Academic culture : an analytical framework for understanding academic work : a case study about the social science academe in Japan / Kazumi Okamoto.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Okamoto, Kazumi, author.

Series:

Beyond the social sciences ; Volume 5.

Beyond the Social Sciences ; Volume 5

Language:

German

Subjects (All):

Social sciences--Study and teaching (Higher).

Social sciences.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (247 pages) : illustrations.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Stuttgart : Ibidem Verlag, 2016.

Summary:

That we live in a world ruled and confused by cultural diversity has become common sense. The social sciences gave birth to a new theoretical paradigm, the creation of cultural theories. Since then, social science theorizing applies to any social phenomenon across the world exploring cultural diversities in any social practice-except the social sciences and how they create knowledge, which is off limits. Social science theorizing seemingly assumes that creating knowledge does not know such diversities. In this book, Kazumi Okamoto develops analytical tools to study academic culture, analyze how social sciences create and distribute knowledge, and the influence the academic environment has on knowledge production. She uses the academy in Japan as a case study of how social scientists interpret academic practices and how they are affected by their academic environment. Studying Japanese academic culture, she reveals that academic practices and the academic environment in Japan show much less diversity than cultural theories tend to presuppose.

Contents:

Intro

Acknowledgements

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

1.2 Rationale of the Study

1.2.1 Culture and Academic Activities-National Culture or Academic Culture?

1.2.2 Aims of the Study

2. Research Question

2.1 Grounds for the Research Question

2.2 Setting the Research Question: Components of Academic Culture

2.3 Relationship between Academic Culture and International Academic Activities / Collaborations

2.3.1 Academic Culture Is Not a Study of 'National' Academic Culture

2.3.2 Can Studying One Country Relate to 'International' Matters?

3. Literature Review

3.1 The Discourse about How to Measure International Collaborations

3.2 The Discourse about the International Structure of Knowledge Production in SSH

3.3 Science Policies in Japan on Internationalization

4. Conceptual Framework towards Constructing Academic Culture

4.1 Holliday's "Small Cultures

4.2 Application of "Small Cultures" to the Construction of Academic Culture

4.3 Epistemic Culture: Culture in Science with No National Boundaries

4.4 SSH Academics in Japan as a Pilot Case

4.5 Construct of Academic Culture

4.5.1 Academic Environment

4.5.2 Academic Practice

4.6 Academic Culture and International Collaborations

5. Methodological Operationalization

5.1 Research Design

5.1.1 Disciplinary Field of the Study

5.1.2 Research Strategy, Paradigm, and Approach

5.1.3 Abductive Research Strategy

5.1.4 Interpretivism

5.1.5 Non-Essentialist Approach

5.2 Research Methods

5.2.1 Interviews

5.2.1.1 Active Interview

5.2.1.2 Samples

5.2.1.3 Interview Questions

5.2.1.4 Interview Practice

5.2.1.5 Critiques of Qualitative Research

5.2.2 Questionnaire

5.2.2.1 Samples

5.2.2.2. Questionnaire Foci and Questionnaire implementation.

5.2.2.3 Disadvantages of Questionnaire Research

5.2.3 Focus Group Discussion

5.2.3.1 Discussion Foci

5.2.3.2 Participants

5.2.3.3 Focus Group Practice

5.2.3.4 Difficulties in Focus Groups

5.3 Ethical Consideration for the Empirical Research

5.4 Data Analysis Method: Grounded Theory (GT)

5.4.1 What is Grounded Theory?

5.4.2 Essential Elements Consist of GT

5.4.3 Core Outcomes of GT

5.4.4 Criticism of GT

5.4.5 Drawbacks of GT

5.4.6 Application of Grounded Theory to This Study

6. Findings of the Case Study

6.1 Academic Environment

6.1.1 National Science Policy: Prioritized Research Topics and Fundings

6.1.2 Roles of Higher Education and Institutional Research Policy

6.1.3 Mission of Academics in Society: Roles and Expectations in Society

6.1.4 Academic Knowledge in Society: Roles and Perception of Knowledge

6.1.4.1 Roles of Academic Knowledge in Society / Relationship between Academic Knowledge and Society

6.1.4.2 How Is Academic Knowledge Understood, Valued, and Interpreted?

6.1.4.3 Perceptions of Academic Knowledge: the Academics' Perspectives

6.2 Academic Practices

6.2.1 Academic Discourse Practice

6.2.2 Publication Practices

6.2.3 Managing Academic Activities

6.2.4 Knowledge Acquisition Practices

6.2.5 Disciplinary Practices

6.2.6 Social Relations in Academic Work

7. Discussion of the Case Study

7.1 Japanese Universities and Higher Education Policies in Japan

7.1.1 The Structure of Universities in Japan

7.1.2 Different Roles and Definitions of Universities

7.1.3 Political Influence on Being of University

7.2 Self-Perception of Academics in Japan

7.2.1 Who Are You?: Self-Perception of Japanese Academics

7.3 Academic Knowledge: For What?

7.4 Towards International Collaborations

7.4.1 National Perspectives of International Collaborations.

7.4.2 Different Perspectives among Academics in Japan

8. Discussion of the Concept of Academic Culture in the Light of the Case Study

8.1 Relevance of the Implemented Research Methods

8.1.1 Interview

8.1.2 Questionnaire

8.1.3 Focus Group

8.1.4 For Future Studies

8.2 Scrutinizing the Construct of Academic Culture

8.3 Contribution of Academic Culture towards Future Academic Debates on International Collaboration in SSH

9. Concluding Remarks

9.1 What Is Achieved in This Study?

9.2 For Future Studies

10. References.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

3-8382-6937-3

OCLC:

1104079837