Identifying and explaining elite indicators and providing a framework for discovering scientific elites in the Humanities Field

Elites are a national asset and have the power to influence the direction of society. The first and most important step in the elitism process is identifying the elite. If the identification stage is carried out correctly and comprehensively with regard to the skills and abilities of the elites, it will ensure the success of their spiritual education and investment process. Identifying and validating indicators of elitism is one of the most challenging issues that countries face, and it is considered one of the most important concerns in every country. Identifying the indicators of excellence in the field of humanities is no exception to this rule, as humanities provide the roadmap for other scientific fields. It is essential to refine this roadmap by recognizing the elites in this field. Therefore, the current research aims to identify and explain elite indicators and provide a framework for identifying scientific elites in the field of humanities.

This research employs a scientometric approach to identify and categorize elite indicators and validate them based on expert opinion. It aims to identify the most reliable indicators and establish a framework for recognizing scientific elites based on the obtained results. The purpose of the current research is both developmental and applied, utilizing a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. For certain aspects of this research, the library method was utilized, while the survey method was employed for other parts. The research community consisted of humanities experts who were selected using a non-random purposeful sampling method. The research then continued to expand through a snowball method, ultimately involving 20 people. Based on the analysis of the texts, 157 indicators were identified. After equalization, this number was reduced to 77 indicators, which were then provided to humanities experts. In the continuation of the research, the first step involved analyzing the data. After surveying the experts, the indicators were validated and their average was obtained using SPSS v25 and Excel v2019 software. In the second phase of the research, the indicators that scored higher than the optimal average level of 3, as determined by the experts, were identified as desirable. These indicators were then re-entered into the SPSS software and weighted to establish the research framework.

The results revealed that out of the 26 indicators presented in the elite section, 24 indicators scored above the average. The candidate's achievement value index, with an average of 4.41, had the highest average in this section. Out of the 51 indicators mentioned in the adult section, all the indicators scored above the average. According to the experts, all the indicators were deemed important. In this section, the indicator for presenting a valid scientific theory for the first time in the world (which has gained general acceptance and validity) or the initiation of a new scientific research right in the world (which has achieved international scientific success) had the highest average of 4.65. The results of the second phase of the research regarding the weighting of the indicators revealed that in the youth section, scientific ability (weight: 87.828) was the most significant dimension, followed by economic ability, social ability, and communication ability (weight: 12.171). In the adult indicators identification section, the weighting results showed that the dimension of scientific ability (weight: 61.880) and the dimension of executive ability (weight: 16.849) were more important.

The key to identifying and validating indicators of the elite is the presence of significant and effective scientific measures that can accurately assess individuals' efforts and values. This is essential for promptly identifying the elite and preventing the misuse of national funds. The optimal approach in this field is to analyze indicators and develop models for identifying elites. By extracting and validating the identification indicators of elites and assigning weight to each factor, the proposed operational framework categorizes them into scientific, economic, executive, social, and communication ability factors. The operational framework can effectively improve the decision-making of policymakers and elite evaluators, as well as the quality of identifying scientific elites in the humanities.