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On the demographical changes of U.S. research doctorate awardees and corresponding trends in research fields

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Abstract

The demographical data of the National Science Foundation on research doctorate awardees in the United States is studied in this article. While the overall growth rate of research doctorate awardees is approximately the same as the growth rate of the whole population in the U.S. there are considerable changes in the sub-populations of research doctorate awardees. The demographic data is evaluated/discussed in more detail with respect to gender and research fields of the doctorate awardees. In particular the notion of the primacy of technology over science in the postmodern era is examined and found to be justified.

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Notes

  1. Note this categorization is consistently applied at the National Science Foundation—may be to distinguish themselves from the National Institutes of Health which is the other major federal research funding agency.

  2. Definitions used at the National Science Foundation related to Fig. 6:

    • \(\bullet\, {Research\; and \;Development}\)—Basic and applied research in the sciences and engineering and the design and development of prototypes and processes. Excluded from this definition are routine product testing, market research, sales promotion, sales service, research in the social sciences or psychology, or other non-technological activities or technical services.

    • \(\bullet\, {Basic\; Research}\)—Original investigations for the advancement of scientific knowledge that do not have specific commercial objectives, although such investigations may be in fields of present or potential interest to the reporting company.

    • \(\bullet \,{Applied\; Research}\)—Investigations that are directed to the discovery of new scientific knowledge and that have specific commercial objectives with respect to products or processes. This definition of applied research differs from the definition of basic research chiefly in terms of the objectives of the reporting company.

    • \(\bullet\, {Development}\)—Technical activities of a non-routine nature concerned with translating research findings or other scientific knowledge into products or processes. Development does not include routine technical services to customers or other activities excluded from the above definition of research and development.

  3. nec = Not Elsewhere Classified.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wyoming, Dept. # 3295, 1000 E. University Avenue, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA

    Chung-Souk Han

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  1. Chung-Souk Han
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Correspondence to Chung-Souk Han.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Linear and logarithmic plots of Fig. 6

Linear and logarithmic plots of Fig. 6 are shown in Figs. 14 and 15.

Fig. 14
figure 14

Linear plot of the data of Fig. 6

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Fig. 15
figure 15

Logarithmic plot of the data of Fig. 6

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Appendix 2: Fields and subfields

The subfields of the major fields of section 4 are given in the following:

  • Agricultural sciences: Agronomy/crop science; Animal breeding/genetics; Animal husbandry; Animal nutrition; Animal sciences nec; Footnote 3 Conservation/renewable natural resources; Dairy science; Fish/wildlife science; Fisheries science/management; Food distribution; Food engineering; Food sciences; Food sciences nec; Forest biology; Forest engineering; Forest management; Forestry and related sciences nec; Forestry science; General agricultural sciences; Horticulture science; Plant breeding/genetics; Plant pathology; Plant protection/pest management; Plant sciences nec; Poultry science; Soil chemistry/microbiology; Soil sciences; Soil sciences nec; Wildlife/range management; Wildlife science; Wood science and pulp/paper technology; Other agricultural sciences

  • Biological sciences: Anatomy; Bacteriology; Biochemistry; Biological immunology; Biomedical sciences; Biometrics/biostatistics; Biophysics; Biotechnology research; Botany nec; Cell biology; Cytology; Developmental biology/embryology; Ecology; Endocrinology; Entomology; General biological sciences; Genetics; Genetics, human/animal; Genetics, plant; Hydrobiology; Immunology; Microbiology; Microbiology/bacteriology; Molecular biology; Neuroscience; Nutritional science; Parasitology; Pathology; Pathology, human/animal; Pathology, plant; Pharmacology, human/animal; Physiology, animal/plant; Physiology, human/ animal; Physiology, plant; Toxicology; Zoology nec; Other biological sciences

  • Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences:

    • Atmospheric sciences: Atmospheric dynamics; Atmospheric physics/chemistry; General atmospheric sciences/meteorology; Meteorology; Other atmospheric sciences/meteorology

    • Earth sciences: Applied geology; Applied geology/geological engineering; General geological and related sciences; Geochemistry; Geology; Geomorphology/glacial geology; Geophysics, solid earth; Geophysics, seismology; Hydrology/water resources; Mineralogy/petrology; Mineralogy/petrology/geological chemistry; Paleontology; Stratigraphy/sedimentation; Other geological and related sciences

    • Ocean sciences: Marine sciences; Oceanography; Other environmental sciences

  • Engineering:

    • Aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical engineering

    • Chemical engineering: Chemical engineering; Fuel technology/petroleum engineering; Petroleum engineering; Polymer/plastics engineering

    • Civil engineering: Civil engineering; Environmental health

    • Electrical engineering: Communications; Computer engineering; Electrical/electronics engineering

    • Industrial/manufacturing engineering Materials/metallurgical engineering: Ceramic science; Materials science; Metallurgical engineering

