The Metaphor of “Construction” in the Social Research of Science: Classification and Interpretation
The metaphor of “construction” is widely used in philosophical, sociological, and historical research, but in different ways: the processes of construction vary depending on the types of objects that can be constructed. In the last twenty years, Russian studies have considered constructivism in various ways, but it is sometimes unclear what exactly it claims, what it constructs, and how these approaches relate to sociological and philosophical alternatives. The ambiguity of understanding constructivism arises precisely because construction does not usually mean the same thing from one author to another, and even within the same work, these terms draw attention to different types of phenomena. This paper provides a classification of the use of the construction metaphor. Also this paper provides an overview of the ideas, trends and authors that can be attributed to constructivism in accordance with the proposed classification. Constructivism has become a useful tool in addition to philosophical ideas about science and the analysis of scientific practice. This review presents the most influential studies that are now called “classics”, as well as examples and prospects for using the construction metaphor in modern research. Current research focuses on the social and cultural impact on scientific knowledge and this has led to the creation of a number of small case studies.