Digital Technologies of Information and Communication and the Social Hierarchy of Objects in the field of Education: empirical tests

This article presents the report of an empirical investigation on scientific production in Education using bibliometric and scientometric data analyzed based on concepts created by Pierre Bourdieu for the sociology of science with the help of a historical and philosophical framework. Using metadata from more than 6000 theses defended between 1996 and 2016 in postgraduate education programs in Brazil, a map of the Social Hierarchy of Objects in the field of Education was generated. We also tried to empirically test the statement about research in Education that there was a loss of the object of research in Education in postmodernity and the importance in terms of scientific capital of Digital Information and Communication Technologies (DTIC). The data showed that the hierarchy of objects is very fragmented but with a nucleus that concentrates a lot of scientific capital and that this concentration grew with the field. Which can be explained by the high degree of heteronomy of the field and post-modernity phenomena. It was possible to map that there are objects that bring more return of scientific capital: the teacher and his/her formation. Therefore, there was no loss of the object. It was also possible to observe that words related to digital technologies grew in scientific capital and became part of the core in the hierarchy of objects in the field at the beginning of the 21st century. Digital technologies are part of the core of the Social Hierarchy of Objects in the field of Education, mainly related to Distance Education.