IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/rfa/smcjnl/v6y2018i1p11-25.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Framing the Game: An Architectonic Analogue for Meta-Theorizing Academic Activities

Author

Listed:
  • Brian H Spitzberg

Abstract

A radical reformulation is proposed for explaining paradigm fragmentation. The broader topography of academic activities is conceptualized according to an academic game-theoretic analogue (GTA). According to this analogue, scholarly and academic activities reflect a competitive field of play and of plays. Criteria such as attention, compensation, awards, publications, tenure, and mobility become the scarce valued resources distributed in the game based on the plays that players enact. In an effort to reveal the heuristic potential of the theoretical analogy, these threads are traced across a broad array of humanistic and scientific theories and scholarship, including connections among Wittgenstein, Popper, Kuhn, Feyerabend, Goffman, Foucault, Bourdieu and Lyotard.

Suggested Citation

  • Brian H Spitzberg, 2018. "Framing the Game: An Architectonic Analogue for Meta-Theorizing Academic Activities," Studies in Media and Communication, Redfame publishing, vol. 6(1), pages 11-25, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:rfa:smcjnl:v:6:y:2018:i:1:p:11-25
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://redfame.com/journal/index.php/smc/article/view/2943/3251
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://redfame.com/journal/index.php/smc/article/view/2943
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alison Abbott & David Cyranoski & Nicola Jones & Brendan Maher & Quirin Schiermeier & Richard Van Noorden, 2010. "Metrics: Do metrics matter?," Nature, Nature, vol. 465(7300), pages 860-862, June.
    2. Kalyan Chatterjee & Robert C. Marshall, 2014. "A Game-Theoretic Model of Tenure," International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, in: Kalyan Chatterjee & William Samuelson (ed.), Game Theory and Business Applications, edition 2, chapter 0, pages 287-305, Springer.
    3. João Ricardo Faria, 2005. "The Game Academics Play: Editors versus Authors," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(1), pages 1-12, January.
    4. João Ricardo Faria & Gonçalo Monteiro, 2008. "The Tenure Game: Building Up Academic Habits," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 59(3), pages 370-380, September.
    5. Hanna-Mari Aula & Janne Tienari & Arild Wæraas, 2015. "The University Branding Game," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(2), pages 164-179, April.
    6. Moldoveanu, Mihnea, 2002. "Language, games and language games," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 233-251.
    7. Joao Ricardo Faria, 2000. "The Game Academics Play: Editors Versus Authors," Working Paper Series 105, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney.
    8. Daniele Fanelli, 2009. "How Many Scientists Fabricate and Falsify Research? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Survey Data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 4(5), pages 1-11, May.
    9. Vincent P. Crawford, 2016. "New Directions for Modelling Strategic Behavior: Game-Theoretic Models of Communication, Coordination, and Cooperation in Economic Relationships," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(4), pages 131-150, Fall.
    10. Han Woo Park & Loet Leydesdorff, 2009. "Knowledge linkage structures in communication studies using citation analysis among communication journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 81(1), pages 157-175, October.
    11. John Bishop, 2006. "Moral Intuitions versus Game Theory: A Response to Marcoux on Résumé Embellishing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 67(2), pages 181-189, August.
    12. Ulrik W Nash, 2014. "The Curious Anomaly of Skewed Judgment Distributions and Systematic Error in the Wisdom of Crowds," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(11), pages 1-17, November.
    13. Janssen, Marco A. & Rollins, Nathan D., 2012. "Evolution of cooperation in asymmetric commons dilemmas," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 220-229.
    14. Pierre Azoulay & Christian Fons-Rosen & Joshua S. Graff Zivin, 2019. "Does Science Advance One Funeral at a Time?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(8), pages 2889-2920, August.
    15. George A. Barnett & Catherine Huh & Youngju Kim & Han Woo Park, 2011. "Citations among communication journals and other disciplines: a network analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 88(2), pages 449-469, August.
    16. Julia Grant & Timothy Fogarty, 1998. "Faculty evaluation as a social dilemma: a game theoretic approach," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(3), pages 225-248.
    17. Henry Mintzberg, 1985. "The Organization As Political Arena," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 133-154, March.
    18. Attila V. Varga, 2011. "Measuring the semantic integrity of scientific fields: a method and a study of sociology, economics and biophysics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 88(1), pages 163-177, July.
