Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Departmental Contexts and Faculty Research Activity in Norway

  • Published:
Research in Higher Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to examine the relationship between departmental attributes and university faculty research activity. Since individual and departmental factors are highly interrelated, individual attributes are included in a hierarchical linear model taking into consideration the nested structure of the data. Research activity is measured by research input in terms of time spent on research activities, and research output in terms of publications. The contextual factors have greatest impact on the indicator that is considered to be most essential when assessing research performance: published scientific articles. Department climate, age structure, as well as proportion of faculty members’ with PhD’s have significant impact on research output.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • P. G Altbach (Eds) (1996) The International Academic Profession: Portraits of Fourteen Countries Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • T. Becher P. R. Trowler (2001) Academic Tribes and Territories Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press Buckingham

    Google Scholar 

  • M. L. Bellas R. K. Toutkoushian (1999) ArticleTitleFaculty time allocations and research productivity: gender, race and family effects Review of Higher Education 22 IssueID4 367–390

    Google Scholar 

  • L. Bennich-Björkman (1997) Organising Innovative Research: The Inner Life of University Departments Pergamon Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • R. T. Blackburn C. E. Behymer D. E. Hall (1978) ArticleTitleResearch note: correlates of faculty publications Sociology of Education 51 IssueID2 132–141

    Google Scholar 

  • P. M. Blau (1975) Structural constraints of status complements L. A. Coser (Eds) The Idea of Social Structure: Paper in Honour of Robert K. Merton Harcourt Brace Jovanovich New York 117–138

    Google Scholar 

  • A. Bonaccorsi C. Daraio (2003) ArticleTitleAge effects in scientific productivity – the case of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) Scientometrics 58 IssueID1 49–90 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1025427507552

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J. M. Braxton L. L. Hargens (1996) Variation among academic disciplines: analytical frameworks and research J. C. Smart (Eds) Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research NumberInSeriesIX Agathon Press New York 1–46

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Callon J. Law A. Rip (Eds) (1986) Mapping the Dynamics of Science and Technology Macmillan London

    Google Scholar 

  • B. R. Clark (1983) The Higher Education System: Academic Organization in Cross-National Perspective University of California Press Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • J. E. Cohen (1991) ArticleTitleSize, age and productivity of scientific and technical research groups Scientometrics 20 IssueID3 395–416 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF02019761

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J. R. Cole S. Cole (1972) ArticleTitleThe Ortega hypothesis Science 178 368–375

    Google Scholar 

  • J. R. Cole H. Zuckerman (1984) The productivity puzzle: persistence and change in patterns of publication of men and women scientists P. Maehr M. W. Steinkam (Eds) Advances in Motivation and Achievement NumberInSeriesVol. 2, JAI Press Greenwich 217–258

    Google Scholar 

  • H. M. Collins T. Pinch (1998) The Golem: What You Should Know about Science Cambridge University Press Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • I. Crewe (1988) ArticleTitleReputation, research and reality: the publication records of U.K. departments of politics, 1978–1984 Scientometrics 14 IssueID3–4 235–250 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF02020077

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • H. Dundar D. R. Lewis (1998) ArticleTitleDeterminants of research productivity in higher education Research in Higher Education 39 IssueID6 607–631 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1018705823763

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M. F. Fox (1992) ArticleTitleResearch, teaching, and publication productivity: mutuality versus competition in academia Sociology of Education 65 IssueID4 293–305

    Google Scholar 

  • J. P. Gander (1999) ArticleTitleFaculty gender effects on academic research and teaching Research in Higher Education 40 IssueID2 171–184 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1018782513285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J. Golden F. V. Carstensen (1992a) ArticleTitleAcademic research, productivity, department size␣and organization: further results, comment Economics of Education Review 11 IssueID2 153–160 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0272-7757(92)90005-N

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J. Golden F. V. Carstensen (1992b) ArticleTitleAcademic research, productivity, department size and organization: further results, rejoinder Economics of Education Review 11 IssueID2 169–171 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0272-7757(92)90007-P

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J. M. Gulbrandsen (2000) Research Quality and Organizational Factors: An Investigation of the Relationship Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management Trondheim

    Google Scholar 

  • J. J. Hox (1995) Applied Multilevel Analysis TT-Publikaties Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • J. M. Jordan M. Meador S. J. K. Walters (1989) ArticleTitleAcademic research productivity, department size and organization: further results Economics of Education Review 8 IssueID4 345–352 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0272-7757(89)90020-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J. S. Katz B. R. Martin (1997) ArticleTitleWhat is research collaboration? Research Policy 26 IssueID1 1–18 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0048-7333(96)00917-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • T. Kuhn (1962) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions University of Chicago Press Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • S. Kyvik (1990) ArticleTitleAge and scientific productivity – differences between fields of learning Higher Education 19 IssueID1 37–55 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00142022

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • S. Kyvik (1991) Productivity in Academia: Scientific Publishing at Norwegian Universities Scandinavian University Press Oslo

    Google Scholar 

  • S. Kyvik (1995) ArticleTitleAre big university departments better than small ones? Higher Education 30 IssueID3 295–304 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF01383753