    • Mechanical engineering: Engineering mechanics; Mechanical engineering

    • Bioengineering/biomedical engineering Other engineering: Agricultural engineering; Engineering physics; Engineering science; General engineering; Mining/mineral engineering; Naval architecture/marine engineering; Nuclear engineering; Ocean engineering; Operations research; Systems engineering; Engineering nec

  • Mathematics and computer sciences:

    • Mathematics: Algebra; Analysis/functional analysis; Applied mathematics; Computing theory; General mathematics; Geometry; Logic; Mathematical statistics; Number theory; Operations research; Topology; Other mathematics

    • Computer sciences: Computer science; Information science/systems

  • Physical sciences:

    • Astronomy: Astronomy; Astronomy/astrophysics; Astrophysics

    • Chemistry: Agricultural/food chemistry; Analytical chemistry; General chemistry; Inorganic chemistry; Medicinal/pharmaceutical chemistry; Nuclear chemistry; Organic chemistry; Physical chemistry; Polymer chemistry; Theoretical chemistry; Other chemistry

    • Physics: Acoustics; Applied Physics; Biophysics; Chemical and atomic/molecular physics; Electromagnetism; Electron physics; Elementary particle physics; Fluids; General physics; Mechanics; Nuclear physics; Optics; Plasma/high-temperature physics; Polymer physics; Solid state/low-temperature physics; Theoretical physics; Thermal physics; Other physics. Other physical sciences

  • Psychology: Clinical psychology; Cognitive psychology/psycholinguistics; Comparative psychology; Counseling; Developmental/child psychology; Educational psychology; Experimental, comparative psychology/physiology; Experimental psychology; Family/marriage counseling; General psychology; Human engineering; Human/individual and family development; Industrial/organizational psychology; Personality; Physiological psychology/psychobiology; Psychometrics; Quantitative psychology; School psychology; Social psychology; Other psychology

  • Social sciences: Economics:

    • Agricultural economics; Econometrics; Economics

    • Political science: International relations/affairs; Political science/government; Political science/public administration; Public administration; Public policy analysis

    • Sociology: Demography/population studies; Sociology

    • Other social sciences: American studies; Anthropology; Archaeology; Area studies; Criminology; General social sciences; Geography; History/philosophy of science and technology; Linguistics; Statistics; Urban affairs/studies; Social sciences nec

  • Education: Adult/continuing education; Agricultural education; Art education; Business education; Counseling education/counseling and guidance services; Curriculum/instruction; Educational administration/supervision; Educational assessment/testing/measurement; Educational evaluation and research, higher education; Educational/instructional media design; Educational leadership; Educational measurement/statistics; Educational statistics/research methods; Elementary education; English education; Foreign languages education; General education; Health education; Home economics education; Junior high school education; Mathematics education; Music education; Nursing education; Physical education/coaching; Physical education/health and recreation; Pre-elementary/early childhood education; Psychology, educational; Psychology, school; Reading education; Science education; Secondary education; Social/philosophical foundations of education; Social science education; Special education; Speech education; Teacher education nec; Technical education; Technical/industrial arts education; Trade/industrial education; Other education

  • Health sciences: Dentistry; Environmental health; Epidemiology; Exercise physiology/science, kinesiology; General health sciences; Health systems/service administration; Hospital administration; Medicine science/surgery; Nursing; Optometry/ophthalmology; Pharmacy; Public health; Public health/epidemiology; Rehabilitation/therapeutic services; Speech/language pathology, audiology; Veterinary medicine; Health sciences nec

  • Humanities: Art, applied; Art, fine/applied; Art history/criticism/conservation; Classics; Comparative literature; Drama/ theater arts; General humanities; History, American; History, Asian; History, European; History, general; History, other; Language/literature, Arabic; Language/literature, Chinese; Language/literature, English; Language/literature, French; Language/literature, German; Language/literature, Hebrew; Language/literature, Italian; Language/literature, Japanese; Language/literature, Russian; Language/literature, Slavic (other than Russian); Language/literature, Spanish; Language/literature nec; Letters, general; Letters nec; Literature, American; Literature, English; Literature, English/American; Music; Philosophy; Religion; Religion/theology; Speech/rhetorical studies; Humanities nec

  • Professional fields/other: Accounting; Agricultural business/management; Architectural/environmental design; Banking/financial support services; Business administration/management; Business management/administrative services, general; Business management/administrative services nec; Business/managerial economics; Business statistics; Communication theory; Communications, general; Communications research; Communications nec; General professional fields; Home economics; International business; Journalism; Law; Library science; Management information systems/business data processing; Marketing management/research; Mass communications; Operations research; Organizational behavior; Parks/recreation/ leisure/fitness; Radio/television; Social work; Theology/religious education; Professional fields nec; Other/unknown fields

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Han, CS. On the demographical changes of U.S. research doctorate awardees and corresponding trends in research fields. Scientometrics 89, 845–865 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-011-0487-6

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