The first research area “epistemology” discusses features unique to science, highlighting what distinguishes science from other social fields.  

The second research area “legitimation and normativity” is substantiated, on the one hand, by the need to explain and justify the interactions between science and society and the internal arrangements of the scientific field. On the other hand, it arises from the fact that scientific knowledge and especially scientific expertise are being used by other fields, particularly by politics, to argue for and legitimize their decisions.   

The third research area “functional differentiation” describes the functional differentiation of contemporary societies. Moreover, it emphasizes the relationship between science and other social fields, as well as the functional differentiation characteristic for society.  

The fourth research area “social differentiation” expresses that there are socio-structural processes of differentiation. These become effective when related to other social fields and within science.