Scientific community through grid-group analysis

Grid-group map was introduced by Mary Douglas as a tool of anthropological analysis. Several studies have been applying this approach to study social phenomena, but very few concerning the scientific community. The paper aims to bridge the current gap, building sociological ideal-types in the scientific community based on grid-group analysis. Firstly we illustrate the main features of Douglas’ grid-group analysis, until the latest studies developed in social sciences. Then, we apply Douglas’ approach to a sample of scientists, reporting scholars’ stances in the grid-group plane. Finally we suggest a new elaboration of grid-group analysis and some ideas for further research.