Distinguo - science versus scientists

An interesting distinction often elided. Obfuscating the distinction between practitioners of the domain. From Does Activism in Social Science Explain Conservatives’ Distrust of Scientists? by Nathan Cofnas, et al. I don't have access to the paper beyond the paywall so cannot discern the quality but the abstract is:

Data from the General Social Survey suggest that conservatives have become less trustful of scientists since the 1970s. Gauchat argues that this is because conservatives increasingly see scientific findings as threatening to their worldview. However, the General Social Survey data concern trust in scientists, not in science. We suggest that conservatives’ diminishing trust in scientists reflects the fact that scientists in certain fields, particularly social science, have increasingly adopted a liberal-activist stance, seeking to influence public policy in a liberal direction.

Activism always entails some degree of confirmation bias. The more prevalent activist/political practitioners become within a knowledge domain, the more probable it is that the quality of research declines owing to confirmation bias (among many other possible consequences.) So if a field becomes politicized, one should become more skeptical of the practitioners even though one's respect for the relevance of the field might remain constant.