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This version was published on November 1, 2007
Science, Technology & Human Values, Vol. 32, No. 6, 619-626 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0162243907306085

Home on the Range

What and Where is the Middle in Science and Technology Studies?

Sally Wyatt

Royal Netherlands Academy for Arts and Sciences

Brian Balmer

University College London

This article introduces the special issue on middle-range theory in science and technology studies (STS), providing the background to its production and reviewing different notions of "middle." It begins with Merton's ideas about middle-range theory as a way of moving beyond the production of either descriptions or theories of everything. Instead of seeing the middle as the space between the theoretical imagination and the detailed depiction of everyday practices, the authors outline three ways of thinking about the middle range: as an adjective, the closest to Merton's conception; as a noun, the liminal place between theories, audiences, and levels; and as a verb, a process, a means of making connections across time, discipline, community, and place. A summary of each of the articles in this special issue is provided, preceding a call for further discussion about the role of case studies and the nature of the middle in STS.

Key Words: middle range • Robert Merton • case study • methodology • theory


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