The social application, transmission and production of medical knowledge : a framework for analysis

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Copyright: Short, Stephanie
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Abstract
This thesis investigates theoretical and empirical developments in the sociology of medical knowledge in the period between 1951 and 1990. The problems addressed are twofold. First, how have medical sociologists problematised medical knowledge and secondly, what makes medical knowledge impervious to sociological scrutiny? The theoretical perspective adopted in this study is a critical sociology of knowledge that draws insights from feminist critical theory and from the ideas of Michel Foucault. The study develops an analytical framework based on a heuristic distinction between sociological studies of medical practice, medical education and medical research. The method of investigation comprises analysis of relevant theoretical studies followed by in-depth analysis of five empirical case studies of medical practice, education and research. The first conclusion reached is that sociological studies of medical practice tend to investigate the application of medical knowledge; that studies of medical education focus on examining the transmission of medical knowledge; and that studies of medical research examine the production of medical knowledge. The study revealed that the content of medical scientific knowledge was excluded from sociological scrutiny in the studies of medical practice and education considered here, due to the positivist assumption that medical scientific knowledge of biophysical reality is universal and objective in nature, and hence not suitable as a topic for sociological enquiry. In contrast, sociological studies of medical research examine the limits and validity of medical scientific knowledge. The second conclusion reached is that there is a considerable degree of internal differentiation within the sociological studies of medical practice, education and research. Sociologists are interested in studying aspects of medical knowledge which are subject to medical disagreement. Also, sociologists are inclined to study aspects of medical knowledge in which there is an apparent distance or disjuncture between the cultures of patients and doctors. Government interest in scrutinising or regulating a medical problem also focuses sociologists attention on some medical problems rather than others. Conversely, medical knowledge tends to remain impervious to sociological scrutiny if it is not subject to either medical disagreement, cultural disjuncture or government scrutiny.
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Short, Stephanie
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Publication Year
1991
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Thesis
Degree Type
PhD Doctorate
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