Abstract
This paper reports selected findings from the first stage of a study on the research role within academic work in Australian universities. These findings come from the interview component of the study and discuss the perceptions that senior academic administrators hold on ‘research’ and ‘scholarship’. The analysis of the interviews indicates that ‘research’ covers a wide and varied range of activities across the disciplines found in a university and therefore needs to be defined broadly. However, ‘research’ has three major attributes: new knowledge, enquiry and publication of results and views. ‘Scholarship’ was perceived to be part of the research process, providing the context for good research by adding the element of breadth to the depth of ‘research’. In addition, ‘scholarship’ describes the manner of pursuing a serious, sustained line of enquiry as well as the dissemination process.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Becher, T. (1981). ‘Towards a definition of disciplinary cultures’,Studies in Higher Education 6 (2), 109–122.
Becher, T. (1987a). Disciplinary discourse.Studies in Higher Education 12 (3), 261–274.
Becher, T. (1987b). ‘The Disciplinary Shaping of the Profession’, in Clark, B.R. (ed.),The Academic Profession. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 271–308.
Becher, T. (1989).Academic Tribes and Territories: Intellectual Enquiry and the Cultures of Disciplines. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
Biglan, A. (1973a). ‘The characteristics of subject matter in different academic areas’,Journal of Applied Psychology 57 (3), 195–203.
Biglan, A. (1973b). ‘Relationships between subject matter characteristics and the structure and output of university departments’,Journal of Applied Psychology 57 (3), 204–213.
Bowen, H.R. (1977).Investment in Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bowen, H.R. and Schuster, J.H. (1986).American Professors: A National Resource Imperiled. Oxford University Press.
Carter, C. (1980).Higher Education for the Future. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Clark, B.R. (1983).The Higher Education System: Academic Organization in Cross-National Perspective. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Cyert, R.M. and Knapp, P.A. (1984). ‘Research in the humanities’,Liberal Education 70 (2), 95–101.
Dawkins, J.S. (1988).Higher Education: A Policy Statement (White Paper) Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
Elton, L. (1986). ‘Research and teaching: symbiosis or conflict.Higher Education 15, 299–304.
Lindsay, A. (1989). ‘The teaching and research roles of academics — conflicting pressures in the higher education system’,Herdsa News, 11 (3), 5–6.
Lindsay, A.W. and Neumann, R.T. (1988).The Challenge for Research in Higher Education: Harmonizing Excellence and Utility. Washington: ASHE-ERIC.
McGrath, E.J. (1962). ‘Characteristics of outstanding college teachers’,Journal of Higher Education 33, 148–152.
Neumann, R. (1992). ‘Perceptions of the teaching-research nexus: a framework for analysis’,Higher Education 23 (2), 159–171.
Neumann, R. (1990a). Interview-Based Research Into Academic Work, in Macpherson, R.J.S. and Weeks, J. (eds),Pathways to Knowledge In Educational Administration: Methodologies and Research in Progress in Australia. Armidale: ACEA, pp. 95–104.
Neumann, R. (1990b).A Study of the Research Role Within Academic Work. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, School of Education, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
Neumann, R. and Lindsay, A. (1988). ‘Research policy and the changing nature of Australia's universities’,Higher Education 17 (3), 307–321.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (1981).The Future of University Research. Paris: OECD.
Schwartzman, S. (1984). The Focus on Scientific Activity, in Clark, B.R. (ed.),Perspectives on Higher Education: Eight Disciplinary and Comparative Views. Berkley: University of California Press, pp. 199–232.
Scott, P. (1991), ‘Beyond the dual-support system: scholarship, research and teaching in the context of academic autonomy’,Studies in Higher Education 16 (1), 5–13.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Neumann, R. Research and scholarship: Perceptions of senior academic administrators. High Educ 25, 97–110 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01384743
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01384743