Introduction to Studies of Expertise and Experience

1. Introduction toStudies of Expertise and Experience Robert Evans SEESHOP 8 Waterloo, 8-12 June 2014

2. Problem of Legitimacy Over reliance on core-set scientists Problem of Extension Over reliance on lay publics as ‘experts’ Third Wave Distinction between experts and non-experts Distinction between technical and political phases Third Wave of Science Studies (2002)

3. Rethinking Expertise (2007)

4. Rethinking Expertise (2007)

5. Specialist Expertise Socialisation Barrier Interactional Expertise Contributory Expertise Explicit Knowledge Ubiquitous Tacit Knowledge Specialist Tacit Knowledge

6. Language and Practice (2011) Cultural knowledge shared more or less uniformly amongst all members of the target culture Relatively small sample can ‘represent’ the collective stock of cultural knowledge

7. Quantifying the Tacit (2013/14) In the Turing Test, the judge must decide which is the computer and which is the human. In the Imitation Game, the judge must decide which participant shares their social group.

8. Male pretending to be female Female judge setting questions Female answering naturally The Imitation Game R2‘not very often, when they need doing’ R1‘once a week’ R2 is female ‘because I expected the man to believe women are more regulated in their beauty regime than they actually are How often do you pluck your eyebrows?

9. Initial Results

10. IMGAME is ‘work in progress’ • Methodological questions • How accurate is probe model in practice – can individuals or small groups really represent the target • How to know if the assumed target culture exists at all • STS in practice • How to know when you have measured Pass Rate correctly • How to interpret results • High pass rate indicates knowledgeable Pretenders • High pass rate indicates Non-Pretenders and Judges share little specialist knowledge.

11. Elective Modernism (under review) Value scientific values not scientific facts Science values Democracy values Policy

12. Science values Democracy values Policy Elective Modernism (20??)

13. Minimal Default Position • Politicians can accept or reject scientific or other advice when making policy decisions • Politicians must not miss-represent expert knowledge when justifying these decisions BUT… • How can politicians and the public know the ‘true’ state of consensus in a technical domain?

14. The Birds… Eagles • Scientists (including social scientists) and other technical experts • Eagles are efficient hunters who tend to look in one direction • Eagles see their only their science and reject other views Owls • Reflexive scientists and STS informed social scientists • Owls are not only wise, they can look in two different directions • Owls see both science and social analysis of that science

15. What the Owls Add to Policy Advice • Analysis of scientific and experience-based expertise relating to the topic • Understanding of scientific culture and practice as rooted in tacit knowledge • Recognition that maverick science continues long after the mainstream has moved on • A public statement summarising the degree of expert consensus about the topic in question • Summary of the substance/content of consensus • Summary of how strong this consensus is

16. Summary • SEE has an abundance of theories and concepts • Technical and Political Phases • Periodic Table of Expertises • Investigating Expertise and Experience • Imitation Game and Interactional Expertise • Institutions for Expertise and Democracy • Elective Modernism and Value of Scientific Values

17. References • Expertise • Collins, H M and Evans, R J (2002) ‘The Third Wave of Science Studies: Studies of Expertise and Experience’, Social Studies of Sciences, 32 (2): 235-96. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0306312702032002003> • Collins, H M and Evans, R J (2007) Rethinking Expertise, Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press. • Collins, H.M. (2011) ‘Language and Practice), Social Studies of Science,Vol 41, No. 2, pp. 271-300. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0306312711399665 • Imitation Game • Collins, H.M. Evans, Robert, Ribeiro, Rodrigo and Hall, Martin (2006), ‘Experiments with Interactional Expertise, Studies In History and Philosophy of Science, Volume 37, No. 4 (Dec 2006), pp. 656-674. < http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2006.09.005> • Evans, Robert and Crocker, Helen (2013) The Imitation Game as a Method for Exploring Knowledge(s) of Chronic Illness, Methodological Innovations Online, Vol. 7 (2) [Published online as http://www.methodologicalinnovations.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/4.-Evans-et-al.pdf] • Collins, H.M. and Evans, R.J. (2014) ‘Quantifying the Tacit: The Imitation Game and Social Fluency’, Sociology, Vol. 48, No. 1, pp. 3-19 [Originally published as Online First on 25 Feb 2013 as doi: 10.1177/0038038512455735] • Elective Modernism • Collins, H.M. (2010) Elective Modernism (working paper) http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/socsi/contactsandpeople/harrycollins/expertise-project/elective%20modernism%204.doc • Collins, H.M., Weinel, M. and Evans, R.J. (2010) ‘The Politics and Policy of the Third Wave: New Technologies and Society’, Critical Policy Studies, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 185-201. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19460171.2010.490642>