The Cultural Constitution of “Bias” in Experimental Physics

This ethnographic and interdisciplinary project investigates how the concept of “bias” is defined and practically managed in large-scale experimental physics, where experiments cannot be easily replicated and the epistemic credibility of results is especially critical. Based on qualitative research with physicists participating in the MUSE experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland, the project examines which types of bias are perceived as more severe or dangerous than others, how disagreements about bias unfold among researchers from different professional backgrounds, and how cultural, moral, and professional assumptions shape what counts as a “bias-free” scientific result.

The research is conducted in close collaboration with Prof. Guy Ron (Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and combines ethnographic interviews, participant observation, and textual analysis at the intersection of anthropology, history and philosophy of science, and science and technology studies.

A central infrastructure for the project is an interdisciplinary reading group on bias in scientific research, co-led with Prof. Raz Chen-Morris (Department of History, Hebrew University) and Prof. Ron. The group includes MA and PhD students from anthropology, experimental and theoretical physics, Jewish thought, history, disability studies, and gender studies, and is currently supported by the Edelstein Center for the History and Philosophy of Science at the Hebrew University.