The effects of the social and cultural contexts in which scienti®c investigations are embedded
were mostly overlooked by the participants in the previous study. In fact, only 1 participant of that
cohort mentioned the in¯uence of culture on scienti®c practice. In contrast, 7 of 14 preservice
teachers in the present investigation referred to this aspect of the nature of science. In particular,
they described two types of cultural in¯uences. The ®rst involved the in¯uences of the larger
society upon the scienti®c enterprise. The second was the culture of the scienti®c enterprise itself,
including the in¯uences of professional organizations, funding sources, and peer review.