R. E. Wyllys Copyright 2003 by R. E. Wyllys Last revised 2003 Apr 20

1. LIS 397.1Introduction to Research in Library and Information ScienceSome Other Research Techniques Relevant to Library and Information Science R. E. Wyllys Copyright 2003 by R. E. Wyllys Last revised 2003 Apr 20 School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

2. Lesson Objectives • To provide you with a brief introduction to certain research areas and techniques that are relevant in library and information science • Analytical Bibliography • Bibliometrics and Cybermetrics • Content Analysis • Historical Research • Stylostatistics School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

3. Analytical Bibliography • Analytical bibliography is the study of physical characteristics of books, manuscripts, maps, and other written materials with the goal of shedding light on such matters as the authenticity of individual items and the chronology of different versions of particular works. • Though the techniques of analytical bibliography were largely developed in order to study books and manuscripts of considerable age (e.g., early printings of Shakespeare's plays), the techniques are applicable to materials of more recent origin. • For example, they have been used to study alleged, and real, forgeries in the 20th century, such as the "Vinland Map" purchased by Yale University Library in 1958 for $1 million, and the "Hitler Diaries" published in 1983. • An excellent brief survey of some of the techniques is provided by the Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education as Identifying the Real Thing. School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

4. Analytical Bibliography • Physical characteristics that can be studied include: • Paper and ink chemistry • Watermarks • Collation • Binding • Typefaces, even down to the level of individual distinctive pieces of type • Spelling variations School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

5. Bibliometrics and Cybermetrics • So good an overview of bibliometrics and cybermetrics has been provided by Dr. Ruth A. Palmquist (currently Visiting Associate Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Dominican University) that I can do no better than simply to quote her "Bibliometrics" Webpage* extensively in this and the following six slides treating this topic. • First, a definition: "Bibliometrics is a type of research method used in library and information science. It utilizes quantitative analysis and statistics to describe patterns of publication within a given field or body of literature. Researchers may use bibliometric methods of evaluation to determine the influence of a single writer, for example, or to describe the relationship between two or more writers or works." * See the slide on "References: Bibliometrics and Cybermetrics" at the end of this presentation. School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

6. Bibliometrics and Cybermetrics • "Laws of Bibliometrics. One of the main areas in bibliometric research concerns the application of bibliometric laws. The three most commonly used laws in bibliometrics are: Lotka's law of scientific productivity, Bradford's law of scatter, and Zipf's law of word occurrence." • Lotka's Law. Named after Alfred J. Lotka, this law "describes the frequency of publication by authors in a given field." It states that in a given field the number of authors who make n contributions to the field is approximately 1/n2 of the number who make a single contribution, and that the typical proportion of those making just one contribution is about 60% of the authors in the field. "This means that out of all the authors in a given field, 60 percent will have just one publication . . . 15 percent will have two publications (1/22 times .60), 7 percent of authors will have three publications (1/32 times .60), and so on." It can be shown that only about 6% "of the authors in a field will produce more than 10 articles" apiece. School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

7. Bibliometrics and Cybermetrics • Bradford's Law. Named after Samuel C. Bradford, a British librarian, "Bradford's Law serves as a general guideline to librarians in determining the number of core journals in any given field. It states that journals in a single field can be divided into three parts, each containing the same number of articles: 1) a core of journals on the subject, relatively few in number, that produces approximately one-third of all the articles, 2) a second zone, containing the same number of articles as the first, but a greater number of journals, and 3) a third zone, containing the same number of articles as the second, but a still greater number of journals. The mathematical relationship of the number of journals in the core to the first zone is a constant n and to the second zone the relationship is n². Bradford expressed this relationship as 1:n:n². Bradford formulated his law [in 1934] after studying a bibliography of geophysics. . . . Bradford's Law is not statistically accurate, strictly speaking. But it is still commonly used as a general rule of thumb." School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

8. Bibliometrics and Cybermetrics • Zipf's Law. Named after George K. Zipf, a Harvard professor of philology, this law describes the distribution of frequencies of words in ordinary prose: • Suppose that you have a reasonably lengthy text, that you count the frequencies of the distinct words in the text, and that you then arrange the distinct words in decreasing order of frequency. Next, you assign rank 1 to the first word in the resulting list, i.e., the most frequent word; rank 2, to the next most frequent word; rank 3, to the third most frequent word; and so on.* • Zipf's Law says that the product of the rank of a word in this list multiplied by its frequency will be approximately constant. That is, r x f = C, where r is the rank of a word, f is the frequency of the word, and C is a constant. (C will depend mainly on the size of the particular text you have counted, but certain other characteristics of the text also help to determine C.) • "Zipf's Law . . . is not statistically perfect, but it is very useful for indexers." *Note: A Web-based program for counting and ranking the frequencies of the words in a text is available as the Web Frequency Indexer, created and maintained by Dr. Catherine N. Ball, Department of Linguistics, Georgetown University. School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

