Some concepts of the sociology of Pierre Bourdieu related to social network analysis

Abstract

Information Science (IS) is a hierarchical field, relatively autonomous and formed by objective relations that occur in a social context. This research aimed to understand the implicit mechanisms in the knowledge generation and construction of the Information Science CNPq (National Council of Scientific and Technological Development) fellow researchers, and the social position they occupy in the field. More specifically, we sought to understand the social mechanisms built to organize and which facilitate the structuring of the scientific collaboration networks of these CNPq researchers in IS; to underpin the Social Network Analysis (SNA) from the Field Theory and the concepts of Social Capital and Science Capital, proposed by Pierre Bourdieu's Sociology. For constructing the scientific collaboration networks among the researchers, Ucinet Software was used. The Science Field theory was also used to complement the Social Network Analysis procedure, focusing on the characterization and evolution of scientific collaboration networks (2005-2009 and 2010-2014). In conclusion, according to the Sociology of Pierre Bourdieu, to occupy a dominant position, the CNPq fellow researcher must understand the logic of the practice, since the field has structuring axes from which the main players occupying this social space of scientific competition are identified.