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Interdisciplinary Research Centers View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Tennessee, Knoxville: Trace University of Tennessee, Knoxville Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 12-2012 Impacts of an Interdisciplinary Research Center on Participant Publication and Collaboration Activities Pamela Rene Bishop [email protected] Recommended Citation Bishop, Pamela Rene, "Impacts of an Interdisciplinary Research Center on Participant Publication and Collaboration Activities. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2012. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/1511 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Pamela Rene Bishop entitled "Impacts of an Interdisciplinary Research Center on Participant Publication and Collaboration Activities." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Educational Psychology and Research. Gary J. Skolits, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Schuyler W. Huck, Jennifer K. Richards, Bonnie H. Ownley Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official student records.) Impacts of an Interdisciplinary Research Center on Participant Publication and Collaboration Activities A Dissertation Presented for The Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Pamela Rene Bishop December 2012 ii Copyright © 2012 by Pamela Bishop All rights reserved. iii Dedication I dedicate this work to my husband and best friend, Todd, whose selfless support, understanding, and encouragement has been a great source of strength. I also dedicate this work to my sweet children Grayson and Lila. I started this journey for me, but I ended it for you—never, never, never give up. iv Acknowledgements I would like first and foremost to thank my committee chair, Dr. Gary Skolits, for his guidance, wisdom, and understanding through the years. His encouragement and kindness have been invaluable during my graduate career. I would also like to thank my dissertation committee members, Dr. Sky Huck, Dr. Jennifer Richards, and Dr. Bonnie Ownley, for their support and assistance throughout this dissertation process. I would like to also thank The National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NSF Award #EF-0832858) for providing funding for my graduate studies, and would like to sincerely thank my director Dr. Louis Gross for his continual advice and encouragement regarding my research career. I would also like to thank my supervisor Dr. Christopher Welsh for allowing me time to pursue my studies. To all my parents, Ed and Barbara Baird, and Rita and Carl Willson, I give my thanks for your love and support over the years. Thank you for believing in me. Last but not least, thank you to my wonderful and amazing husband Todd Bishop, who did a lot of single parenting of two young children while I took evening classes, worked on homework, traveled to conferences, and stayed late at the office to complete a myriad of projects. You are my rock and I am so fortunate to have you in my life. v Abstract Interdisciplinary research centers are typically presented as a means for exploiting opportunities in science where the complexity of the research problem calls for sustained interaction among multiple disciplines. This study analyzed the effects of an interdisciplinary research center (NIMBioS) on the publication and collaboration behaviors of faculty affiliated with the center. The study also sought to determine what factors contributed to these effects for participants whose publication and collaboration behaviors were changed the most after affiliation. The study employed a mixed-method case study approach, using quantitative bibliometric data along with qualitative data collected from interviews. Publication data for each participant in the study was collected from Web of Science (WOS) and analyzed by year against several demographic control variables to understand what effect affiliation with NIMBioS had on publication behaviors of participants. In addition to bibliometrics, a selection of study participants who demonstrated the most change in publication and collaboration behaviors since their affiliation with NIMBioS were interviewed to determine (a) what benefits (if any) participants felt they achieved as a result of participating in their working group, and (b) what factors (if any) participants felt may have contributed to the impact of NIMBioS affiliation on their publication and collaboration behavior. Results of the study indicate that affiliation with a NIMBioS working group has a significant positive effect on participant collaboration activities (i.e. number of co- authors, number of international co-authors, number of cross-institutional co-authors), vi and a moderate effect on publication activities (i.e. publishing in new fields). Qualitative analysis of interdisciplinarity showed a shift in publication WOS subject categories (SCs) toward mathematical fields. Factors contributing to success cited by interviewees included organized leadership, a positive atmosphere, breaking into sub-groups, and the ability to collaborate with researchers with whom they would not have interacted outside of the group. vii Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 Prevalence of Interdisciplinary Research ....................................................................... 1 Interdisciplinary Research Centers ................................................................................. 4 Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................ 5 Purposes of the Study ..................................................................................................... 9 Importance of the Study .................................................................................................. 9 Context of the Study ..................................................................................................... 10 Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 12 Assumptions .................................................................................................................. 13 Limitations .................................................................................................................... 13 Internal Validity ........................................................................................................ 13 External Validity ....................................................................................................... 15 Other Validity Concerns ........................................................................................... 16 Study Methodology ....................................................................................................... 16 Definition of Terms ...................................................................................................... 19 Organization of the Study ............................................................................................. 20 Chapter 2 Literature Review ............................................................................................ 22 Rise of Interdisciplinary Research ................................................................................ 22 Methods for Evaluating Interdisciplinary Research ..................................................... 24 Co-authorship ............................................................................................................ 25 Citation analysis ........................................................................................................ 29 Spatial analysis .......................................................................................................... 33 Multi-dimensional analysis ....................................................................................... 37 Conclusions and Summary ........................................................................................... 42 Chapter 3 Methodology ................................................................................................... 45 Study Design ................................................................................................................. 46 Variables in regression models ..................................................................................... 47 Study Context ............................................................................................................... 50 Participants .................................................................................................................... 51 Instruments and Data Collection ................................................................................... 55 Participant
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