The small-world of educational research: The network dynamics of the 'Teachers College Record'.

摘要

Small-world network structures have received a disproportionate amount of attention in fields as diverse as sociology, physics, epidemiology, informatics, neurology and popular science. What recent work in these areas has shown is that entities in many large networks with low density surprisingly display the paradoxical property of being simultaneously highly clustered but very reachable. In other words, despite their large size and lack of overall connectivity, it is not too difficult to go from one randomly selected entity to another. This research examines a case of the small-world phenomenon using journal articles from the field of educational research.; Using data drawn from the online database of the Teachers College Record, one of the field's more prominent journals, it is hypothesized that the sample of articles exhibits small-world properties. To determine whether this property is present, relations between articles are derived from the bipartite network of readers and articles. In addition, this research also predicts that those articles that serve as the hubs through which much of the network is connected possess a multivocal identity that appeals to multiple audiences simultaneously. Last, the growth dynamics of this network are explored by hypothesizing that the distribution of connectivity is undermined by a power-law, resulting in a scale-free network.; Using methods and metrics from social network analysis, it was found that the article interlock network does constitute a small-world whose functionality is strongly influenced by a core of general and highly accessible articles whose identity is somewhat ambiguous. The multivocality possessed by this set of articles enables them to exert influence across different audiences who would otherwise be disconnected. However, unlike many other networks that display small-world architecture, the article interlock network's degree distribution is not a power-law. The effects of information externalities are then discussed as an explanation for why this distribution is not present and the implications that this has on consumption and production patterns for the field of educational research.