The Social Organisation of Problem-Selection: New Zealand Education and Human Geography in the Early Nineteen-Seventies

Abstract

This thesis describes the environmental conditions which structure the choices of research topics by social researchers into a “local to cosmopolitan” framework; and attempts an explanation of why some types of social researchers tend to choose local projects, why others choose cosmopolitan ones, and yet others choose some mixture or combination. It is argued that career-stage, type of professional socialization, and social background circumstances will be important in differentiating between locals and cosmopolitans (identified in terms of their predilection for choosing local or cosmopolitan projects) and that organizational contexts (such as field of specialization) will also play an important role in shaping problem-choices. This is, in effect, an extension of the ‘local/cosmopolitan’ literature from its traditional concern with attitudes of individuals to their organisations, to encompass the intellectual orientations of individuals within social science disciplines.