9. Bibliometrics and Cybermetrics • Anotherimportant area of bibliometrics, Citation Analysis, "uses various methods . . . in order to establish relationships between authors or their work. Here is a definition of citation analysis, and definitions of co-citation coupling and bibliographic coupling, which are specific kinds of citation analysis." • Citation Analysis. "When one author cites another author, a relationship is established. Citation analysis uses citations in scholarly works to establish links. Many different links can be ascertained, such as links between authors, between scholarly works, between journals, between fields, or even between countries. Citations both from and to a certain document may be studied. One very common use of citation analysis is to determine the impact of a single author on a given field by counting the number of times the author has been cited by others. One possible drawback of this approach is that authors may be citing the single author in a negative context (saying that the author doesn't know what s/he's talking about, for instance)." School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

10. Bibliometrics and Cybermetrics • Co-Citation Coupling "is a method used to establish a subject similarity between two documents. If papers A and B are both cited by paper C, they may be said to be related to one another, even though they don't directly cite each other. If papers A and B are both cited by many other papers, they have a stronger relationship. The more papers they are cited by, the stronger their relationship is." • Bibliographic Coupling "operates on a similar principle, but in a way it is the mirror image of co-citation coupling. Bibliographic coupling links two papers that cite the same articles, so that if papers A and B both cite paper C, they may be said to be related, even though they don't directly cite each other. The more papers they both cite, the stronger their relationship is.“ School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

11. Bibliometrics and Cybermetrics • The best known facilitation of citation analysis is that of the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI), which publishes several citation indexes to journals in various fields. • ISI’s Web of Science includes • Science Citation Expanded • Social Sciences Citation Index • Arts & Humanities Citation Index • For I-School students, access to ISI journals is available through UT-Austin Library Online (UTLOL), via “Databases and Indexes to Articles”. • Web Applications of Bibliometrics • Cybermetrics. "Recently, a new growth area in bibliometrics has been in the emerging field of webmetrics, or cybermetrics as it is often called. Webmetrics can be defined as using of bibliometric techniques in order to study the relationship of different sites on the World Wide Web. Such techniques may also be used to map out (called "scientific mapping" in traditional bibliometric research) areas of the Web that appear to be most useful or influential, based on the number of times they are hyperlinked to other Web sites." School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

12. Content Analysis • According to Bernard Berelson (1952), a pioneer in the field, "Content analysis is a research technique for the objective, systematic, and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication." Berelson points out that content analysis • Concerns the syntactic and semantic dimensions of language, as applied to its pragmatic effects (e.g., its effects on the recipients of communications). • Must be objective. That is, a content analyst must define his or her terms and methods sufficiently clearly so that other analysts, using the first analyst's techniques on the same body of communication, will reach essentially the same conclusions. • Must be systematic. That is, all of the relevant content is to be analyzed; a content analyst is not free to disregard those portions of the communication under study that might tend to disprove the point that the analyst is trying to make. School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

13. Content Analysis • An example of content analysis is contained in a popular article by Joyce Brothers (1972), a well known psychologist. In discussing President Nixon's press conferences, Brothers says, • "I think a part of the answer [to why Nixon conducted press conferences in the way he did] can be found in the studies of psychological researchers Richard E. Donley and David G. Winter of Wesleyan University. They analyzed the inaugural addresses of 12 Presidents, from Theodore Roosevelt to Richard Nixon, using words and verbal images to measure the need for power against the need for achievement in each man. • "Desire for power was indicated by speech references to strong action, aggression, persuasion and argument. Need for achievement was evidenced by such words as good, better, excellent, high quality, etc. Most Presidents, like most journalists, showed higher need for power than for achievement. Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy had [the] highest power drives, with 80 power images per 1000 spoken words. School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

14. Content Analysis • "They were also two of the most highly successful Presidents when it came to dealing with the press. . . . • "Donley and Winter found only three Presidents in whom the need for achievement was greater than the power drive. These were Herbert Hoover, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon. All of them have shunned formal press conferences. Since Mr. Nixon, at least, has shown himself capable of handling such encounters well, ineptness can't be the whole reason. It is more likely that achievement-oriented Presidents find power-oriented press conferences more frustrating than helpful in their efforts." School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

15. Content Analysis • Another example of content analysis is provided by Susan Brandehoff (1987), who summarizes research by Leslie Edmonds by saying: • "In 'The Treatment of Race in Picture Books for Young Children' (Book Research Quarterly, Fall, 1986, p. 30-41), Edmonds compares two samples of picture books published by mainstream publishers between 1928 and 1974 and between 1980 and 1984, taking into account the race of major characters and the positive or negative treatment of various racial groups. . . . • "In the 1928-1974 grouping, 57% of the books featured major characters who were white; 27% presented a racial mix of main characters; 7% were black; 5%, Asian; 2%, Native American; and 2%, Hispanic. Positive traits such as kindness outnumbered negative traits such as meanness by about five to one for all groups, Edmonds says, with Native Americans slightly above norm for positive traits, and blacks and Asian groups somewhat below norm. School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