    19. Conor Mayo-Wilson & Kevin Zollman & David Danks, 2013. "Wisdom of crowds versus groupthink: learning in groups and in isolation," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 42(3), pages 695-723, August.
    20. João Ricardo Faria & Gonçalo Monteiro, "undated". "The Tenure Game: Building Up Academic Habits," Discussion Papers 05/32, Department of Economics, University of York.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Besancenot, Damien & Huynh, Kim & Vranceanu, Radu, 2006. "The "Read or Write" Dilemma in Academic Production: A European Perspective," ESSEC Working Papers DR 06021, ESSEC Research Center, ESSEC Business School.
    2. Damien Besancenot & Kim Huynh & Radu Vranceanu, 2009. "The ‘Read or Write’ Dilemma in Academic Production: A Transatlantic Perspective," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 53(1), pages 75-84, March.
    3. João Ricardo Faria & Rajeev K. Goel, 2016. "Academic Publication Uncertainty and Publishing Behavior: A Game-Theoretic Perspective," CESifo Working Paper Series 6176, CESifo.
    4. João Faria & Rajeev Goel, 2010. "Returns to networking in academia," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 103-117, July.
    5. Bruce B. Svare, 2020. "A Cautionary Tale for Psychology and Higher Education in Asia: Following Western Practices of Incentivising Scholarship May Have Negative Outcomes," Psychology and Developing Societies, , vol. 32(1), pages 94-121, March.
    6. Besancenot, Damien & Vranceanu, Radu, 2008. "Can incentives for research harm research? A business schools' tale," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 1248-1265, June.
    7. Everett, Jeff, 2008. "Editorial proximity equals publication success: A function of rational self-interest or good-faith economy?," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 19(8), pages 1149-1176.
    8. Guillaume Cabanac, 2012. "Shaping the landscape of research in information systems from the perspective of editorial boards: A scientometric study of 77 leading journals," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(5), pages 977-996, May.
    9. Guillaume Cabanac, 2012. "Shaping the landscape of research in information systems from the perspective of editorial boards: A scientometric study of 77 leading journals," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(5), pages 977-996, May.
    10. Chung Joo Chung & George A. Barnett & Kitae Kim & Derek Lackaff, 2013. "An analysis on communication theory and discipline," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 95(3), pages 985-1002, June.
    11. Alberto Baccini & Cristina Re, 2023. "Who are the gatekeepers of economics? Geographic diversity, gender composition, and interlocking editorship of journal boards," Papers 2304.04242, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2024.
    12. Alberto Baccini & Lucio Barabesi, 2010. "Interlocking editorship. A network analysis of the links between economic journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 82(2), pages 365-389, February.
    13. Faria, João Ricardo & Mixon, Franklin G. & Salter, Sean P., 2012. "An economic model of workplace mobbing in academe," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 720-726.
    14. Berg, Nathan & Faria, Joao, 2008. "Negatively correlated author seniority and the number of acknowledged people: Name-recognition as a signal of scientific merit?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 1234-1247, June.
    15. Damien Besancenot & Kim Huynh & Joao Faria, 2012. "Search and research: the influence of editorial boards on journals’ quality," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 73(4), pages 687-702, October.
    16. Joao R. Faria & Damien Besancenot & Andréas J. Novak, 2009. "Paradigm depletion, knowledge production and research effort," CEPN Working Papers halshs-00447302, HAL.
    17. Mirucki, Jean & Poshyvak, Maria, 2006. ""Ukraine" in scholarly publications: An analysis based on econLit," MPRA Paper 29090, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Mirucki, Jean & Nicot, Bernadette & Poshyvak, Maria, 2007. "What Can EconLit Reveal Us About Ukraine's Scholarly Production?," MPRA Paper 29089, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Keeheon Lee & Hyojung Jung & Min Song, 2016. "Subject–method topic network analysis in communication studies," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 109(3), pages 1761-1787, December.
    20. Gohar Feroz Khan & Sungjoon Lee & Ji Young Park & Han Woo Park, 2016. "Theories in communication science: a structural analysis using webometrics and social network approach," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 108(2), pages 531-557, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    disciplinary evolution; game theory; meta-theory; paradigm; strategic communication;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rfa:smcjnl:v:6:y:2018:i:1:p:11-25. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Redfame publishing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cepflch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.