Scholarly communication in developmental dyslexia: Influence of network structure on change in a hybrid problem area

Evidence points to divergence rather than convergence among the related research areas, but suggests the need for longitudinal follow‐up in order to rule out the impact of the inertia of aggregate co‐citation data.

Abstract

Based on Mulkay's and Kuhn's models of change in scientific structure, a scientific communication model of the emergence of a hybrid research area was developed and tested in the field of developmental dyslexia. Data included co-citation data on 74 dyslexia researchers at three points in time, who-to-whom communication network data, survey responses, resumes, association and biographical sources, online reference and citation databases, publications, grant databases, and telephone interviews. Researchers were partitioned into “blocks” of similar scientists on the basis of co-citation and communication relations, compared on selected network-level and individual-level characteristics in order to validate block labels, and situated historically in the politics and advances surrounding the problem area. Results show support for Mulkay's model of branching instead of Kuhn's model of scientific revolution. Evidence points to divergence rather than convergence among the related research areas, but suggests the need for longitudinal follow-up in order to rule out the impact of the inertia of aggregate co-citation data. Implications for theory, methodology, and research are discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.