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • S. Kyvik (2003) ArticleTitleChanging trends in publishing behaviour among university faculty, 1980–2000 Scientometrics 58 IssueID1 35–48 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1025475423482

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • S. Kyvik O.-J. Skodvin J.-C. Smeby S. L. Sundnes (2001) Expansion, reorganization, and discontent among academic staff – the Norwegian case J. Enders (Eds) Academic Staff in Europe: Changing Contexts and Conditions Greenwood Press Westport, Connecticut 217–232

    Google Scholar 

  • S. Kyvik J.-C. Smeby (1994) ArticleTitleTeaching and research: The relationship between the supervision of graduate students and faculty research performance Higher Education 28 IssueID2 227–239 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF01383730

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • S. Kyvik M. Teigen (1996) ArticleTitleChild care, research collaboration and gender differences in scientific productivity Science, Technology& Human Values 21 IssueID1 54–71

    Google Scholar 

  • B. Latour (1987) Science in Action Harvard University Press Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • S. G. Levin P. E. Stephan (1991) ArticleTitleResearch productivity over the life cycle: evidence for academic scientists American Economic Review 81 IssueID1 114–132

    Google Scholar 

  • J. S. Long (1978) ArticleTitleProductivity and academic position in the scientific career American Sociological Review 43 889–908

    Google Scholar 

  • B. Martin J. Skea (1992) Academic Research Performance Indicators: An Assessment of the Possibilities SPRU, University of Sussex Brighton

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Meador S. J. K. Walters J. M. Jordan (1992) ArticleTitleAcademic research productivity: reply, still further results Economics of Education Review 11 IssueID2 161–167 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0272-7757(92)90006-O

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • E. Narin K. Stevens E. S. Whitlow (1991) ArticleTitleScientific cooperation in Europe and the citation of multinationally authored papers Scientometrics 21 IssueID3 313–323 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF02093973

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • InstitutionalAuthorNameOECD (1994) Proposed Standard Practice for Surveys of Research and Experimental Development: “Frascati Manua” 1993 Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • D. C. Pelz F. M. Andrews (1976) Scientists in Organizations: Productive Climates for Research and Development Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI

    Google Scholar 

  • S. R. Porter P. D. Umbach (2001) ArticleTitleAnalyzing faculty workload data using multilevel modeling Research in Higher Education 42 IssueID2 171–196 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1026573503271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • N. Pravdic V. Olic-Vukovic (1986) ArticleTitleDual approach to multiple authorship in the study of collaboration/scientific output relationship Scientometrics 10 IssueID5–6 259–280 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF02016774

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • K. Prpic (2002) ArticleTitleGender and productivity differentials in science Scientometrics 55 IssueID1 27–58 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1016046819457

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P. Ramsden (1994) ArticleTitleDescribing and explaining research productivity Higher Education 28 IssueID2 207–226 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF01383729

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • S. W. Raudenbush A. S. Bryk (2002) Hierarchical Linear Models: Applications and Data Analysis Methods SAGE Publications Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • J. Rey-Rocha M. J. Martin-Sempere B. Garzon (2002) ArticleTitleResearch productivity of scientists in consolidated vs. non-consolidated teams: the case of Spanish university geologists Scientometrics 55 IssueID1 137–156 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1016059222182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • G. Rhoades (2001) ArticleTitleManaging productivity in an academic institution: rethinking the whom, which, what, and whose of productivity Research in Higher Education 42 IssueID5 619–632 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1011006511651

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • L. J. Sax L. S. Hagedorn M. Arredondo F. A. Dicrisi (2002) ArticleTitleFaculty research productivity: exploring the role of gender and family-related factors Research in Higher Education 43 IssueID4 423–446 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1015575616285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sivertsen, G. (2004). Kan universitetene rangeres etter forskning? Forskningspolitikk (2): 10–11.

  • J.-C. Smeby (2003) ArticleTitleThe impact of massification on university research Tertiary Education and Management 9 IssueID2 131–144 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1023584216560

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smeby, J.-C. and Trondal, J. (in press). Globalisation or Europeanisation? International contact among university staff. Higher Education.

  • T. A. B. Snijders R. J. Bosker (1999) Multilevel Analysis: An Introduction to Basic and Advanced Multilevel Modelling SAGE Publications London

    Google Scholar 

  • R. Whitley (1984) The Intellectual and Social Organization of the Sciences Clarendon Press Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Y. Xie K. A. Shauman (1998) ArticleTitleSex differences in research productivity: new evidence about an old puzzle American Sociological Review 63 IssueID6 847–870

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for the Studies of Professions, Oslo University College, St. Olavs plass, Post box 4, N-0130, Oslo, Norway

    Jens-Christian Smeby

  2. Research and Education, NIFU STEP - Studies in Innovation, Oslo, Norway

    Jens-Christian Smeby & Sverre Try

Authors
  1. Jens-Christian Smeby
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sverre Try
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jens-Christian Smeby.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Smeby, JC., Try, S. Departmental Contexts and Faculty Research Activity in Norway. Res High Educ 46, 593–619 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-004-4136-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-004-4136-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation