Doing laboratory ethnography: reflections on method in scientific workplaces

Neil Stephens*, Jamie Lewis

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Laboratory ethnography extended the social scientist’s gaze into the day-to-day accomplishment of scientific practice. Here we reflect upon our own ethnographies of biomedical scientific workspaces to provoke methodological discussion on the doing of laboratory ethnography. What we provide is less a ‘how to’ guide and more a commentary on what to look for and what to look at. We draw upon our empirical research with stem cell laboratories and animal houses, teams producing robotic surgical tools, musicians sonifying data science, a psychiatric genetics laboratory, and scientists developing laboratory grown meat. We use these cases to example a set of potential ethnographic themes worthy of pursuit: science epistemics and the extended laboratory, the interaction order of scientific work, sensory realms and the rending of science as sensible, conferences as performative sites, and the spaces, places and temporalities of scientific work.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)202-216
Number of pages15
JournalQualitative Research
Volume17
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016.

Keywords

  • animal models
  • cultured meat
  • interaction order
  • laboratory ethnography
  • methods
  • psychiatric genetics
  • robotic surgery
  • Science and Technology Studies
  • sensory ethnography
  • space

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • History and Philosophy of Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Doing laboratory ethnography: reflections on method in scientific workplaces'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this