234:, p. 222 - that in the most highly developed and leading research communities, for example among high-energy physicists, numbers and quantification are not center stage - a place that is taken by a community of trust, where a “personal knowledge” is at play, that ensures the creativity and vitality of the discipline, a point made by other STS scholars. As noted by the author, the quantitative element of 'mechanical objectivity' is more present in academic fields like economics, sociology and psychology than they are in physics. This chapter has been suggested as the most relevant for practicing research scientists.
215:. Each institutions produced cost benefit analyses that were designed to favor the respective interests of the two institutions and their respective stakeholders. In Victorian England actuaries and the accountants fought to thwart attempts by the authorities to introduce standards of accounting, as to defend the nuanced expertise of the respective crafts. In a sense, the work of
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reverses the classic notion that quantification descends from the successes of natural sciences being adopted by other disciplines, to investigate instead the opposite movement, whereby quantification is driven by political, administrative and bureaucratic necessities to standardize, communicate, and
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the most important aspect of this book is to demystify the concept that the more mathematical the science the higher its prestige, and to achieve this through a comparative investigation of how different sciences make use of mathematics in different contexts".
191:, 'mechanical objectivity' is sought and obtained via quantitative methods that ensure a procedural forms of accountability. He calls these procedures 'technologies of distance' that ensure compliance with impersonal rules excluding bias and personal preferences.
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demonstrates that the allure of quantitative and standardized measures does not derive from their success in the natural sciences, but arise from the need of professional groups to "respond to external social and political pressures demanding accountability".
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in a way that make evident the bureaucratic and political conflicts whereby actuaries and experts of different disciplines fought to maintain structures of power and privilege within national styles and contexts. In the US, tensions existed between the
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Mennicken, A., & Espeland, W. N. (2019). What's New with
Numbers? Sociological Approaches to the Study of Quantification. Annual Review of Sociology, 45(1), 223–245.
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Pinch, T. (1996). Trust in
Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life. Theodore M. Porter. American Journal of Sociology, 101(6), 1786–1787.
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Hagendijk, R. (1999). An Agenda for STS: Porter on Trust and
Quantification in Science, Politics and Society. Social Studies of Science, 29(4), 629–637.
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457:, H. M. (1975). The Seven Sexes: A Study in the Sociology of a Phenomenon, or the Replication of Experiments in Physics. Sociology, 9(2), 205–224.
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The appeal of numbers is especially compelling to bureaucratic officials who lack the mandate of a popular election, or divine right, p. 8.
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A decision made by the numbers (or by explicit rules of some other sort) has at least the appearance of being fair and impersonal, p. 8.
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makes clear how objectivity is an alternative to personal trust. He illustrate the point by comparing the practices and contexts of the
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Thus, "trust may sometimes be based less on the solidity of the numbers themselves than on the needs of expert and client communities".
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Popp Berman, E., & Hirschman, D. (2018). The
Sociology of Quantification: Where Are We Now? Contemporary Sociology, 47(3), 257–266.
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Ravetz, J. R. (1997). In
Numbers We Trust | Issues in Science and Technology. Issues in Science and Technology, 13(2). Retrieved from
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Based on a number of case studies in different countries - actuaries in the UK and US, engineers in France and in the US -
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Porter, T. M. (1995). Trust in
Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life, Princeton University Press.
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Koller, G. (2012, October 4). Trust in
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and how it has arisen historically, and what role numbers have played in its construction. For
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After noting how officials fear being criticized for arbitrariness and bias, he concludes:
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adopts a historical and sociological style of analysis that is indebted to
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Trust in
Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life'
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Trust in Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life
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Trust in numbers: the pursuit of objectivity in science and public life
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Trust in Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life
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325:: The New Politics of Numbers: Utopia, Evidence and Democracy
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