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Socio-Epistemic Bubbles and Tacit Confidence in Randomized Controlled Trials.
Donghyun Kang1, James Evans2,3,4
1Department of Sociology, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Social Studies of Science
|March 13, 2026
Summary
Socio-epistemic bubbles, regions of social density, increase unwarranted certainty in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). This amplified certainty can prematurely affect medical practice and population health.
Area of Science:
- Medical research methodology
- Social epistemology in science
Background:
- Scientific medicine relies on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) as arbiters of medical claims.
- Discrepancies among RCTs necessitate systematic reviews for reconciliation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To theorize how tacit beliefs and assumptions accumulate within 'socio-epistemic bubbles'.
- To assess the impact of these bubbles on agreement across RCTs and healthcare certainty.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 20,117 meta-analyses from 1,962 Cochrane systematic reviews.
- Examination of social proximity within scientific collaboration networks.
Main Results:
- Closer proximity in 'social space' among researchers correlates with increased agreement across RCTs.
- Amplified certainty within these bubbles can lead to premature convergence in findings.
Conclusions:
- Socio-epistemic bubbles, often obscured, represent a significant social influence in research.
- Accounting for social influences is crucial for improving collective certainty and mitigating premature convergence in policy sciences.
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