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Are there established sociological studies that focus specifically on error and mistakes?

I am interested in how mistakes occur within social and institutional settings.Rather than individual blame, I want to explore systemic explanations of error.This seems relevant to science, medicine, and organizational studies.

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By Robert Answered 6 months ago

From my experience, sociology approaches error as a social and organizational phenomenon rather than individual failure. I have seen strong work in science and technology studies, medical sociology, and organizational theory that examines how systems produce predictable mistakes. I would recommend looking at research on risk, high-reliability organizations, and institutional accountability, as these areas treat error as an outcome of structures, routines, and power relations rather than simple incompetence.

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