Transcript Document

Citation analysis of theses
and dissertations submitted to
the Tshwane University of
Technology: 2004 - 2005
Adriaan Swanepoel
[email protected]
Outline
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Background
Research problem
Research design
Results
Problems and limitations
Advantages of citation analysis
Significance of the study
Background
Research problem
• How does the use of information sources
by master’s and doctoral (M&D)
students differ between the faculties of
TUT, and to what extent does the Library
and Information Services provide access
to a subset (journals) of the information
sources that are mostly used by M&D
students?
Sub-problems
• Which types of information sources do M&D
students of different faculties use most and
least, and to what extent does it change from
year to year?
• Which journals do M&D students of different
faculties use most and least, and to what extent
does it change from year to year?
• To what extent does the LIS keep or provide
access to the journals that are mostly used by
M&D students?
Research design
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Nature: Longitudinal
Data sources: All TUT theses since 2004
Timeframe: Retrospective
Data collection: Per faculty
a. Number of citations per information type
b. Number of citations per thesis
c. Number of theses per subject discipline
d. Frequency of journal titles cited
e. Cited journals owned by the library
• Method: Citation counting
Method
• Analysis and measurement (counting) of citations
according to predetermined and well-defined categories
• Quantification and ordering/ranking of the categorized
units
• Analysis and comparison of attained data
• Interpretation of the data insofar as research questions
are concerned
Total theses, faculties, etc.
(2004 – May 2005)
Number of theses
93
Number of dissertations
11
Submitted in 2004
63
Submitted up to May 2005
41
Faculties
11
Departments
40
Subjects (CESM categories*) 33
*Council on Higher Education. Classification of Educational Subject Matter
Theses, dissertations per faculty
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Agricultural Sciences
8
Arts
5
Business School
2
Economic Sciences
3
Education
22
Engineering
13
Health Sciences
14
Information and Communication Technology 7
Management Sciences
7
Natural Sciences
8
Social Sciences
16
Information sources cited
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Sound recordings, TV and film
Personal communication
Electronic
Paper
TOTAL
4
132
697
7141
7974
Material types cited
Books
Journals
Web sites & CD-ROMs
Govt. Publications
Proceedings/papers
Theses/Dissertations
Personal communication
NGO Reports
%
38.80
36.47
7.71
4.82
3.11
1.86
1.44
1.04
N
3094
2908
615
384
248
148
115
83
Material types cited
%
Newspapers
1.00
Technical data
0.23
Patents
0.08
Radio, TV, film, video 0.06
Maps
0.03
Sound recordings
0.01
Scores
0.00
Graphic illustrations 0.00
N
80
18
6
5
2
1
0
0
Material types cited
Other
%
3.05
N
243
Comic books
0.41
33
Use of journals, books, web sites &
CD-ROM
• Average number of citations per thesis
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Journals
Books
Web, CD
Health
Sciences
Business
School
Natural Agricultural
Sciences
Sciences
Use of journals, books, web sites &
CD-ROM
• Average number of citations per thesis
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Journals
Books
Web, CD
Education Engineering Economic
Sciences
Arts
Use of theses/dissertations, technical
data and patents
• Average number of citations per thesis
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Theses
Tech data
Patents
Natural Engineering
Sciences
ICT
Health
Sciences
Journals used per faculty
• Faculty of Natural Sciences
Title
Times
cited
Journal of analytical atomic spectrometry
24
Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society
22
Journal of Supercritical Fluids
13
Tropical Science
1
Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 1
Journals used per faculty
• Faculty of Health Sciences
Title
Times
cited
International Journal of Sports Medicine
40
International Journal of Pharmaceutics
40
Journal of Applied Psychology
37
Contact Dermatitis
1
Clinical Orthopedics
1
Journals cited
Jnl titles cited
Frequency
1088
71
23
3
5
2
3
2
2
0
1
1–4
5–9
10 - 14
15 – 19
20 – 24
25 – 29
30 – 34
35 – 39
40 – 44
45 – 64
65 – 69
Journals cited
Jnl titles cited
Frequency
LIS Holdings
1088
71
23
3
5
2
3
2
2
0
1
1–4
5–9
10 - 14
15 – 19
20 – 24
25 – 29
30 – 34
35 – 39
40 – 44
45 – 64
65 – 69
not yet determined
12
7
1
4
0
1
1
1
0
1
Problems and limitations
• Researchers are more likely to use materials to
which they have local access
• Citations may be added to increase the thesis’
length and scholarly appearance
• Researchers may cite works of marginal
importance
• Researchers may not cite all works used to
prepare the thesis
• Handbooks and textbooks often do not receive
citations as they are taken for granted by
students.
Sylvia,1998:20-28
Advantages
• Citation analysis provides an unobtrusive
method of obtaining data on which information
resources are being used
• By using citations from theses and dissertations
as data sources, even relative inexperienced
researchers can gather the data easily and
comprehensively
• Citation analysis is a method that avoids
voluntary submission of data, “researchers can
actually gather a true population of citations”
(Zipp,1996:341)
Significance of the study
Adriaan Swanepoel
Acting Director
Library and Information Services (Pretoria Campus)
Tshwane University of Technology
South Africa
[email protected]
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