Of tribes and totems: An author cocitation context analysis of Kurt Lewin’s influence in social science journals

This study used author cocitation context analysis (ACCA) to explore the intellectual structure of two Lewinian social science journal communities. ACCA is a variant of White’s (2000) ego-centered citation analysis, in which the focal author name serves as a filter. Articles citing Lewin between 1972 and 2001 in the Journal of Social Issues and Human Relations, sponsored by Lewinian specialties served as the test bed. Procedures conducted on cited author names—cluster analysis, multidimensional scaling, principal components analysis, and Pathfinder network analysis—generated coherent maps for each journal that maintained a “Lewinian” focus. The maps displayed the range of subject themes of interest to the specialties, which is consistent with Lewin’s importance to the specialties. Classifying all citations to Lewin as Totemic or Substantive assessed citation function. Results were convergent with the MDS maps in that Lewin’s work was used most frequently in a Substantive (central) way. Use of Lewin’s work did not conform to expectation in that the number of articles citing Lewin increased overall and the proportion of Totemic (peripheral) citations did not increase over the time studied. Analysis of Lewin’s works and concepts cited was also congruent with the specialties’ subject focus—JSI authors focused on social justice issues and HR authors used organization and small group research.Ph.D., Information Science -- Drexel University, 200

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Everyone who completes a doctoral program relies on assistance from others. I have been extremely fortunate to receive support from many people who I would like to acknowledge. I am profoundly grateful for the years of emotional and financial support provided by my husband, David, who sacrificed a great deal so that I might pursue my dreams. Elana and Danny frequently lost their mother’s time and attention while she completed classes and research. I hope they have learned that hard work and perseverance can lead to achieving one’s goals. Katherine McCain generously supplied me with advice, encouragement, opportunities for research and teaching, job references, and many lunches. I would never have arrived at this point without her mentoring and friendship. Other members of my dissertation committee, Lowell Hargens, Xia Lin, Henry Small, and Howard White, gave their time and attention to reading drafts and suggesting improvements. A number of friends and colleagues encouraged me. My fellow members of the Gang of Four—Jan Buzydlowski, Joan Lussky, and Jeff Hand—offered invaluable friendship and technical assistance over the years. Anne Tanner encouraged me to begin the program and offered me assistantships that allowed me to continue. Sandra Brossman helped me to stay focused and positive. Connie Wilson believed that I could contribute to a bibliometric research program To all of you I say, “Thank you.