SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION AND NETWORK INFLUENCES IN THE HYBRID PROBLEM AREA OF DEVELOPMENTAL DYSLEXIA

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 po ints in time, who-to-whom communication network data, survey responses , information from resumes, biographies and association databases, onl ine reference and citation databases, publications, grant databases, f unding initiatives, and personal and telephone interviews. Researchers are partitioned into ''blocks'' of similar scientists on the basis of co;citation and communication relations, and then the blocks are comp ared on a wide variety of network-level and individual-level character istics, and situated historically in the politics, funding, and advanc es surrounding the problem area. Results show support for a model of M ulkay's model branching instead of Kuhn's model of scientific revoluti on. Further, evidence points to divergence rather than convergence amo ng the related research areas.