Abstract:
This thesis investigates the social dimension of scientific development by surveying the attitudes of the international community of social psychologists about the concept of scientific progress. A theoretical section provides an interdisciplinary overview of scientific development as studied by philosophers, historians, sociologists and psychologists. Specific attention is given to the perception of progress in social psychology. It is argued that the epistemological "crisis" that was experienced by this discipline during the seventies is part of a profound shift in orientation in the social sciences in general, leading to a renewed interest in the process of scientific development. Detailed demographic information about the community of social psychologists is provided in the empirical section. Conditions which are likely to further scientific progress and those which may present a threat to progress are investigated. The reasons respondents provided for a perception of (no) progress are also reviewed. Two groups of respondents, the "visibles" and the "invisibles", are isolated and their attitudes analyzed and compared. Several hypotheses regarding these two groups are proposed and tested. It is shown that "visibles" tend to work in larger research available in this study. groups, have easier access to research grants and experience a better quality of communication than their less "visible" colleagues. Conclusions are drawn on the basis of the data made.