Jonathan Cole And His Theory Of Social Stratification Of The Scientific Community Study

In the 1960-1970s, the sociology of scientific system founded by Robert.Merton governed the academe of the sociology of science. Merton firstly put forward the issue of the social stratification in science and advanced that the scientific criterions which form the temperament of science are universalism,communism,uninterested ness and organized skepticism. The criterion of universalism is the focus of debate between functionists and constructionists. After lots of long-term and deep research, Jonathan.Cole found that social stratification in science is formulated in terms of differences in peer recognition that the scientists have received according to their performances of roles, which has nothing to do with personal and social nature. So Cole made a conclusion that science is closer to universalism than any other social organization. However, constructism and feminism criticize the theory drastically, which supplies a new angle of view to recognize the structure and operational mechanism of social stratification in science. Though sociology of science of Mertonism school has been taking a leading role in our country, the research of localization of his theory hasn't been done thoroughly. Studying the social stratification in science and analyzing the related achievements in foreign countries, with respect to the specific state of China, has profound significance in theory and grasp the characters of science community and prompt the accomplishment of strategy ---"Rely on science and education to rejuvenate the nation."The major clue of this thesis is the logical development of his theory of social stratification in science, relating the backgrounds of his writings and the actual situatioons in world of science. It investigates separately the theory judgments of functionists, constructinists and feminists to social stratification and gender stratification in science, in order to make clear the deconstruction and reconstruction of scientific criterion of universalism. By exploring the world of science in America, within the framework of comtist view of science and functism, Cole concludes that social stratification in science is on the verge of universalism. Constructionists hold mat stratification in science is a process which is driven by interest, while feminists hold that the gender stratification is the result of unequal treatment received by women under patriarchy culture. The author thinks all above ideas mentioned are rational in a way, but each of them has its bias and deficit There is no single thinking which can illuminate the criterion and mechanism of social stratification in science. In this thesis, The author tries to treat the social structure and operation of world of science in dimension of practice and talk about the research on social stratification in science by Cole as well as the criticism made by constructionists and feminists. The author thinks that we should set up a multivariate and concomitant concept of social structure,but it doesn't violate our pursuit of ideal criterion of universalism in science.This theiss's creative point is applying the theory of social stratification in science in practical perspective and supplying a new view and a broader platform to understand and test the criterion of universalism, meanwhile the author tries to test it in the reality of social stratification in science of China. Nevertheless, this theory lacks experiential support and a more delicate logical analysis, so it needs further development...