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THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL AND SEMANTIC NETWORKS
IN EPISTEMIC COMMUNITIES
by
Drew Berkley Margolin
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(COMMUNICATION)
May 2012
Copyright 2012 Drew Berkley Margolin
Object Description
| Title | The evolution of social and semantic networks in epistemic communities |
| Author | Margolin, Drew Berkley |
| Author email | dmargoli@usc.edu;drewmargolin@gmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Communication |
| School | Annenberg School for Communication |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-11-10 |
| Date submitted | 2012-02-09 |
| Date approved | 2012-02-09 |
| Restricted until | 2012-02-09 |
| Date published | 2012-02-09 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Monge, Peter |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Fulk, Janet Valente, Thomas |
| Abstract | This study describes and tests a model of scientific inquiry as an evolving, organizational phenomenon. Arguments are derived from organizational ecology and evolutionary theory. The empirical subject of study is an epistemic community of scientists publishing on a research topic in physics: the string theoretic concept of “Dbranes.” ❧ The study uses evolutionary theory as a means of predicting change in the way members of the community choose concepts to communicate acceptable knowledge claims. It is argued that the pursuit of new knowledge is risky, because the reliability of a novel knowledge claim cannot be verified until after substantial resources have been invested. Using arguments from both philosophy of science and organizational ecology, it is suggested that scientists can mitigate and sensibly share the risks of knowledge discovery within the community by articulating their claims in legitimate forms, i.e., forms that are testable within and relevant to the community. ❧ Evidence from empirical studies of semantic usage suggests that the legitimacy of a knowledge claim is influenced by the characteristics of the concepts in which it is articulated. A model of conceptual retention, variation, and selection is then proposed for predicting the usage of concepts and conceptual co-occurrences in the future publications of the community, based on its past. Results substantially supported hypothesized retention and selection mechanisms. Future concept usage was predictable from previous concept usage, but was limited by conceptual carrying capacity as predicted by density dependence theory. Also as predicted, retention was stronger when the community showed a more cohesive social structure. Similarly, concepts that showed structural signatures of high testability and relevance were more likely to be selected after previous usage frequency was controlled for. By contrast, hypotheses for variation mechanisms were not supported. Surprisingly, concepts whose structural position suggested they would be easiest to discover through search processes were used less frequently, once previous usage frequency was controlled for. ❧ The study also makes a theoretical contribution by suggesting ways that evolutionary theory can be used to integrate findings from the study of science with insights from organizational communication. A variety of concrete directions for future studies of social and semantic network evolution are also proposed. |
| Keyword | evolutionary theory; semantic network; semantic evolution; social network; epistemic communities; variation; selection; retention; organizational evolution; scientometrics |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m |
| Rights | Margolin, Drew Berkley |
| Access conditions | The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
| Repository name | University of Southern California Digital Library |
| Repository address | USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
| Repository email | cisadmin@usc.edu |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume6/etd-MargolinDr-474.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL AND SEMANTIC NETWORKS IN EPISTEMIC COMMUNITIES by Drew Berkley Margolin A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (COMMUNICATION) May 2012 Copyright 2012 Drew Berkley Margolin |
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