Digital Technologies of Information and Communication and the Social Hierarchy of Objects in the field of Education: empirical tests

ABSTRACT This article reports an empirical investigation on scientific production in Education using bibliometric and scientometric data, which were analyzed based on concepts created by Pierre Bourdieu for the sociology of science, relying on a historical and philosophical framework. Using metadata from more than 6000 theses presented between 1996 and 2016 in graduate education programs in Brazil with scores of five and above, the Social Hierarchy of Objects in the field of Education was mapped. We also tried to test empirically the statement about research in Education that there was a loss of the object of research in this field in postmodernity and the importance in terms of scientific capital of Digital Information and Communication Technologies (DICT). The data indicated that the hierarchy of objects is very fragmented, but with a core that concentrates a lot of scientific capital and this concentration grew with the field, which can be explained by the high degree of heteronomy in the field and post-modern phenomena. However, it was possible to map that there are objects that bring more return of scientific capital to the agents of the field: the teacher and their education. Therefore, there was no loss of the object. It was also possible to observe that words related to digital technologies grew and became part of the core in the hierarchy of objects, in the field, at the beginning of the 21st century. Digital technologies are part of the core of the Social Hierarchy of Objects in the field of Education, mainly related to Distance Education.

摘要 本文依托历史与哲学研究框架，基于皮埃尔·布迪厄（Pierre Bourdieu）为科学社会学创设的理论概念，采用文献计量学与科学计量学方法，对教育学领域的学术产出开展实证研究。本研究使用巴西1996年至2016年间教育学研究生培养项目中获评5分及以上的6000余篇学位论文元数据，绘制了教育学领域研究对象的社会层级图谱。本研究同时尝试对两项教育学领域研究论断进行实证检验：一是后现代语境下教育学研究对象出现缺失的观点，二是数字信息与通信技术（Digital Information and Communication Technologies，DICT）在科学资本层面的重要性。研究数据表明，教育学领域的研究对象层级结构高度碎片化，但存在一个汇聚大量科学资本的核心圈层，且该圈层的集中度随学科领域发展持续提升，这一现象可由该领域的高度他律性与后现代社会特征加以解释。不过，本研究成功识别出可为领域行动者带来更高科学资本回报的研究对象：教师及其教育实践，由此证实教育学研究对象并未出现缺失。此外，研究观察到，与数字技术相关的议题在21世纪初逐渐崛起，并成为教育学领域研究对象层级核心圈层的组成部分。当前，数字技术已成为教育学领域研究对象社会层级核心的组成部分，其关联领域多为远程教育（Distance Education）。