What research should be done and why? Four competing visions among ecologists

Neff, Mark W.

doi:10.1890/100035

Cited by 28 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Intrinsic motivations include concerns about scientific reputation (Merton 1957;Ziman 1987), a desire to conduct novel rather than repetitious work (Kuhn 1970), and benefits to society or practical applications of research questions (Neff 2011), among other factors. Extrinsic motivations include opportunities for funding (Nichols 2007), institutional priorities (Rhoten 2003), and student interests (Morse et al 2007).…”

Section: Problem Choice In Interdisciplinary Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scholarly motivations to conduct interdisciplinary climate change research

et al. 2015

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Understanding and responding to today's complex environmental problems requires collaboration that bridges disciplinary boundaries. As the barriers to interdisciplinary research are formidable, promoting interdisciplinary environmental research requires understanding what motivates researchers to embark upon such challenging research. This article draws upon research on problem choice and interdisciplinary research practice to investigate motivators and barriers to interdisciplinary climate change (IDCC) research. Results from a survey on the motivations of 526 Ph.D.-holding, earlyto mid-career, self-identified IDCC scholars indicate how those scholars make decisions regarding their research choices including the role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations and the barriers arising from the nature of interdisciplinary research and institutional structures. Climate change was not the main motivation for most respondents to become scholars, yet the majority began to study the issue because they could not ignore the problem. Respondents' decisions to conduct IDCC research are driven by personal motivations, including personal interest, the importance of IDCC research to society, and enjoyment of interdisciplinary collaborations. Two thirds of respondents reported having encountered challenges in communication across disciplines, longer timelines while conducting interdisciplinary work, and a lack of peer support. Nonetheless, most respondents plan to conduct IDCC research in the future and will choose their next research project based on its societal benefits and the opportunity to work with specific collaborators. We conclude that focused attention to supporting intrinsic motivations, as well as removing institutional barriers, can facilitate future IDCC research.

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Section: Problem Choice In Interdisciplinary Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scholarly motivations to conduct interdisciplinary climate change research

et al. 2015

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“…The number of images should be 30-60 in general [36]. The Q sample needs to be diverse rather than random or representative [37]. According to Q methodology, the photographs should be diverse and specific.…”

Section: The Q Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Photovoltaic Applications on Urban Landscapes Based on Visual Q Methodology

2018

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Abstract:In recent years, the installation of photovoltaic systems in China has increased steadily to gradually become large-scale, having a significant impact on the urban landscape. Research on this impact mostly focuses on visual impact and glare risk. However, differences in urban land use types may lead to differences in the impact of photovoltaic applications on the landscape. This study adapts visual Q methodology to assess the impact of photovoltaic applications on the landscape in urban areas. Landscape photographs of photovoltaic applications in different cities of China are collected and used during the concourse and Q sorting. The final Q sample is composed of 36 photographs of different photovoltaic materials at different levels of integration in six urban land use types. The P set is composed of 36 respondents, including experts and non-experts. In conclusion, environmental harmony, power generation, innovative design, installation height, and social benefits of photovoltaic systems are the main impacts of photovoltaic systems on urban landscapes. Photovoltaic systems in different urban land use types have different impacts on the landscape. The conclusions have policy implications for different urban land use types, which has significance for the construction of urban photovoltaic systems in the future.

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“…Since the area committees within SNI have authority to alter their criteria for researcher evaluation those scientists retain substantial power to improve the situation. Scientists themselves, as arbiters of prestige within science, are accurately considered to be science policy makers (Neff, 2011;Miller and Neff, 2013). There is currently a window of opportunity for scientists and other science policy makers to reconsider how scientists are evaluated; that window may close as scientists receiving their training today are acculturated into a production-oriented scientific culture.…”

Section: Concluding Thoughts: Science and Solving Problemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Publication incentives undermine the utility of science: Ecological research in Mexico

Neff

2017

Science and Public Policy

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Governmental spending on science is usually justified by claims that the resulting research will yield benefits for the sponsoring nation. I present policy-analytic and ethnographic researchbased on 30 hour-long interviews-of the Mexican ecological research community to explore the structural influence of publication incentives on research content and its relevance to national needs. During a financial crisis in the 1980s, Mexico created a national publication incentive system, the Sistema Nacional de Investigadores, to identify and reward scientists producing the most and the most-cited research as defined by dominant international scientific norms at the time. The system has increased productivity but in the process has undermined that country's ability to benefit from its ecological research by surrendering priority setting to the editorial preferences of journals that are linguistically and financially unavailable to potential domestic users. The Mexican experience has implications for institutions worldwide that utilize quantitative productivity measures in researcher evaluation.

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What research should be done and why? Four competing visions among ecologists

Cited by 28 publications

References 22 publications

Scholarly motivations to conduct interdisciplinary climate change research

Scholarly motivations to conduct interdisciplinary climate change research

The Impact of Photovoltaic Applications on Urban Landscapes Based on Visual Q Methodology

Publication incentives undermine the utility of science: Ecological research in Mexico

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