A CALL TO REVITALIZE THE INSTITUTIONALIST PARADIGM OF THE SOCIOLOGY OF SCIENCE

Since the seventies the institutionalist paradigm of the sociology of science has gradually given way to the paradigm of a sociology of scie ntific knowledge. The latter interprets this development as a theoreti cal advance. In fact, however, both paradigms are complementary approa ches within the sociology of science since their explanatory aims as w ell as their explanatory factors are different. A revival of the insti tutionalist paradigm is important because it is especially useful for analyzing research policy, which has become an increasingly significan t factor influencing research. A revitalized institutionalist paradigm can profit from the fact that there is now a large variety of concept s about and models of the connections between actor constellations and institutional dynamics.