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Our review essay contributes to the long-standing and vibrant discussion in science and technology studies (STS) on methods, methodologies, and theory–method relationships. We aim to improve the reflexivity of research by unpacking the often implicit assumptions that imbue research conduct and by offering practical tools through which STS researchers can recognize their research designs and think through them in a new way. To achieve these aims, we analyze different compositions of theories, methods, and empirics in three different STS approaches—actor–network theory, the biography of artifacts and practices, and ethnomethodology—by employing the concept of a theory–methods package (TMP). A selection of theoretical cornerstone texts and case studies in infrastructure research from each tradition serves as our material. Our findings point, first, to differences between the TMPs of the reviewed approaches and to the internal diversity of theory–method relationships in each approach. Second, we found some intriguing similarities between the approaches and discuss potential complementarities of their theory–method fits.

L'obiettivo di questo lavoro è (ri)costruire il processo di emergenza del campo di ricerca dei "Science and Technology Studies" (STS) come risultato di una complessa opera di negoziazioni disciplinari. In funzione di questo obiettivo, abbiamo elaborato una metodologia che abbiamo battezzato come "Socio-epistemologia storica". Dal punto di vista storico, questa tesi di dottorato propone una dettagliata ricostruzione del processo di emergenza del campo interdisciplinare degli STS fra gli anni '60 e la metà degli anni '80 (grazie anche a ricerche d'archivio e storia orale). In primo luogo, ci siamo occupati di tracciare alcune traiettorie intellettuali, accademiche e socio-politiche in funzione di una disamina delle condizioni di possibilità dell'emergere di tale campo (fra gli anni '30 e gli anni '60). Nel capitolo seguente abbiamo invece proposto una cartografia dei principali centri di ricerca e programmi pedagogici nei principali casi nazionali come: U.K., U.S., Francia, Repubblica democratica tedesca, Repubblica federale tedesca, Austria, e Paesi Bassi. Infine, un ulteriore capitolo è invece dedicato alla ricostruzione della nascita delle prime reti di ricerca internazionali (società e associazioni professionali) in ambito STS. I risultati di questa ricerca storica sono stati interpretati e organizzati tramite il framework della "sociologia dei campi accademici" e della "sociologia della conoscenza". A completare la nostra disamina, l'approccio filosofico ha reso possibile un'analisi epistemologica basata sui concreti processi storici e sociali di negoziazione disciplinare che hanno reso possibile il programma di ricerca interdisciplinare degli STS. In questo senso, abbiamo sostenuto che le frontiere disciplinari nelle scienze sociali siano al contempo elaborate socialmente, tramite un lungo processo di negoziazione storica, e sulla base di rivendicazioni epistemiche. ; The aim of this work is to (re)construct the emergence process of the "Science and Technology Studies" (STS) field, as a result of broad disciplinary negotiations (especially between history of science, sociology of science and philosophy of science). In order to achieve this, I proposed an integrated methodology that I labelled "Socio-Historical Epistemology". From the historical point of view, my Ph.D thesis provides a detailed survey of the academic emergence of the "STS" interdisciplinary field, from the 60s to the mid 80s (made also through archive research and oral history). First of all, I traced some intellectual, academical and socio-political trajectories, in order to explain the conditions of the emergence of this field (from the 30s to the 60s). In the following chapter I proposed a cartography of the major research units and pedagogical programs in U.K., U.S., France, German Democratic Republic, Federal Republic of Germany, Austria and Netherlands. Finally, another chapter is dedicated to the professional and international societies in STS. The results of this historical inquiry have been interpreted and organised through the framework of the "sociology of scientific fields" and the "sociology of knowledge". Furthermore, the philosophical approach has made possible an epistemological analysis of both the historical and the sociological genesis and development of the interdisciplinary context of research of the "STS". In this sense I argued that disciplinary boundaries in social sciences are, at the same time, diachronically constructed and reconstructed, through a collective process of controversies and negotiations and due to epistemological claims.

Researchers in science and technology studies appear to be more concerned with descriptions and explanations of social phenomena than with the potential applications of their findings. Science and technology studies should strive to change society by contributing to the design of learning environments that form future generations of producers and consumers of scientific and technological knowledge. In this article, the authors (a) illustrate how they used research findings from science and technology studies to design alternative learning environments and (b) summarize their principal findings from six years of ethnographic research in these learning environments. They conclude by pointing out some of the caveats inherent in theirapproach and by suggesting areas in science education of interest to science and technology studies.