John,
   The dictionaries seem to call "hence" an adverb in this context, 
meaning something like "as a consequence of this fact," in this case the 
fact that some people should have more weight when weighing use of a 
version. As an adverb, it seems closely parallel to "therefore", meaning 
it often happens at point of conjunction, but doesn't have subordinating 
power. (The handbooks seem to call it "conjunctive adverb" to 
distinguish it from the true conjunctions.) What follows it--"my attempt 
to focus on mainstream institutions"-- can be broken down in different 
ways, but I would see it as a noun phrase headed by "attempt" with "to 
focus on mainstream institutions" as an infinitive acting as restrictive 
adjectival modifier, narrowing down the notion of "attempt", acting also 
as complement.
   I was trying to figure out if we can do this (hence plus noun phrase) 
for noun phrases that don't seem like reduced clauses, and I couldn't 
think of an example. In other words, I think our most congruent way of 
saying this would be "Part of the dynamic has to do with who is using 
which version; hence I attempted to focus on mainstream institutions." I 
am using the semi-colon here to avoid a conventional run-on. Bill avoids 
it by downranking the clause to noun phrase, which is a nice move.
   There's a  class of verbs which have close noun equivalents and can 
be downranked that way, often bringing with them infinitive structures 
that are generally thought of as complements. Think of hope, desire, 
plan (and attempt) as central to the group.  "I hoped to convince her." 
"My hope to convince her." "I desired/wanted to convince her." "My 
desire to convince her." "I planned to win the game." "My plan to win 
the game." "I attempted to focus on mainstream institutions." "My 
attempt to focus on mainstream institutions."
   So "hence" is adverbially modifying a noun phrase? That may make a 
purist blanche. It's clear that it can do that only when the noun phrase 
itself is acting like a downranked clause, still carrying a clause like 
meaning.
  That's my initial view. I look forward to other versions.

Craig



John Crow wrote:
> In a very well-supported response to Nancy's inquiry about Master's 
> Degree, Bill wrote the following sentence:
>
> Part of the dynamic has to do with who is using which version, hence 
> my attempt to focus on
> "mainstream" institutions (emphasis added).
>
> I find the sentence perfectly well formed, but I cannot figure out 
> what the underlined part is.  Any ideas?
>
> John
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