Chapter 1

Introduction to Science, Technology, and Society

Learning Outcomes
At the end of the module, the student should be able to:
1. determine the rationale and purpose of studying science, technology, and society;
2. define science and identify its ultimate goal;
3. describe how the scientific method is used to find answers or solutions to scientific
inquiries;
4. identify the different branches of science and discuss its hierarchical nature; 5. define
technology and discuss how it is used in different mechanical and social contexts; and
6. discuss the interaction between science and technology and its effects to society.

Introduction
Clothes, food, appliances at our homes, and every convenience of modern living are tangible
proofs of how science and technology affect our lives. But beyond our physiological needs,
science has also contributed to our intellectual and curious needs of understanding the world
around us and the roles we play as members of society. Sociopolitical decisions and actions
may seem to be out of the realm of science; however, social developments are directly linked to
scientific and technological progress. History has shown that scientific progress has direct
consequence in many social endeavors such as acquiring wealth, building industries,
alleviating poverty, curing diseases, extending the human lifespan, eliminating discrimination,
building equity, and ending wars. All these and many more progressive ideals are rooted from
the knowledge that science has acquired in many areas such as medicine, engineering,
genetics, data science and mathematics. The knowledge gained through science therefore is
not merely an objective representation of nature but is viewed as a force that impacts social
conditions.
This STS module aims to introduce these ideas and provide students a vehicle for enhancing
interest in learning science and technology. The module presents a conceptual approach to
understanding the historical development of science and technology and how scientific and
technological developments affect the political and social issues in the context of the modern
era. In the course of study, the student is expected to exercise critical thinking in exploring
social contexts of general issues such as the following:
• What entities, individuals or organizations, decide what level of knowledge and
information should be relegated to the public?
• How do we sort what things we should or should not believe?
• Who or what sources of information do we base our beliefs and trust on and how do we
determine their trustworthiness?
• What ethical issues must we consider in using any form of technology? •
How do we formulate and judge policy decisions?
This module also presents some background understanding of the significance of science and
technology in the recent past and their importance in the modern world. It is hoped that through
the course, the student would acquire better understanding and renewed appreciation of doing
science.
What is STS?
Science, Technology, and Society (STS) is the study of how social, political, and cultural values
affect scientific research and technological innovation and these in turn affect society, politics
and culture. STS is the academic field whose interest is to study the relationship and
interactions between scientific knowledge and technological systems to the social, cultural,
political, and economic contexts that shape them and are shaped by them.
This STS course is designed to enable students to appreciate, in broad terms, the societal
impact of developments in science and technology at the global and national level. It focuses
on current issues arising from application of science and technology, how such applications
relate to ethical and political decisions in both the public and private sector, and their effects on
society and life in general.
To illustrate this direct connection between sociopolitical issues and science, consider the story
behind the proposed budget of the Department of Agriculture being deliberated upon by the
Philippine Senate’s Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform Committee back in 2019. The
senate committee apparently questions the rationale behind allocating a big chunk of its
proposed budget for corn research instead of allocating a larger portion to directly help farmers
via seeds and fertilizers assistance. This story had become an issue in the media because of
some remarks made during the hearings that some people may perceive as unsavory or
uncalled for.

Figure 1.1: Department of Agriculture proposed budget deliberation of Philippine Senate in 2019.

Research, along with many other techniques, is an indispensable tool for science to progress.
Although research does take a while to bare fruits, the outcomes of research will inevitably help
its target recipients. Corn research such as research on pest resistant variants will inevitably
help farmers in the long term while seed and fertilizer subsidies may help in the short term.
Given this rationale, doing science research falls along the lines of the old proverb “Give a
man fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you will feed him a lifetime.”
The moral of this story – when sociopolitical issues cross over with science related issues, we
are better off at having scientifically informed citizens in evaluating such issues.
As a student of STS, we ought to make the connections between science and technology to
society especially if decisions about them directly impacts society. Consider the illustration
below.
Figure 1.2: (Left) “This is a mask” illustrating how a face mask should be properly worn. (Middle) Beep card
technology installed in Metro Manila buses. (Right) Isolation sign for areas where disease infected people are
kept for quarantine.
In the above illustration, the STS student should ponder on the following sample guide questions:
• Is wearing of face masks and face shields based on sound scientific and medical
knowledge?
• Does use of Beep card technology reduce the risk of people-to-people germ
transmission?
• Are government mandates on community quarantine protocols a political and social
decision based on sound scientific and medical understanding of disease transmission
and control?

Note that in finding answers to these questions, the student must consider taking a
multi-faceted approach of not only considering the science behind disease transmission but
also considering disease control by using appropriate technologies. It is understood that both
of these have major effects of how people go about their lives especially if regulations are put
into effect in order to prevent further spread of a disease.

What is Science?
All the characteristics and events in the world and in the universe compose the essentials of
human existence. More than we realize, our existence on this planet involves more events
occurring that we could imagine. These events involve living organisms (plants and animals),
inanimate objects (the soil, rocks, and mountains), things that we see and do not see (like
electromagnetism and our own minds), events that amazes us, and events that terrify us
(lightning, earthquakes, tsunamis).

