Comparing Graduate Students Research Diversity in Sociology in Korea and Taiwan by Analyzing Keywords of Degree Theses in 2014–2018

Abstract

Korea and Taiwan are considered to share a similar trajectory in terms of their democratic and economic development. However, each country still has significant differences due to their distinct cultural and historical contexts regarding the main concerns of their societies. It is reasonable to suspect that these similarities and differences in the aspirations and concerns of the two societies might reflect the topics of graduate students degree theses in sociology. Using co-word (co-occurrence of words) analysis in bibliometrics, this study set out to identify, compare, and explain whether and how the primary sociological research conducted by graduate students in Korea and Taiwan has differed in these two newly industrialized economies in East Asia over the latest five years (2014–2018). We believe this is a worthwhile endeavor because contrasting the degree theses of graduate students who majored in sociology in the two countries helps provide a better understanding of each countrys distinct social and cultural contexts. It also provides a case study of how intellectual and societal factors interact with one another in both countries; meanwhile, it creates the possibility of identifying trends of future study in the academic field of sociology.