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Abstract

This research developed an abstract conceptualization of the social structure of scientific research teams and empirically investigated its utility. Two typologies formed the basis of the conceptualization: A typology of teams and a typology of leadership roles. The concepts were operationalized using questions on a self-administered questionnaire and indices derived from those questions. The responses of 150 principal investigators of research teams with annual budgets of more than $100,000 were analyzed by fitting “logit” models to three-variable tables. These models, based on log-linear analysis, employed the two typologies as both independent and dependent variables. When the typologies were treated as independent variables, each of twenty-six other features of team operation was introduced as a dependent variable. The typologies successfully predicted the dependent variable in twenty of these twenty-six analyses.

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The Social Structure of Scientific Research Teams

Abstract

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