.
22.
EvansJames A.2007a. “Consensus and Knowledge Production in an Academic Field.” Poetics35:1–21.
23.
EvansJames A.2007b. “Start-Ups in Science: Entrepreneurs, Diverse Backing, and Novelty Outside Business.” Pp. 261–307 in The Sociology of Entrepreneurship, edited by RuefM.LounsburyM.Oxford: JAI Press.
24.
EvansJames A.2008. “Electronic Publication and the Narrowing of Science and Scholarship.” Science321:395–99.
25.
FrickelScottGrossNeil. 2005. “A General Theory of Scientific/Intellectual Movements.” American Sociological Review70:204–232.
26.
FrickelScottMooreKelly, eds. 2006. The New Political Sociology of Science. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
27.
FujimuraJoan. 1996. Crafting Science: A Sociohistory of the Quest for the Genetics of Cancer. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
28.
GarfieldEugene. 1972. “Citation Analysis as a Tool in Journal Evaluation: Journals Can Be Ranked by Frequency and Impact of Citations for Science Policy Studies.” Science178:471.
29.
GierynThomas. 1996. “Policing STS: A Boundary-Work Souvenir from the Smithsonian Exhibition on ‘Science in Everyday Life.’” Science, Technology and Human Values21:100–115.
30.
GierynThomas. 1999. Cultural Boundaries of Science. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
31.
GlanzJason M.McClureDavid L.MagidDavid J.DaleyMatthew F.FranceEric K.SalmonDaniel A.HambidgeSimon J.2009. “Parental Refusal of Pertussis Vaccination Is Associated With an Increased Risk of Pertussis Infection in Children.” Pediatrics123:1446–51.
32.
HanneySteveFrameLainGrantJonathanBuxtonMartinYoungTracyLewisonGrant. 2005. “Using Categorizations of Citations when Assessing the Outcomes from Health Research.” Scientometrics65:357–79.
33.
HargensLowell L.1988. “Scholarly Consensus and Journal Rejection Rates.” American Sociological Review53:139–51.
34.
HargensLowell L.2004. “What is Mertonian Sociology of Science?” Scientometrics60:63–70.
35.
HargensLowell L.KellywilsonLisa. 1994. “Determinants of Disciplinary Discontent.” Social Forces72:1177–95.
36.
HessDavid J.1995. Science and Technology in a Multicultural World. New York: Columbia University Press.
37.
HessDavid J.2006. “Antiangiogenesis Research and the Dynamics of Scientific Fields: Historical and Institutional Perspectives in the Sociology of Science.” Pp.122–47 in The New Political Sociology of Science, edited by FrickelS.MooreK.Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
38.
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). 1986. “IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans.” Tobacco Smoking, Vol. 38. Lyon, France: World Health Organization.
39.
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). 1991. “IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans.” Coffee, Tea, Mate, Methylxanthines and Methylglyoxa, Vol. 51. Lyon, France: World Health Organization.
40.
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). 1992. “IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans.” Solar and Ultraviolet Radiation, Vol. 55. Lyon, France: World Health Organization.
41.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 1992. Climate Change: The 1990 and 1992 IPCC Assessment. Canada: IPCC.
42.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 1995. Summaries for Policymakers of the Three Working Groups Report. Geneva, Switzerland: IPCC.
43.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 2007. Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis: Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
44.
JacquesPeter J.DunlapRiley E.FreemanMark. 2008. “The Organization of Denial: Conservative Think Tanks and Environmental Skepticism.” Environmental Politics17:349–85.
45.
JansenVincenntStollenwerkN.JensenH. J.RamseyM. E.EdmundsW. J.RhodesC. J.2003. “Measles Outbreaks in a Population with Declining Vaccine Uptake.” Science301:804.
46.
JasanoffSheila, ed. 2004. States of Knowledge. New York: Routledge.
47.
KabatGeoffrey. 2008. Hyping Health Risks: Environmental Hazards in Daily Life and the Science of Epidemiology. New York: Columbia University Press.
48.
KetchamChristopher. 2010. “Warning: Your Cell Phone May Be Hazardous to Your Health.” GQ, February, pp. 60–63.