Figure 1.3: The earth has events happening that we humans less too often realize.

When you find yourself observing a phenomenon and asking questions such as “What is going
on?” or “How these events take place?” or “Why is it so?” you are embarking on a journey of
scientific inquiry.
 Figure 1.4: A murmuration of birds collectively flying together and swirling about.
Science is an answer to an inquiry about the physical world and the physical universe. Science
is the knowledge that we get when we ask questions.
Advances in science made many things which we never thought could exist but now abounds
around us. For example, over a hundred years ago, people thought that it is impossible for
humans to fly let alone go to outer space. As people’s scientific knowledge increased, we as a
specie, made flying a reality. Nowadays we have fast-moving airplanes and jets that move
faster than the speed of sound.
Below are some formal definitions of science.
• Science is the collection and documentation of observable facts and an ongoing
discussion about how those facts can best linked together into explanations. • Science is a
systematized body of knowledge covering general truths and facts. Facts are obtained
through observation and experimentation.
• Science is defined as the systematic study of the properties of the physical world by
means of experiments and measurements and the development of objective theories
describing activities and predicting features that could be tested by experiments.
• Science is the knowledge acquired by careful observation, by deduction (logic reasons to
form a conclusion) of the laws which govern changes and condition and by testing
theses deduction by experimentation.

The Scientific Method

Any attempt on finding answers to a scientific inquiry is approached in a more or less similar
fashion. Scientists employ the �������������������� ������ℎ���� in
finding answers to questions. Formally, we define the scientific method as the set of principles
and iterative procedure for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involved in the recognition and
formulation of a scientific inquiry, the formulation of hypotheses, the design and conduct of
experiments to test such hypotheses, the collection of observational and experimental data,
and the analysis and drawing of conclusion from such data. Below is a diagram illustrating the
steps of the scientific method.
 i.e., the problem is specific enough to be investigated,
the next step is to gather information to understand
the problem better.
3. Hypothesis – Formulating a hypothesis is making
an educated outcome or solution to the problem which
can then be tested. 4. Experimentation – Designing
means of testing the hypothesis. Sometimes if not
most of the time, a way of measuring or quantifying
variables are done in order to explore correlations or
causality between variables.
5. Data Analysis – Any pattern suggesting some kind
of correlation or causation should come out of
analyzing the data from the results of the experiment.
Sound decision making on how to move forward must
always be based on empirical evidence whatever the
outcome of the experiment may be.
6. Conclusion – A generalization of the results of the
experiment. A conclusion may also include
implications of the results and possible inferences or
statements of possible effects to other variables.
Figure 1.5: The Scientific
Method.
7. The scientific method does not stop at the
conclusion of an inquiry, but rather the conclusion
provides a new platform of investigating implications
The Branches of Science or inferences from the previous inquiry. The process
1. Question/Problem – Any scientific inquiry starts then circles back to either the modification of the
with identifying the problem or clarifying a question. hypothesis or the exploration of an entirely new
2. Research – Once a question or problem is clarified, problem.

Below is a diagram illustrating the different branches of science and its hierarchical nature. The
text boxes on the right of the diagram are sample subject areas in the general hierarchy of the
sciences. The arrows pointing upwards on each of the sample subject areas indicates that the
lower tier is more fundamental than the upper tier.
 Figure 1.6: The Branches of Science.
Formal Science
The formal sciences are the areas of study aimed at producing knowledge from formal systems
such as mathematics and logic. Mathematical structures are built upon logic structures.
The word ‘formal’ in ‘formal science’ refers to ‘rules of convention’ according to the word’s
dictionary meaning. The word formal is an affirmation of the axiomatic nature of mathematics
and logic, that is, quantitative and logical systems are built upon established self-evident truths
called ������������.
An example of an axiom is the statement “Nothing can both be in a state of being and not being
at the same time and in the same respect.”. To illustrate that this statement is self-evidently
true, consider when one flicks on a light switch of a circuit connecting a light bulb and a power
source. The light bulb cannot be on and off at the same time.

Physical Science
The physical sciences are the branches of science that deals with the study of inanimate
objects. This area includes the study of physical compositions of materials and the processes
they undergo when subjected to change (both physical and chemical). The goal of studying
these areas is to arrive with �������� and ��ℎ������������ that would explain
how and why any physical phenomena happens the way they do. Ultimately, the objective of
the sciences is to understand how the universe behaves.
The physical sciences include subjects such as physics and chemistry and by extension any
interdisciplinary branch, such as engineering and medicine, where these subjects are applied.
Hierarchically, physics is built upon measurements of physical quantities and the mathematical
descriptions of observable natural phenomena. Chemistry builds upon physics and
mathematics.

Life Science
The life sciences are the wide branch of study of every living thing, from the smallest bacteria to
the largest organisms such as the blue whale and the giant sequoia. This branch of study
includes biology, medicine, genetics, botany, zoology, anatomy, ecology, evolution, and many
more interrelated life disciplines.

