Social Studies of Science

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more information

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Leahey, E.
Right arrow Articles by Reikowsky, R. C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Social Studies of Science, Vol. 38, No. 3, 425-440 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0306312707086190

Research Specialization and Collaboration Patterns in Sociology

Erin Leahey

Department of Sociology, University of Arizona, P.O. Box 210027, Tucson, AZ 85721-0027, USA, leahey{at}u.arizona.edu

Ryan C. Reikowsky

Department of Sociology, University of Arizona, P.O. Box 210027, Tucson, AZ 85721-0027, USA, rcreikow{at}u.arizona.edu

Researchers interested in the structure of scientific fields have documented increases in specialization and collaboration. How, if at all, are these two trends related? Is specialization so severe that scholars cannot collaborate unless they share specific research interests? Or, have specializing tendencies promoted research that joins specialty areas and broaches new topics? We answer these important questions for a single discipline, sociology, using both qualitative interviews and latent profile analysis. We empirically identify three collaborative styles that depend on both the areas and extent of specialization in coauthors' research programs. The prominence of the reinforcing generalist profile suggests that specialization in science mainly serves to encourage scholars to work with others in their specialty area. However, the existence of two other styles — a more complementary one and one that is characterized by migration into new intellectual terrain — suggests that subfields within sociology are permeable enough to permit boundary-spanning, original research.

Key Words: coauthorship • collaboration • research teams • social science specialization


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?