Abstract
We reply to the comment by Lundgren, Shildrick and Lawrence on our article on gender studies bibliometrics and argue that it does not challenge any of our main results. Their points of criticism concerned that we had not compiled exactly all scholarly gender production, that the gender studies field had changed during the period, that the definition of the research area is vague, and suggest that only gender studies scholars themselves are able to study the field. We maintain that constructive scientific critique should specify alternative methods and how they are expected to change the results and conclusions, and why that would be preferable. Without such stringency, it reduces to regressive lists of detail.
References
Dutton, E. (2012). Culture shock and multiculturalism: Reclaiming a useful model from the religious realm. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars.
Klein, D. B., & Stern, C. (2009). Groupthink in academia. Majoritarian departmental politics and the professional pyramid. The Independent Review, 13, 585–600.
Kuhn, T. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lakatos, I. (1970). Falsification and the methodology of scientific research programmes. In I. Lakatos & A. Musgrave (Eds.), Criticism and the growth of knowledge (pp. 91–195). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Lundgren, S., Shildrick, M., & Lawrence, D. (2015). Rethinking bibliometric data concerning gender studies: A response to Söderlund and Madison. Scientometrics, 105(3), 1389–1398.
Merton, R. K. (1973). The normative structure of science. In The sociology of science: Theoretical and empirical investigations (pp. 267–280). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Söderlund T., & Madison, G. (2015). Characteristics of gender studies publications: A bibliometric analysis based on a Swedish population database. Scientometrics, 105(3), 1347–1387.
World Economic Forum. (2015). The global gender gap report. Geneva: World Economic Forum.
Ziman, J. (2000). Real science: What it is, and what it means. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Acknowledgments
We wish to thank Ed Dutton, Åke Olofsson, and John Wallert for valuable comments.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Madison, G., Söderlund, T. Can gender studies be studied? Reply to comments on Söderlund and Madison. Scientometrics 108, 329–335 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-016-1963-9
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-016-1963-9