Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from An Analysis of Entry and Persistence Among Scientists in an Emerging Field
Sociological investigations of scientific and technological communities have contributed a great deal to our understanding of the research and development process. One area of investigation at the genesis of the research process, is the question of why scientists choose to pursue the topic of research they do, embracing certain problems as important while disregarding others as inconsequential - the so-called "problem of problem choice" (Zuckerman 1978; Gieryn 1978; and Ziman 1987). The answer to this question is pivotal to any explanation of the emergence of nascent fields of science and technology, as it lies at the very heart of the matter. For whatever reason, by choosing to apply their energy to one set of problems and not another, scientists can thereby steer the frontier of knowledge in new and different directions.
A common approach to unraveling the problem of problem choice is to distinguish between factors influencing scientists' decisions that are internal and external to the scientific community (Cole and Cole 1973; Stewart 1990; Zuckerman 1978). Factors internal to science include both the cognitive and the social. Recognizing the influence of the cognitive side of the equation on problem choice, Zuckerman (1978) points to the importance of scientists' theoretical commitments and the feasibility of finding a solution. Scientists use their judgment in determining problems that are intellectually interesting and yet tractable given the state of current knowledge and technique. Recalling Medawar's (1967) theme of science as "the art of the soluble," Zuckerman (1978) quotes:
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