Doctoral Dissertation Research: Legitimation Networks in Fringe and Normal Sciences

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The legitimacy of persons or groups is important in determining their share of resources in any political, social or economic system. The more legitimate the person or group, the greater their potential share of society's resources. Previous research has focused on the consequences of legitimacy for different sorts of social units and outcomes. This project instead examines the mechanisms by which groups attain and maintain legitimacy. Our theory proposes that legitimacy is heightened to the degree that there is both high solidarity, based on intra-group ties, and a high incidence of `endorsement ties` received by the group from outside. We will test this theory using sociometric data gathered through interviews and questionnaires administered to members of two academic fields, parapsychology and the psychology of human cognition and perception. We have already collected data from nearly all of the leading parapsychologists. In this project we will gather comparable data from leading psychologists of human cognition and perception and will use the two data sets to test our theory.