Simonton DK. "Psychology's status as a scientific discipline: Its empirical placement within an implicit hierarchy of the sciences" REVIEW OF GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY, 8 (1): 59-67 MAR 2004

[Eugene Garfield]

E-mail Address: dksimonton at ucdavis.edu

Author(s): Simonton, DK

Title    : Psychology's status as a scientific discipline: Its empirical
placement within an implicit hierarchy of the sciences

Source   : REVIEW OF GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY, 8 (1): 59-67 MAR 2004

Language: English   Document Type: Article

Abstract:
Psychology's standing within a hypothesized hierarchy of the sciences was
assessed in a 2-part analysis. First, an internally consistent composite
measure was constructed from 7 primary indicators of scientific status
(theories-to-laws ratio, consultation rate, obsolescence rate, graph
prominence, early impact rate, peer evaluation consensus, and citation
concentration). Second, this composite measure was validated through 5
secondary indicators (lecture disfluency, citation immediacy, anticipation
frequency, age at receipt of Nobel Prize, and rated disciplinary hardness).
Analyses showed that the measures reflected a single dimension on which 5
disciplines could be reliably ranked in the following order: physics,
chemistry, biology, psychology, and sociology. Significantly, psychology
placed much closer to biology than to sociology, forming a pair of life
sciences clearly separated from the other sciences.

Addresses: Univ Calif Davis, Dept Psychol, Davis, CA 95616 USA

Reprint Address: Simonton, DK, Univ Calif Davis, Dept Psychol, 1 Shields
Ave, Davis, CA 95616 USA.


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Publisher: EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING FOUNDATION
Publisher Address: 750 FIRST ST, NE, WASHINGTON, DC 20002-4242 USA
ISSN: 1089-2680
ISI Document Delivery No.: 801KS