SOCIAL COHERENCE AND INNOVATIVENESS - STR UCTURAL EFFECTS ON THE ACCEPTANCE OF NEW SUBJECTS IN SOCIAL-SCIENCE RESEARCH FIELDS

It is explored how the network of ties between scientific actors affec t the thematic innovativeness of the scientific community: Does a cohe rent network support the acceptance of new subjects or is social coher ence more likely to hinder thematic innovativeness! The starting point of the study is a network model of the diffusion of innovations. The model predicts two opposite effects: New ideas are more easily accepte d in coherent networks than in fragmented social units, if integrated actors are particularly creative, respectively open to new ideas. In c ontrast to this, fragmented contexts are more innovative if new ideas are more likely to be adopted early by marginal actors. It is assumed that certain conditions of the production of scientific knowledge may support one of both effects. Hypotheses about the impact of the social integration of a scientific actor on his thematic creativity and abou t the impact of the social coherence of a research field on its themat ic innovativeness are generated. They are tested relying on findings o f a network analysis of bibliographic data.