Solar Physics (submitted): This study attempts to establish a basis for understanding how methods used in research in solar physics have evolved since WWII. The goal is to begin to explore if and how the changing research environment affects the training of young scientists, and the future of solar physics research at our institutions. A strategy based upon a sample of 650 PhD theses is used to assess research. The statistical analysis is based upon necessarily subjective categorization and the inference of likelihoods of two different distributions being drawn from the same underlying distribution. The data suggest that impactful advances are becoming more rare, but the methods used have changed little barring those related to obvious technological advances (e.g. the advent of spacecraft, adaptive optics). A follow-up study to explore the 100,000+ publications in solar physics through machine learning seems warranted.
The sample of 650 PhD theses used in the study is shown at the top, with relevant events shown in lower panels