Individual scientists have interests in their own careers, for example, in publishing papers, gaining jobs and promotions, and winning honors. They can also develop a psychological interest in particular theories and methods. These different interests are often interconnected. Governments fund research by corporations and universities. Corporations fund research by medical professionals.
Individual scientists build up careers in government or corporate labs.
The interests model of science is quite a contrast to the traditional model of science as a search for truth which is guided by norms such as skepticism, universality, and communality. Using the interests model, we would expect the scientific community to respond to the most salient interests. For example, because certain chemical companies make a lot of money selling pesticides, they heavily fund research in pesticides, do not fund much research in alternatives to pesticides, and are threatened by adverse findings about pesticides. Just as important as these direct links between interests and research are indirect influences. Priorities for seemingly independent fields can be influenced by chemical company interests.