Firstly, the knowledge structure of the field as such
is obviously not well structured and systematically
organized. On the contrary, the field is programmatically
open, pluralistic and transdisciplinary, so
virtually unrelated contributions can appear as parts
of the field. The core beliefs provide a framework for
research, but they give little specific guidance. The
foundation of the field was established by some core
contributions that were mainly theoretical or historical and theoretical controversies have been important for the further development of the field, but most of the
work is empirical and concerns specific topics. In
general, the functional dependence is low, and the
degree of both technical and strategic task uncertainty is high. However, I have argued that a number of more specific research program can be identified, and
within some of these programmes the degree of
functional dependence is higher, the task uncertainty
lower, and it is easier to specify what does and does
not count as new knowledge