A Middle-Range Interrogation of Ethnographic Case Studies in the Exploration of E-science

This article addresses the need to problematize “cases” in science and technology studies (STS) work, as a middle-range theory issue. The focus is not on any one case study per se, but on why case studies exist and endure in STS. Case studies are part of a specific problematization in the field. We therefore explore relations between motivation for the use of cases (especially ethnographic ones), their constitution, and ways they can be invoked to make particular kinds of arguments in STS. We set out to examine the case as an object that links together research practices, intellectual debates, and programmatic concerns in our own work. Based on our experiences and on this reflection on the links between cases and questions in STS, we propose a number of casemaking strategies that shift and enrich the deployment of ethnographic cases as an epistemic tool in STS.

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