Dissertation Support in Ethics & Values Studies: Examining the Consequences of the Priority Dispute Over the Discovery of the AIDS Virus

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A central focus in science, technology and society studies is the identification of mechanisms by which scientific knowledge evolves. The dissertation research of Rosa Haritos examines the concept of discovery in science and the process by which the scientific community, along with others, formulates, debates and resolves conflict about discovery. Discovery is a dynamic process comprised of both empirical and social components. Using the priority dispute over the discovery of the AIDS virus as a case study, this project seeks to explain the dispute in terms of the value structure of the scientific community. The study will investigate four central problems: (1) the genesis and development of the dispute as it evolved over time; (2) how the discovery was defined by the scientists involved in the discovery; (3) the values and norms espoused by scientists and how their beliefs influenced their behavior in the dispute; (4) the inter-connection between science and its social context--identification of the consequences of the dispute. Three sources of data will be used: (1) focused interviews with the scientists involved in the discovery; (2) focused interviews with the 13 member Retroviral Subcommittee, responsible for the nomenclature and classification of the virus; (3) a detailed content analysis of what was said about the discovery when it was cited in the scientific literature. This project will provide important primary and secondary source material about a major contemporary public controversy involving international science, and should contribute to understanding how priority disputes about scientific discovery arise and are resolved. The research is being supervised by an eminent sociologist of science; the graduate student is very well prepared to undertake it; institutional support is adequate; and the expected result--a dissertation--will be forthcoming. The requested support is very modest and will allow the required interviews to occur. The award is highly recommended.