Sociology of Expectations

The current paper highlights the sociology of expectaions, based on viewing expectations as generative visions aimed at rationalizing and guiding decision-making, as well as their leading role in framing and governing innovation and the use of modern technologies. Consequently, the paper considers expectaions to be one of the important knowledge products in future studies that help direct the scientific framework towards discovery and innovation, in addition to guiding and rationalizing decision-making and policies. Expectations are a catalyst for social, economic, and political change, and a mechanism for social and economic transformation in contemporary society. The problematic research question around which the current paper revolves is: What is the nature of the outputs of future studies? Are the expectations provided by these future studies certain? Are expectations useful in building scenarios and managing future crises? The paper presents an analytical overview of the importance of expectations in the structure of contemporary science, as a central aspect of the processes of developing science and technology and a key element in analyzing and understanding scientific and technological change. The study attempts to indicate the importance of building expectations and scenarios in managing human life in general, and in managing and governing innovation in technological research in particular, concluding that expectations are crucial for scenario building and crisis management planning.