"Testing - One, Two, Three ... Testing!": Toward a Sociology of Testing
- 1 January 1993
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Science, Technology, & Human Values
- Vol. 18 (1) , 25-41
- https://doi.org/10.1177/016224399301800103
Abstract
This article explores testing as research site in the sociology of technology. A fully generalizable analysis is offered of testing in terms of a notion of projection. Prospective, current, and retrospective testing are identified The article is illustrated with examples of testing a clinical budgeting system in the United Kingdom National Health Service and the testing of the O-rings on the space shuttle Challenger. Lastly, the theme of "testing the user" is developed Some comments are offered on the pervasiveness of testing in society at large.Keywords
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