The perception and the action strategies of coffee researchers in their collaborative network

Abstract

This study examined the role of perception, its grounds and effects on the logic of the action of researchers when forming partnerships in their underlying Brazilian Consortium network for Coffee Research and Development. Supported by the institutional theory and the network theory, it started out with the assumption that the perception of agents (regarding the structural position/location, the network resources and the dynamics of resource appropriation) is relevant as it would be a determining factor when it came to inserting researchers in their collaborative network. The study resorted to: (a) the content analysis of interviews with researchers; (b) the sociometric analysis of co-authorship; (c) the sociometric analysis of the preferential choice among coffee researchers; and (d) the multivariate analysis of a database of the consortium sub-projects and responses to a survey of those responsible for subprojects. The results point out that the structural position of the agent in its network, though significant, does not determine the perception of these agents and this may have implications for their strategies. Along with this statement, it was possible to identify a group of regularities as well as a set of logical actions on the part of the scientists under study. It would be in this field that the researcher would practice his agency, where he monitors and perceives the resources and limitations of the network in which he and his colleagues are included and form partnerships.

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