SOCIOLOGY AND HISTORY: NOTES ON RAPPROCHEMENT

The bases for distinguishing between sociology and history are examined and found to be insupportable insofar as the subject matter of the two disciplines coincides. The distinctions between (1) ideographic and nomothetic science, (2) art and science, and (3) humanism and science have been used to justify separating historical from sociological inquiry; in fact, these distinctions are not logically relevant to identifying fields of inquiry. This argument is supported by considering the logic of inquiry, as well as by studying the research activities of historians and sociologists. Rapprochement between history and ,sociology is urged to erase logical contradictions, and to wed humanistic and artistic concerns with the "science" of sociological inquiry.http://web.ku.edu/~starjrn

Seeding Science, Courting Conclusions: Reexamining the Intersection of Science, Corporate Cash, and the Law

Social scientists have expressed strong views on corporate influences over science, but most attention has been devoted to broad, Black/White arguments, rather than to actual mechanisms of influence. This paper summarizes an experience where involvement in a lawsuit led to the discovery of an unexpected mechanism: A large corporation facing a multibillion-dollar court judgment quietly provided generous funding to well-known scientists (including at least one Nobel prize winner) who would submit articles to "open," peer-reviewed journals, so that their "unbiased science" could be cited in an appeal to the Supreme Court. On balance, the corporation's most effective techniques of influence may have been provided not by overt pressure, but by encouraging scientists to continue thinking of themselves as independent and impartial