Competition, Sociology, Discovery - Cover Sheet SCI Home | SCI Faculty Page | Case Notes | Reference List | Users Notes

Author - - Linda Hensel, Tim Brazill, John Shepherd - Spring 2000
This is a modified version of a case presentd at the following workshop:
Teaching College-Level Science Through Case Studies, October 25-26, 1996, Emory University
Cases and Simulation in teaching ethics and values in science - Pat Marsteller & Steve Olson

Case Purpose This case introduces some of the sociological aspects of research

• interactions  among people within scientific community with different ranks, roles, motivations, and pay-offs
• competition as a motivator
• the role of peer review
• emphasizes use of pattern recognition to solve probems
• need for careful recording of observations
• need for clear and unambiguous communication ("consensibility")

Relation to Texts In Chapter 2, Giere discusses the Double Helix case at some length and this might usefully follow that exercise.   However, discussion of these issues is largely lacking in the Giere text, which protrays science only as a way of reasoning.   This case could be used to overcome that limitation and to get some of these issues into the discussion.  The case can also be used to follow the three Bronowski essays.   The third essay "The Sense of Human Dignity" proposes that a set of values (honesty, independence, democracy, respect for dissent, etc) characterize the community of science because they are required for the practice of science. 

This also works well with the Deadly Feasts case.   Personality traits and social interaction among scientists both interferes with and promotes the progress of scientific discovery.

Description of Case Materials Each student group has a set of wooden blocks as does the instructor.  These blocks have letters and pictures on their sides.

Case Use  In a room near the classroom, the instructor arranges one set of blocks to represent the structure of the molecule to be discovered.  Students within a group are given different roles on the research team (from PI to technician and undergraduate student).  Student groups compete as the try to discover the structure of the molecule and re-create it with their own block set.   When they think they have it, they submit it to the instructor who then has the other groups conduct a peer review.  A discussion of the process follows.

Reference List

• Bronowski, Jacob. 1990. Science and human values. Harper & Row.
• Giere, Ronald. 1997. Understanding scientific reasoning. 4^th edition. Harcourt Brace.