Social Structure in a Group of Scientists: A Test of the "Invisible College" Hypothesis

The existence of social organization within a research area may be inferred (a) if scientists who have published in the area have more social ties with one another than with scientists who have not published, and (b) if scientists who have published in the area can be differentiated by degree of social participation within the area. Using a mail questionnaire, sociometric data on different types of scientific relationships were obtained from scientists, all of whom had published in a particular problem area. Respondents chose scientists who had not published in the area as often as they chose scientists within the area. Analysis of direct and indirect ties, using Coleman's method for analysis of sociometric connectedness, revealed that a tie with one or more of the highly productive scientists brought other scientists of less productivity into a large network of influence and communication. Similarities between this type of social organization and that of the “social circle” are discussed.