A booming discipline short of discipline?

Diese Diplomarbeit behandelt die akademischen Zeitschriften 'Science, Technology, & Human Values' und 'Social Studies of Science' als Arenen, in denen die disziplinären, thematischen und politischen Grenzen eines entstehenden akademischen Feldes, nämlich der Wissenschafts- und Technikforschung (STS), ausverhandelt werden.This thesis investigates the two journals 'Science, Technology, & Human Values' and 'Social Studies of Science' as sites where the disciplinary, thematic and political boundaries of the emerging academic field of STS (Science and Technology Studies or Science, Technology & Society) are constructed, contested and negotiated. The thesis first outlines the theoretical background and introduces the history of the two journals. Subsequently, it sets out to explore how, over 26 years, the boundaries of the STS field were negotiated in these journals, and how the authors and editors have positioned themselves in the emerging field. On the basis of an analysis of articles and editorial material published in the two journals, it traces the debates about the research objects of STS, its disciplinary status and relationship with adjoining academic fields and disciplines, and about the (past, present and desired) normative, social and political agenda of STS scholarship

A swamp as an obstacle to approach – archaeological and geoelectrical investigations on the Early Bronze Age fortification of Ratzersdorf, Lower Austria

Interdisciplinary cooperation between geoelectrics and archaeology made it possible to identify a swamp as an integral part of a defense concept for the first time in Austria at the Early Bronze Age hilltop settlement of Ratzersdorf, Lower Austria. The marsh and a spring were included as natural topographic structures in the defense conception of the fortification

Is this settlement intersected by a ditch? A comparison between magnetic prospection data, ALS data, and archaeological and geological excavation results from the Early Bronze Age fortified hilltop settlement of Ratzersdorf, Lower Austria

In this case study we present preliminary results from a joint analysis of magnetometry data, remote sensing data, and excavation results generated in the course of research on the Early Bronze Age fortified hilltop settlement of Ratzersdorf/Am Dachsgraben in Lower Austria. In an effort to evaluate the interpretive potential of each data set we conclude that a combined analysis of all available data is essential for a comprehensive understanding of anthropogenic and natural features and formation processes. At the Ratzersdorf site specifically, the visibility of both anthropogenic and geological structures in the magnetometry data demonstrates the importance of the combination of complementary data for the verification or falsification of preliminary interpretive ideas

Trained Ears and Correlation Coefficients: An STS Perspective on Sonification

Presented at the 18th International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD2012) on June 18-21, 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia.Reprinted by permission of the International Community for Auditory Display, http://www.icad.org.This paper presents a social science perspective on the field of sonification research. Adopting a perspective informed by constructivist science and technology studies (STS), the paper begins by arguing why sonification is an interesting case study to reconsider the role of sensory representation in scientific practice, and in particular the creation of credibility in science. It then focuses on a debate in which the meaning of objectivity is negotiated within the sonification community, showing that different notions of objectivity and scientific quality co-exist within the community, which are linked to different research questions being asked with the sonifications, different users that are envisaged for the sonifications, and different disciplinary backgrounds of the sonification researchers