Mapping a Subfield’s Sociology of Science: A 25-Year Network and Bibliometric Analysis of the Knowledge Construction of Sports Crisis Communication

Abstract

Sport crisis communication research has emerged as a substantial subfield of communication, sport communication, and crisis communication. The purpose of this study is to assess the development and diffusion of the subfield’s scholarly works to uncover the influential authors, theories, and journals central to the subfield’s knowledge construction process. We chart the development of the subfield by combining network analysis and bibliometric methods. Our analysis of 25 years of scholarship in 25 journals reveals seven major areas of focus in sport crisis communication with an emphasis on applied and critical cultural scholarship. Furthermore, our research indicates that the Journal of Sport & Social Issues played an integral and interdisciplinary role in supporting the emergence of this area of study. We argue the subfield holds great opportunity for future growth, most notably in empirical research.