Social Science
The social sciences are the study of human society and the social interactions happening
within those societies. A �������������� is a group of individuals involved in
persistent ������������ ������������������������, or a large
social group sharing the same social territory. Social interactions include a plethora of
interconnected human activities manifested in human behavior, language, culture, music,
history, law, politics, and religion. Social sciences include the areas of psychology, sociology,
law, history, anthropology, geography, archaeology, linguistics, and economics.

Earth and Space Science

These branches of science scales the study of science to the earth itself and the space
beyond. Earth science explores the interconnectedness of many systems working together in
order to support life on earth. The areas of study include the weather, climate change, the
study of land, ocean, and atmosphere, and the study of various cycles such as those of water,
carbon, rock, and oxygen. By studying how these components interact in order to provide life
support to living organisms, scientists can speculate how similar conditions could provide the
possibility of life existing somewhere else in the universe.
Space science is the exploration and study of space, the study of various objects in space, and
the natural phenomena occurring in space involving these objects. This endeavor
encompasses a wide range of work – from space travel and exploration to practical
applications such as studying how space conditions affect normal biological earth processes
like plant growth or medicine efficacy and production. A lot of space science is also dedicated
to studying objects in space such as planets, stars, galaxies, black holes, dark matter, and
dark energy.

What is Technology?
Technology is science or knowledge put into practical use to solve problems or invent useful
tools. The term technology is mostly used in different mechanical and social contexts such as
those discussed below:
Technology as a tool – Technological tools are made for a purpose – to be of particular use.
Knives are made for cutting, elevators are made for lifting, phones are made for
communication, and planes are made for flight. The impact of technology depends on its
wielder – technology itself is neutral, that is, technology is but an option on ways of how things
are done and does not compel anyone of its use. Fire can be used for cooking, drying and
keeping warm, and protection, but fire can also be used for ruin and destruction.
Technology as a technique – A ������ℎ���������� is a specific way of doing
things. If an activity is done in a specific way using a specific tool, i.e., technology, then
technology can be thought of as a technique. To illustrate this idea, consider the difference
between traditional cooking that uses fossil fuels and compare this to using induction cookers.
Cooking with fire is as old as the discovery of fire itself and it has been ever since, however,
induction cookers do not use fire but uses heat generated by electricity to cook food. Induction
cookers is a technology that performs the same task of cooking but by a specific way of
 performing the same task, i.e., a particular technique.
Technology as a cultural force – �������������� is the collective term we use to
refer to the social behaviour, custom, arts, language, music, norms, knowledge, and beliefs of a
particular group of people. A person who identifies himself or herself as belonging to a certain
culture means that there must be some degree of observance of the cultural components
mentioned that is unique to that culture. This must be true to some extent even if the person
does not totally observe all norms, customs, and traditions of his or her identified cultural
group. A culture therefore has its own standards of perceiving, judging, and evaluating social
issues – even the use of technology. Meanwhile, even if technology in itself is neutral, it does
not mean that we have to downplay or be dismissive of its impact to culture. Take for example
the way we interact socially – at the time when the internet was not yet invented, we make
acquaintances and friends face-to-face where we can meet and bond with other people and
form long lasting relationships with. However today, in the advent of the internet, online
interactions have replaced face-to-face interactions, and we see the prevalence of people
having hundreds and thousands of ‘friends’ in their friends list. We then wonder in this day and
age if such ‘friends’ qualify as ‘friends’ in the sense that we mean by are people to which we
form long lasting relationships with. It is clear then how technology impacts culture. As
technology offers a particular way of doing things and if things done are sociocultural in nature,
we can then see how culture is being modified by the introduction of technology. It is then up to
the guardians of society to evaluate and assess whether the use of technology is acceptable
or not for a certain culture.

How does Science and Technology affect Society?

STS studies how social, political, and cultural values affect scientific research and technological
innovation and these in turn affect society, politics, and culture. STS had its origin as a
discipline originating in the 60s and 70s primarily based on the works of Thomas Kuhn and his
book The Structure of Scientific Revolution (1962).
gradually leading to incremental changes that
impacts society.
Kuhn goes on to saying “Probably, the single
most prevalent claim advanced by the
proponents of a new paradigm is that they can
solve the problems that led the old one to a
crisis…” which also suggest the idea of society
Figure 1.7: Thomas Kuhn. shifting to new ways of thinking and new ways of
Kuhn was an American philosopher of science. doing things as society embrace changes
Kuhn’s account of the development of science brought about by progress in science and
held that “Science enjoys periods of stable growth technology which renders old thinking and old
punctuated by revisionary revolutions.” which ways obsolete.
essentially means that science progresses

STS makes the assumption that science and technology are essentially interlaced and they are
absolutely social and political. So, how does science and technology affect society?
• Science and technology influences society through its knowledge and world view. •
Science and technology have given man a chance to address societal concerns. •
Science and technology have helped improve people’s lives over the years.
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CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 20, series of 2013. General Education Curriculum:
Holistic Understandings, Intellectual and Civic Competencies.
Kuhn, Thomas. (2012). The Structure of Scientific Revolution 50th Anniversary Edition. The
University of Chicago.
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