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Research productivity and academics’ conceptions of research

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Abstract

This paper asks the question: do people with different levels of research productivity and identification as a researcher think of research differently? It discusses a study that differentiated levels of research productivity among English and Australian academics working in research-intensive environments in three broad discipline areas: science, engineering and technology; social science and humanities; and medicine and health sciences. The paper explores the different conceptions of research held by these academics in terms of their levels of research productivity, their levels of research training, whether they considered themselves an active researcher and a member of a research team, and their disciplinary differences.

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Acknowledgments

Grateful thanks are due to Peter Petocz for providing helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. The survey design and its Australian implementation were funded by a grant from The University of Sydney.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Learning and Teaching Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

    Angela Brew

  2. The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Angela Brew

  3. Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia

    David Boud

  4. Faculty of Arts and Social Science, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    David Boud

  5. Institute of Jeonbuk Education Policy, Chonju, South Korea

    Sang Un Namgung

  6. Graduate School of Education, The University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

    Lisa Lucas

  7. Educational Development and Enhancement Unit, The University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK

    Karin Crawford

  8. Institute for Work-Based Learning, Middlesex University, London, UK

    David Boud

Authors
  1. Angela Brew
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  2. David Boud
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  3. Sang Un Namgung
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  4. Lisa Lucas
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  5. Karin Crawford
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Correspondence to Angela Brew.

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Brew, A., Boud, D., Namgung, S.U. et al. Research productivity and academics’ conceptions of research. High Educ 71, 681–697 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9930-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-015-9930-6

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