PATTERNS OF KNOWLEDGE COMMUNITIES IN THE SOCIAL-SCIENCES

THE STUDY OF SCIENCE AND SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITIES is dominated by philos ophies and sociologists. These disciplines naturally take different ap proaches to the subject, the one epistemological and the other sociolo gical. While recognizing the role of society in shaping science, this article emphasizes the way that the epistemology of science influences scientific society. The epistemological status of various scientific discourses also shapes scientific communities. Discourses about method s have different effects on communities than discourses about theories ; positivist discourses and nonpositivist discourses also shape commun ities differently. The best way to think about science and scientific communities is a dialogue between two hybrid approaches - i.e., a soci al epistemology and an epistemological sociology Each presents some ch allenges to information science.