Graphism thesis

In sociology of science, the graphism thesis is a proposition of Bruno Latour that graphs are important in science.

Research has shown that one can distinguish between hard science and soft science disciplines based on the level of graph use, so it can be argued that there is a correlation between scientificity and visuality.

{{cite journal

|last1=Arsenault |first1=D. J.

|last2=Smith |first2=L. D

|last3=Beauchamp |first3=E. A.

|year=2006

|title=Visual Inscriptions in the Scientific Hierarchy

|journal=Science Communication

|volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=376

|doi=10.1177/1075547005285030

}}

{{cite journal

|last1=Smith |first1=L. D.

|year=2000

|title=Scientific Graphs and the Hierarchy of the Sciences

|journal=Social Studies of Science

|volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=73–94

|doi=10.1177/030631200030001003

|jstor=285770

|display-authors=etal}} Furthermore, natural sciences publications appear to make heavier use of graphs than mathematical and social sciences.

{{cite journal

|last1=Cleveland |first1=W. S.

|year=1984

|title=Graphs in Scientific Publications

|journal=The American Statistician

|volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=261–9

|doi=10.2307/2683400

|jstor=2683400

}}

It has been claimed that an example of a discipline that uses graphs heavily but is not at all scientific is technical analysis.{{cite web

|last1=Mann

|first1=B.

|date=5 January 2001

|title=Is Technical Analysis Voodoo?

|url=http://www.fool.com/news/foth/2001/foth010105.htm

|work=Fool on the Hill

|publisher=Fool.com

|access-date=21 February 2008

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209134602/http://www.fool.com/news/foth/2001/foth010105.htm

|archive-date=9 February 2008

|url-status=dead

}}