Sociological research in Norway An evaluation Evaluation Division for Science Sociological research in Norway An evaluation Evaluation Division for Science © The Research Council of Norway 2010 The Research Council of Norway P.O.Box 2700 St. Hanshaugen N–0131 OSLO Telephone: +47 22 03 70 00 Telefax: +47 22 03 70 01 [email protected] www.forskningsradet.no/english The report can be ordered at: www.forskningsradet.no/publikasjoner or green number telefax: +47 800 83 001 Design: Design et cetera AS Photo/illustration: Shutterstock Printing: Allkopi Number of copies: 500 Oslo, December 2010 ISBN 978-82-12-02842-5 (printed version) ISBN 978-82-12-02843-2 (pdf) Preface The panel for the evaluation of sociological research in Norway hereby submits the following report to the Research Council of Norway. The panel is unanimous in its assessments, conclusions and recommendations. Thirteen research units were included in the evaluation, comprising five university departments, two departments at university colleges and six institutes for applied research. Altogether, 177 researchers at these units were involved in the evaluation process. The panel wishes to thank the representatives of the 13 research units for their participation in the evaluation and for interesting discussions during the interview sessions. The panel also wishes to thank the researchers for their participation, as well as the Ph.D. students for sharing their views in meetings with the panel. Last but not least, the panel wishes to thank the Research Council of Norway for providing this opportunity for discussion and reflection about sociology in Norway and sociology as a discipline. Oslo, December 2010 Göran Ahrne (Chair) Stockholm University Johanna Esseveld Elianne Riska Lund University University of Helsinki Peter Gundelach Thomas P. Boje University of Copenhagen Roskilde University Table of contents Summary.......................................................................................................................................................... 7 PART I ...................................................................................................................................................9 1. Terms of reference and panel....................................................................................................................... 9 2. Sociology.................................................................................................................................................... 13 Sociology and its object of study ...................................................................................................................... 13 Sociology in Norway ......................................................................................................................................... 17 3. Units evaluated: organisation, personnel, funding and scholarly publication............................................. 22 Funding ............................................................................................................................................................. 23 Research personnel in sociology....................................................................................................................... 27 Scholarly publication ........................................................................................................................................ 28 PART II............................................................................................................................................... 30 4. Unit descriptions ........................................................................................................................................ 30 Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) – Department of Sociology and Political Science . 30 University of Bergen (UiB) – Department of Sociology .................................................................................... 35 University of Oslo (UiO) – Department of Sociology and Human Geography .................................................. 40 University of Stavanger (UiS) – Department of Media, Culture and Social Sciences........................................ 44 University of Tromsø (UiT) – Department of Sociology, Political Science and Community Planning............... 49 Oslo University College (HiO) – Faculty of Social Sciences ............................................................................... 53 Fafo Institute for Labour and Social Research .................................................................................................. 57 Institute for Social Research (ISF) ..................................................................................................................... 61 National Institute for Consumer Research (SIFO)............................................................................................. 65 Norwegian Social Research (NOVA).................................................................................................................. 69 Statistics Norway (SSB) – Research Department, Division for Social and Demographic Research................... 74 The Work Research Institute (WRI) .................................................................................................................. 78 Bodø University College – Nordland Research Institute................................................................................... 82 A comparative summary................................................................................................................................... 87 PART III ............................................................................................................................................. 90 5. The new generation of sociologists, recruitment and mobility ................................................................... 90 Recruitment pattern......................................................................................................................................... 90 Pattern of career mobility ................................................................................................................................ 93 6. Competition and cooperation between the units....................................................................................... 96 Differences and competition ............................................................................................................................ 96 Multidisciplinarity............................................................................................................................................. 97 Cooperation...................................................................................................................................................... 99 7. Conclusions and recommendations.......................................................................................................... 100 Topics of research: theories and methods ..................................................................................................... 100 Sociology, social sciences and multidisciplinarity........................................................................................... 102 Sociology in society: Dissemination................................................................................................................ 104 Funding and new funding strategies .............................................................................................................. 104 Ph.D. programmes in sociology and recruitment to research........................................................................ 105 Summary of overall recommendations .......................................................................................................... 107 References ................................................................................................................................................... 110 Appendix I – Evaluation panel and evaluation documents ........................................................................... 113 Appendix II – Publication analysis ................................................................................................................ 135 Summary The overall objective of this evaluation was to review current research activities within the field of sociology at Norwegian universities, university colleges and research institutes. The evaluation was undertaken in 2010 by a panel appointed by the Research Council of Norway. This report was prepared on the basis of internal evaluations provided by the institutions, discussions with staff members and Ph.D. students, and various other sources of information submitted to the panel, such as CVs, publications, factual reports and a publication analysis. The panel has found a substantial amount of high-quality research that has attracted international attention, as well as some research that does not achieve the same standard. Although the overall quality of the research varies, the panel’s conclusion is that Norwegian sociological research maintains a high standard and generates important knowledge about social conditions in Norway. With regard to the individual units, the sociology departments at the University of Oslo, the University of Bergen and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) are in the view of the panel excellent research environments with the