Abstract
The clusters of disciplines originally developed by Biglan have been useful guides in classifying or categorizing academic departments. Questions remain, however, as to the validity of the Biglan clusters among a wide range of colleges and universities.
This study provides evidence which supports the validity of the Biglan categories by showing how faculty salaries and instructional staffing patterns differ among departments along the dimensions described by Biglan.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Biglan, A. The characteristics of subject matter in different academic areas.Journal of Applied Psychology 1973a,57 195–203.
Biglan, A. Relationship between subject matter characteristics and the structure and output of university departments.Journal of Applied Psychology 1973b,57 204–213.
Gilbert, C. C. Stability of independent variables as predictors of faculty salary across institutions. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Illinois Association for Institutional Research, Allerton Park, Ill., September 1978.
Kruskal, J. B. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling: A numerical approach.Psychometrika 1964,29 28–42.
Kuhn, T. S.The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962.
Oklahoma State University, Office of Institutional Research. 1978–79 faculty salary survey by discipline. Stillwater: Oklahoma State University, 1979.
Smart, J. C., and Elton, C. F. Goal orientations of academic departments: A test of Biglan's model.Journal of Applied Psychology 1975,60 580–588.
Smart, J. C. and Elton, C. F. Administrative roles of department chairmen. In J. C. Smart and J. R. Montgomery (Eds.),Managing academic departments. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1976.
Smart, J. C. and McLaughlin, G. W. Reward structures of academic disciplines.Research in Higher Education 1978,8 39–55.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Muffo, J.A., Langston, I.W. Biglan's dimensions: Are the perceptions empirically based?. Res High Educ 15, 141–159 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00979594
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00979594