Replication Data for: "Political Science as a Dependent Variable: The National Science Foundation and the Shaping of a Discipline"

From 1965 to 2020, the National Science Foundation constituted the single largest funding source for political science research. As such, the NSF played a central role in defining the cutting-edge of our discipline. This study draws on materials from the American Political Science Association Archive to examine the political and administrative contexts that shaped the funding priorities of the NSF Political Science Program. Additionally, the study presents a new dataset and analysis of the nearly three thousand projects funded over the 55-year life of the Program. The dataset shows that NSF funding leaned heavily toward quantitative research. Research utilizing qualitative methods received little support, and work advancing normative, critical, or interpretive approaches received virtually no support. The archival record and awards-level data make visible the material forces that shaped new knowledge production, and they underline the NSF’s instrumental role in consolidating behavioralism and marginalizing non-positivist approaches. The study sheds new light on the history of the discipline and helps to contextualize some of the distinctive features of American political science.

1965年至2020年间，美国国家科学基金会（National Science Foundation，NSF）是政治学研究领域最主要的单一资助来源。正因如此，该基金会在界定本学科前沿研究方向方面发挥了核心作用。本研究依托美国政治学会档案（American Political Science Association Archive）中的馆藏资料，探析了塑造美国国家科学基金会政治学项目资助优先级的政治与行政语境。此外，本研究针对该项目55年存续周期内资助的近3000个项目，构建了全新数据集并开展系统性分析。该数据集显示，美国国家科学基金会的资助显著倾向于定量研究：采用定性方法的研究获得的资助寥寥无几，而推进规范、批判或阐释研究路径的研究几乎未获得任何资助。档案记录与项目资助层级数据清晰展现了塑造新知识生产的物质性力量，同时凸显了美国国家科学基金会在巩固行为主义（behavioralism）研究范式、边缘化非实证主义（non-positivist）研究路径方面的工具性作用。本研究为该学科的发展历史提供了全新视角，并有助于为美国政治学的若干鲜明特征梳理出相应的历史语境。