49.
KleinbergJon M.1999. “Authoritative Sources in a Hyperlinked Environment.” Journal of the ACM46:604–632.
50.
KuhnThomas S.1970. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
51.
LakatosImre. 1970. “Falsification and the Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes.” Pp. 91–197 in Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge, edited by LakatosI.MusgraveA.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
52.
LatourBruno. 1987. Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
53.
LatourBruno. 1999. Pandora’s Hope: Essays on the Reality of Science Studies. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
54.
LatourBruno. 2004. Politics of Nature: How to Bring the Sciences into Democracy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
55.
LatourBruno. 2009. “Is Walter Lippmann’s Phantom Public More Visible on the Web?” Presented at The Changing Dynamics of Public Controversies, Columbia University, New York, February 7.
56.
LeaheyErin. 2005. “Alphas and Asterisks: The Development of Statistical Significance Testing Standards in Sociology.” Social Forces84:1–24.
57.
LeichtElizabeth A.ClarksonGavinSheddenKerbyNewmanMark E. J.2007. “Large-Scale Structure of Time Evolving Citation Networks.” European Physical Journal59:75–83.
58.
LeichtElizabeth A.NewmanMark E. J.2008. “Community Structure in Directed Networks.” Physical Review Letters100:118703.
59.
MartinBrianRichardsEvelleen. 1995. “Scientific Knowledge, Controversy, and Public Decision Making.” Pp. 506–526 in Handbook of Science and Technology Studies, edited by JassanoffS.MarkleG. E.PetersonJ. C.PinchT.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
60.
McCrightAaron M.DunlapRiley E.2000. “Challenging Global Warming as a Social Problem: An Analysis of the Conservative Movement’s Counter-Claims.” Social Problems47:499–522.
61.
MertonRobert K.1957. “Priorities in Scientific Discovery.” American Sociological Review22:635–59.
62.
MertonRobert K.1973. The Sociology of Science. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
63.
MichaelsDavid. 2006. “Protecting Public Health in the Age of Contested and Product Defense.” Annals of the New York Academy of Science1076:149–62.
64.
MoodyJames. 2004. “The Structure of a Social Science Collaboration Network: Disciplinary Cohesion from 1963 to 1999.” American Sociological Review69:213–38.
65.
MooreKelly. 1996. “Organizing Integrity: American Science and the Creation of Public Interest Organizations, 1955–1975.” American Journal of Sociology101:1592–1627.
66.
MulkayM. J.GilbertG. N.WoolgarS.1975. “Problem Areas and Research Networks in Science.” Sociology9:187–203.
67.
National Academy of Sciences (NAS), National Research Council Committee on Passive Smoking. 1986. Environmental Tobacco Smoke: Measuring Exposure and Assessing Health Effects. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.
68.
NelkinDorothy. 1995. “Science Controversies: The Dynamics of Public Disputes in the United States.” Pp. 444–56 in Handbook of Science and Technology Studies, edited by JassanoffS.MarkleG. E.PetersonJ. C.PinchT.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
69.
NewmanMark E. J.2006. “Modularity and Community Structure in Networks.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America103:8577–82.
70.
OreskesNaomi. 2004a. “Science and Public Policy: What’s Proof Got To Do With It?” Environmental Science and Policy7:369–83.
71.
OreskesNaomi. 2004b. “Beyond the Ivory Tower: The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change.” Science306:1686.
72.
Owen-SmithJasonPowellWalter W.2008. “Networks and Institutions.” Pp. 276–98 in The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism, edited by GreenwoodR.OliverC.SuddabyR.Sahlin-AnderssonK.London: Sage.
73.
PickeringAndrew. 1993. “The Mangle of Practice: Agency and Emergence in the Sociology of Science.” American Journal of Sociology99:559–89.
74.
PinchTrevor J.BijkerWiebe E.1984. “The Social Construction of Facts and Artefacts: Or How the Sociology of Science and the Sociology of Technology might Benefit Each Other.” Social Studies of Science14:388–441.
75.
