THE IMPACT OF BACKGROUND DIVERSITY ON RESEARCHER INNOVATION

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dc.contributorRude, Dale
dc.contributorLevin, Irwin
dc.contributorGarner, Richard
dc.contributor.authorPaquet, Ethan
dc.date.accessioned2022-08-23T17:14:30Z
dc.date.available2022-08-23T17:14:30Z
dc.date.issued2022-06-29
dc.description.abstractOriginally published in 1955, and replicated so frequently it established two laws (Lotka Law and Price Law), Wayne Dennis wrote that it is not uncommon in the field of science for the upper 10% in total output to contribute about 50% of all of the work (Dennis, 1955; Simonton, 2010). What about these researchers has separated them in such great disparity from their peers? This research aims to explore the relation between certain undergraduate and early career experiences and the role they play in research innovation and output. I hypothesize that: researchers with undergraduate degrees outside their area of research, that attend larger universities and university programs, and have extracurriculars and work experience outside of academia produce more innovative research. I tested these hypotheses with two different approaches. Study 1 involved exploratory interviews of four distinguished faculty across four different fields. Study 2 used archival data to analyze the backgrounds of I/O psychologists at 37 different tier one research universities. This research showed mixed results about how a wide range of unique background experiences influenced researcher’s ability to creatively think. Overall, there was evidence that researchers with a wider breadth of experiences, degrees outside of their area of research, various jobs and extracurriculars in undergrad, were able to synthesize these experiences into their research, which enabled them to be more creative. They were able to be more creative for two main reasons. One, the researchers were able to generate unique problem definitions, which in turn, expanded the possible solutions that the person generated. Second, they were able to generate more unique solutions to problems. To use an analogy, because of the researcher’s background, they both expanded the size of the metaphorical pond they were fishing from and looked in different spots than the other fisherman. This manifested in consistently innovative research ideas over their career.
dc.description.departmentAccountancy and Taxation, Department of
dc.description.departmentHonors College
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10657/10814
dc.language.isoen
dc.relation.ispartofSenior Honors Theses
dc.rightsThe author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. UH Libraries has secured permission to reproduce any and all previously published materials contained in the work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).
dc.subjectCreativity
dc.subjectInnovation
dc.subjectBackground experiences
dc.subjectAccounting
dc.titleTHE IMPACT OF BACKGROUND DIVERSITY ON RESEARCHER INNOVATION
dc.typeHonors Thesis
dc.type.dcmiText
thesis.degree.collegeC. T. Bauer College of Business
thesis.degree.levelBachelors
thesis.degree.nameBachelor of Business Administration

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