ABSTRACT
Scientific investigation has never been value free. The scientific equivalent of apple pie and motherhood are truth, objectivity, and skepticism; it is an article of faith that these basic beliefs are always in operation. At another set of levels, political considerations bring values to science. In addition, scientists live at particular times in particular cultures and bring society’s values into the laboratory with them. Even the funding of research brings values to an investigation. In an era when science is too expensive to be conducted by self-support, the research agendas and priorities of foundations and funding agencies deeply influence what is valued and what gets done. Most of these value systems are examined by scholars who study science as a social institution; the day-to-day worker does not usually confront these issues.