PowellWalter W.ColyvasJeannette A.2008. “Microfoundations of Institutional Theory.” Pp. 276–98 in The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism, edited by GreenwoodR.OliverC.SuddabyR.Sahlin-AnderssonK.London: Sage.
76.
PowellWalter W.WhiteDouglas R.KoputKenneth W.Owen-SmithJason. 2005. “Network Dynamics and Field Evolution: The Growth of Interorganizational Collaboration in the Life Sciences.” American Journal of Sociology110:1132–205.
77.
PriceDerek J. de S.1965. “Networks of Scientific Papers.” Science149:510–515.
78.
ProctorRobertSchiebingerLonda, eds. 2008. Agnotology: The Making and Unmaking of Ignorance. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
79.
R Development Core Team. 2008. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing.
80.
ReichardtJorg. 2009. Structure in Complex Networks. Berlin: Springer.
81.
RoweGeneFrewerLynn J.2005. “A Typology of Public Engagement Mechanisms.” Science, Technology and Human Values30:251–90.
82.
SalatheMarcelBonhoefferSebastian. 2008. “The Effect of Opinion Clustering on Disease Outbreaks.” Journal of The Royal Society Interface5:1505–1508.
83.
SametJonathan M.BurkeThomas A.2001. “Turning Science into Junk: The Tobacco Industry and Passive Smoking.” American Journal of Public Health91:1742–44.
84.
ShapinSteven. 1994. A Social History of Truth: Civility and Science in Seventeenth-Century England. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
85.
ShapinSteven. 1996. The Scientific Revolution. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
86.
SimonBart. 2002. Undead Science. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
87.
SmallHenry. 2006. “Tracking and Predicting Growth Areas in Science.” Scientometrics68:595–610.
88.
SmithMichael J.EllenbergSusan S.BellLouis M.RubinDavid M.2008. “Media Coverage of the Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine and Autism Controversy and Its Relationship to MMR Immunization Rates in the United States.” Pediatrics121:e836–43.
89.
Smith-DoerrLaurelManevIvan M.RizovaPolly. 2004. “The Meaning of Success: Network Position and the Social Construction of Project Outcomes in an R&D Lab.” Journal of Engineering and Technology Management21:51–81.
90.
StarLeigh S.GriesemerJames R.1989. “Institutional Ecology, ‘Translations’ and Boundary Objects: Amateurs and Professionals in Berkeley’s Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 1907–39.” Social Studies of Science19:387–420.
91.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS). 1986. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: U.S. DHHS, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, Center for Health Promotion and Education, Office on Smoking and Health. DHHS Publication No. (CDC) 87-8398.
92.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 1992. “Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking (Also Known as Exposure to Secondhand Smoke or Environmental Tobacco Smoke ETS).” Washington, DC: U.S. EPA, Office of Research and Development, Office of Health and Environmental Assessment, EPA/600/6-90/006F.
93.
U.S. Surgeon General. 1964. Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service. Washington, DC: Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
94.
WakefordRichard2004. “The Cancer Epidemiology of Radiation.” Oncogene23:6404–6428.
95.
WallaceA.1994. “Soil Science, Pesticides, and Risk Analysis.” Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis25:143–48.
96.
WeinelMartin. 2008. “Counterfeit Scientific Controversies in Science Policy Contexts.” SOCSI Working Paper120.
97.
WhittingtonKjersten BunkerOwen-SmithJasonPowellWalter W.2009. “Networks, Propinquity, and Innovation in Knowledge-Intensive Industries.” Administrative Science Quarterly54:90–122.
98.
WrayBrad K.2005. “Rethinking Scientific Specialization.” Social Studies of Science35:151–64.
99.
WynderErnst L.GrahamEvarts A.CroningerAdele B.1953. “Experimental Production of Carcinoma with Cigarette Tar.” Cancer Research13:855–64.
100.
WynneBrian. 1996. “May the Sheep Safely Graze? A Reflexive View of the Expert-Lay Divide.” Pp.104–137 in Risk, Environment and Modernity, edited by LashS.SzerszynskiB.WynneB.London: Sage.
101.
ZuckermanHariet1988. “The Sociology of Science.” Pp. 511–74 in The Handbook of sociology, edited by SmelserN. J.Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
