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The analysis of national subfields: a case study of Dutch fresh-water ecology

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Abstract

Bibliometric analysis is combined with a psychometric analysis of the perceptions which researchers in a community of Dutch fresh-water ecologists have of their professional environment. The results of these two types of analysis converge and can be understood by an exploration of the institutional and intellectual development of the community and the intellectual continuities in the careers of the researchers involved. International developments appear to be taken up in ways which reflect the particular socio-cognitive organization of the national subfield. The article claims that such national subfields of science constitute a strategic research site for social studies of science which is also directly relevant for science policy analysis. It pleads for the employment of a combination of methods in the synchronic and diachronic analysis of the structures of such subfields.

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Notes and references

  1. DavidSullivan's comments on studies of the effects of funding on knowledge growth provides useful recommendations for the research agenda in this area. He pleads for a focus on subfields or specialties, for longitudinal analysis, for a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, and for a comparative perspective. Quoted in: S. E. COZZENS, ‘Introduction Funding and knowledge growth, Theme section,Social Studies of Science, 16 (1986) 1, 11.

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  5. For a more detailed report on this part of our empirical work see R. P. HAGENDIJK, J. M. CRAMER, Intellectual traditions as cognitive constraints,Social Science Information, 25 (1986) 3, 703–723.

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  6. Although focussing mainly on the cognitive constructs which individuals use to make sense of their world,Kelly's theory is explicit about the cultural and social-psychological aspects of ‘construct’ formation.Coxon andJones have used multidimensional scaling analysis to study the ways in which people perceive social structure and social stratification, and the differences in perception between groups. See: A. P. M. COXON, Ch. L. JONES,The Images of Occupational Prestige: A Study in Social Cognition, London, MacMillan, Edinburgh Studies on Sociology, 1978; G. A. KELLY,A Theory of Personality; The Psychology of Personal Constructs, New York, Norton & Co, 1963 (1955).

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  7. In a complete test there aren(n−1)(n−2)/6 triads. (n=number of points). In order to reduce the amount of time needed to complete the test it is possible to use a balanced Incomplete Block Design. The number of triads in a balanced incomplete block design (=b), in which each pair occurs a specified (=p) number of times, is obtained by multiplying the number of triads in a complete test byp/(n−2). Thusb=p.n.(n−1)/6. Two other conditions are necessary for a balanced incomplete block design of triads:rn=3b; and:p=2r/(n−1). In the latter formula is the number of replications of each stimulus. See M. L. BRTON, S. B. NERLOVE, Balanced designs for triads tests: Two examples for English,Social Science Research, 5 (1976) 247–67.

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  10. We repeated the triadic test after one year with 38% of our total population. Comparison of the results for that group with those of the previous year reveals that there is consirable continuity. See HAGENDIJK et al., op. cit., note 5. 3, 703–723.

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  11. See for further information J. M. CRAMER,Mission-Orientation in Ecology: The Case of Dutch Freshwater Ecology, Amsterdam, Rodopi, 1987.

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  12. A more extensive account of the historical development of the field is given in: J. CRAMER, R. P. HAGENDIJK, Dutch fresh-water ecology: The links between national and international scientific research,Minerva, Vol. XXIII (1985) 3, 43–61.

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  13. ibid..

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  14. See theProceedings Int. Symp. Aquat. Macrophytes, Nijmegen, 18–23 September 1983, in which the reasoning behind the program of the program of the group is presented.

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  18. Self-co-citations were excluded. For technical reasons we had to restrict this calculation to first authors.

  19. The journal-journal citation analysis was made byP. v.d. Schaar on the basis of the methodology developed byL. Leydesdorff. See L. L. Leydesdorff, The development of frames of reference,Scientometrics, 9 (1986) 103.

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  20. A debate on collectivization in science and its consequences was started some years ago byJ. Ziman. See J. Ziman, The collectivisation of science,EASST-Bulletin, 3 (1984) No. 2, 3.

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  1. Department of Science Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018 WV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    R. P. Hagendijk & J. W. Smeenk

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  1. R. P. Hagendijk
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  2. J. W. Smeenk
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Hagendijk, R.P., Smeenk, J.W. The analysis of national subfields: a case study of Dutch fresh-water ecology. Scientometrics 15, 485–508 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02017067

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