Abstract
Research agendas are understudied, despite being key to academic knowledge creation. The literature suggests that the ways that academics determine their research agendas are conditioned by individual, organisational and environmental characteristics. This study explores the cognitive aspects of academics’ research agendas in the social sciences by using a theory on thinking styles as an analytical framework. The results suggest that the research agendas of academics in the social sciences are significantly associated with their thinking styles. These findings aid understanding of how academics set their research agendas. This study also represents an important landmark in research on thinking styles, focusing on academic research work as a potential venue for further studies. The findings are relevant for policymakers, research funding agencies, university administrators and academics because they have implications for academic research development processes, outcomes, and for research and academic identity socialisation during doctoral studies.
摘要
尽管研究计划是创造学术知识的关键,但是它还未得到充分的研究。以往研究表明,学者确定其研究计划的方式取决于个人、组织和环境特征。本研究以思维风格理论为分析框架,从认知层面探讨了社会科学领域学者的研究计划。结果表明,社会科学领域学者的研究计划与他们的思维风格有显著相关。这些发现有助于理解学者如何确定他们的研究计划。本研究也是思维风格研究的一个重要里程碑 –未来的思维风格研究可以将学术研究作为一个进一步研究的对象。这些发现与政策制定者、研究资助机构、大学管理人员和学者有关,因为研究结果对学术研究的发展过程、结果,以及博士学习期间的研究和学术身份社会化均具有现实意义。