1. The knowledge structure of the field and the
character of the research work. Is the basic
knowledge of the field well structured and
systematically organized? Is it clear what counts
as new knowledge? Does it make sense to
identify specific research programmes inside the
field? Is there a division of labour between subfields?
Does theoretical or empirical work dominate
the field? Does abstract or specific work
dominate? Is the degree of functional dependence
high or low? Is the degree of technical and
strategic task uncertainty high or low? Does the
research require considerable economic and
technical resources?
2. The identity and reputational autonomy of the field.
To what extent can the research be said to have a
uniform character? Do the researchers of the field
experience a common identity? Does the field have
clear boundaries in relation to other fields, and does
the field have the power to define its own
boundaries? Is it possible to establish an intellectual
monopoly, or can researchers from other fields
provide relevant contributions? To what extent does
the field have control over competence and performance
standards in research? To what extent can the
field control its own significance standards—the
assessment of the relative importance of different
research problems and strategies? To what extent do
researchers from the field control access to critical
resources for research?
3. The internal organization of the field. Is the field
hierarchic or more flatly structured? Is control
over access to resources, communication media,
training programmes etc. centred on a few
persons? Is the strategic dependence high or
low? How fierce is the competition between the
scientists? What degree of freedom does the
individual researcher have? To what extent is the
field internationalized? Does the field have local
hierarchies?
4. The institutionalization of the field. Has the field
established its own professional organizations and
journals? Does it command its own communication
system? Has a hierarchy of journals been
established? Does the field have dedicated departments?
Has basic training been organized? Have
Ph.D.-programmes been established? Does the
field educate professionals for a specific labour
market?
5. Relations to the outside world. From which
sources does the field receive funding? Are the
sources diverse? To which audiences do the
scientists address their results? How diverse are
the audiences? Which kind of outlets does the
research have? To what extent can the reputations
of the scientists be influenced by audiences outside
academia?