Cognitive Structure of American Sociology as a Scholastic Discipline According to Data of Ten American Sociological Journals 2002—2006

Using references for 1783 articles from ten American non-specialized sociological journals, the study conducted divisive cluster analysis of these data in order to elucidate a cognitive structure of contemporary American sociology. 84 clusters were obtained and 83 of them were identified as corresponding to some area (or several areas) of sociology (75 clusters) or as interdisciplinary and belonging to an adjacent social discipline (10 clusters). Certain correlation was found between the identified clusters and sections of the American Sociological Association that form an institutional structure of American sociology as well as between the clusters and the other scholastic organizations and between the clusters and scholastic journals. At the same time, names of twenty sections of ASA out of 47 did not find correspondence among the obtained clusters, and names of eighteen clusters did not correlate with names of ASA’s sections. Thus there is only partial association between cognitive and institutional structures of American sociology. At the same time, one can observe links between many of identified cIusters with other American and international scholastic organizations and journals.