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Post-interdisciplinary frames of reference: exploring permeability and perceptions of disciplinarity in the social sciences

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Listed:
  • Timothy D. Bowman

    (Indiana University Bloomington)

  • Andrew Tsou

    (Indiana University Bloomington)

  • Chaoqun Ni

    (Indiana University Bloomington)

  • Cassidy R. Sugimoto

    (Indiana University Bloomington)

Abstract

The ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database contains records for approximately 2.3 million dissertations conferred at 1,490 research institutions across 66 countries. Despite the scope of the Dissertations and Theses database, no study has explicitly sought to validate the accuracy of the ProQuest SCs. This research examines the degree to which ProQuest SCs serve as proxies for disciplinarity, the relevance of doctoral work to doctoral graduates’ current work, and the permeability of disciplines from the perspective of the mismatch between SCs and disciplinarity. To examine these issues we conducted a survey of 2009–2010 doctoral graduates, cluster-sampled from Economics, Political Science, and Sociology ProQuest SCs. The results from the survey question the utility of traditional disciplinary labels and suggest that scholars may occupy a post-interdisciplinary space in which they move freely across disciplinary boundaries and identify with topics instead of disciplines.

Suggested Citation

  • Timothy D. Bowman & Andrew Tsou & Chaoqun Ni & Cassidy R. Sugimoto, 2014. "Post-interdisciplinary frames of reference: exploring permeability and perceptions of disciplinarity in the social sciences," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(3), pages 1695-1714, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:101:y:2014:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-014-1338-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-014-1338-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cassidy R. Sugimoto & Chaoqun Ni & Terrell G. Russell & Brenna Bychowski, 2011. "Academic genealogy as an indicator of interdisciplinarity: An examination of dissertation networks in Library and Information Science," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 62(9), pages 1808-1828, September.
    2. Jens Peter Andersen & Björn Hammarfelt, 2011. "Price revisited: on the growth of dissertations in eight research fields," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 88(2), pages 371-383, August.
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    5. Cassidy R. Sugimoto & Chaoqun Ni & Terrell G. Russell & Brenna Bychowski, 2011. "Academic genealogy as an indicator of interdisciplinarity: An examination of dissertation networks in Library and Information Science," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 62(9), pages 1808-1828, September.
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    7. Loet Leydesdorff & Daniele Rotolo & Ismael Rafols, 2012. "Bibliometric perspectives on medical innovation using the medical subject Headings of PubMed," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(11), pages 2239-2253, November.
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    9. Millar, Morgan M., 2013. "Interdisciplinary research and the early career: The effect of interdisciplinary dissertation research on career placement and publication productivity of doctoral graduates in the sciences," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(5), pages 1152-1164.
    10. Alan L. Porter & Ismael Rafols, 2009. "Is science becoming more interdisciplinary? Measuring and mapping six research fields over time," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 81(3), pages 719-745, December.
    11. Jennifer Dykema & John Stevenson & Lisa Klein & Yujin Kim & Brendan Day, "undated". "Effects of E-Mailed Versus Mailed Invitations and Incentives on Response Rates, Data Quality, and Costs in a Web Survey of University Faculty," Mathematica Policy Research Reports d3e2eb6640e040ee943fd8b80, Mathematica Policy Research.
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