Tracing epistemic effects of research governance: a mixed-method approach

One of the challenges in the sociology of science is to increase our ability to describe and analyze the epistemic effects of research governance. One reason for our current limitations in doing so is an epistemic divide between different fields that study (parts of) this question. Science policy studies focus on developments in research governance but lack interest in its epistemic effects. Studies of epistemic properties of research often lack interest in the institutional environment in which research is conducted. Moreover, scientometric methods are not often combined with qualitative methodologies. This lack of mixing methods hampers progress because for the study of the epistemic effects of research governance it is often necessary to employ a range of methods at the same time. This research-in-progress paper reports on an in-depth study of a biomedical research school in the Netherlands. Over the last 20 years, spurred on by science policy and external evaluations, the school has attempted to bring about more integration in its research program. We aim to offer a mixed-method approach that can be used to advance the sociology of science its ability to trace epistemic effects of attempts to steer research content in public research organizations.