Scientific observation always occurs from within a specific social universe of discourse.

Evidence

Observation and experiment, the methodical organization and coordination of data, propositions, and conclusions never proceed in an unstructured, neutral, theoretical space. The project of cognition involves operations on objects, or abstractions from objects which occur in a given universe of discourse and action. Science observes, calculates, and theorizes from a position in this universe. The stars which Galileo observed were the same in classical antiquity, but the different universe of discourse and action—in short, the different social reality—opened the new direction and range of observation, and the possibilities of ordering the observed data. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 584

Categorization

• XREF: The Galileo example prefigures Kuhnian paradigms; connects to the reader’s critical-theory framing of knowledge as socially situated. — connects to: Science and society mutually constitute each other rather than existing separately — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1599; Scientific projects are always part of larger social projects rather than separate from them — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1599

Broader Connections

• Science and society mutually constitute each other rather than existing separately #expands (0.85) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1599
• Scientific projects are always part of larger social projects rather than separate from them #expands (0.85) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1599