Abstract

MENDEZ-OCHAITA, Margarita F. et al. Scientific Norms and Values: Perceived Ambivalence in Research Practices in a Mexican Public University. Sociológica (Méx.) [online]. 2019, vol.34, n.98, pp.111-158.  Epub Mar 09, 2021. ISSN 2007-8358.

This article examines the validity of the scientific structural norms put forward by Robert Merton in the mid-twentieth century in today’s context, discussing the new ways of debating them. Based on the perceptions of 352 researchers at the Autonomous University of Puebla, the authors describe how they express new configurations of the scientific ethos by discipline. The results show that these researchers’ practices express the scientific ethos ambivalently, above all in activities related to scientific production and evaluation. The authors also demonstrate that training and education are key components of the ethos expressed in their practices.

Keywords : scientific ethos; scientific norms; scientific values; sociological ambivalence; Merton.