16. Content Analysis • "White characters were portrayed as slightly smarter than the norm; blacks as more musical; and Hispanics as more religious. Native Americans were strong and brave 'in undue proportion to the total sample', Edmonds observes. . . . • "Asian groups probably fared worst among all minorities, Edmonds says, with little distinction made between Chinese and Japanese characters, inaccurate presentation of Asian culture, and no strong Asian personality traits offered. Overall, minorities were not presented with the same 'variety, humor, dignity, and skill depicted in the white racial majority.' • "In the later sample (1980-84), Edmonds found that books about Native Americans were being published at about the same level, but there were fewer books being published about other groups. Blacks are still presented most frequently, but with more variety and less stereotyping. There are not yet strong images of Asian characters or cultures other than Chinese and Japanese, Edmonds says, and Hispanics 'continue to get very meager coverage'." School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

17. Historical Research • Historical studies are an important part of research in library and information science. However, the techniques of historical research, as opposed to the other techniques discussed in this presentation, are usually familiar, at least in general terms, to all educated people. Furthermore, the areas of applicability of historical research are clearly enormous. • Hence, it seems appropriate here simply to mention certain guiding principles of historical research: • Reliance on original sources to the maximum extent possible • Recognition of the contemporary contexts of those original sources • Seeking sources on both, or all, sides in conflicts and disagreements so as to bring out all the relevant viewpoints • Avoidance of anachronism, i.e., avoidance of attributing to people in the past the kind of perspectives and attitudes that we have today. People in the past should be judged in terms of what they knew at the time they acted. School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

18. Stylostatistics • Stylostatistics is the study of the statistics of written works, usually for the purpose of identifying the true author of the work. • Probably the best known example of stylostatistical analysis is Inference and Disputed Authorship: The Federalist, by Frederick Mosteller and David L. Wallace. • In this book the authors, both professors of statistics in the University of Chicago, examined the 12 "Federalist Papers" whose authorship had been in dispute among historians. • The "Federalist Papers" are short essays, published in 1787-88, favoring the adoption of the (then) proposed Constitution of the United States. Though the papers were published pseudonymously under the name "Publius", Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison later acknowledged their authorship of some 73 of the 85 papers. However, the authorship of the other 12 papers remained in doubt. School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

19. Stylostatistics • Using several stylostatistical techniques and employing inferential statistical analysis, Mosteller and Wallace were able to conclude, "In summary, we can say with better foundation than ever before that Madison was the author of the 12 disputed papers." Historians have generally accepted the Mosteller and Wallace findings as conclusive. • The Mosteller and Wallace book provides a brief history of the Federalist Papers plus a masterful explanation of stylostatistical techniques and their application to the problem of uncovering the authorship of the disputed papers. School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

20. Research Can Be Fun! School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

21. References • Analytical Bibliography • Altick, Richard D. The Art of Literary Research. 4th ed. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company; 1993. ISBN: 0-393-96240-7.[This and the following book are exceptionally readable. In these two books, Altick turns the story of literary research, which relies heavily on the techniques of analytical bibliography, into literary detective stories.] • Altick, Richard D. The Scholar Adventurers. Columbus, OH: Ohio State Univ Press; 1987. ISBN: 0-814-20435-X. • Harris, Robert. Selling Hitler: The Extraordinary Story of the Con Job of the Century--The Faking of the Hitler "Diaries". New York, NY: Pantheon; 1986. ISBN:0-394-55336-5. • Tanselle, G. Thomas. Literature and artifacts. Charlottesville, VA: Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia; 1998. ISBN:1-88-363-106-8. School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

22. References • Bibliometrics and Cybermetrics • Bradford, S. C. Documentation. Washington, DC; Public Affairs Press; 1950. • Palmquist, Ruth A. Bibliometrics. Retrieved 2003 April 12 from http://www.gslis.utexas.edu/~palmquis/courses/biblio.html • Rousseau, Ronald. Time table of bibliometrics. Retrieved 2003 April 12 from http://users.pandora.be/ronald.rousseau/html/time_table_of_bibliometrics.html [This time table provides an interesting overview of bibliometrics.] Zipf, George K. Human Behavior and the Principle of Least Effort: An Introduction to Human Ecology. Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley; 1949. School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

23. References • Content Analysis • Berelson, Bernard. Content Analysis in Communication Research. Glencoe, IL: Free Press; 1952. • Brandehoff, Susan. Picturebooks get Low Grades for Ethnic/Racial Imagery. American Libraries. April 1987. P. 298. • Brothers, Joyce. The President and the Press. TV Guide. September 23, 1972. Pp. 6-12. • Holsti, Ole R. Content Analysis for the Social Sciences and Humanities. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley; 1969. School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

24. References • Historical Research • Gray, Wood. Historian's Handbook: A Key to the Study and Writing of History. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin; 1959. • Nevins, Allan. The Gateway to History. Garden City, NY: Anchor; 1962. • Tey, Josephine. The Daughter of Time. New York, NY: Macmillan; 1952. [Written by a master detective story author, this fascinating novel describes the pursuit, by a bedridden researcher, of an unbiased, objective understanding of King Richard III despite the obscuring fog of writings by Richard's victorious opponents and their successors, including Shakespeare. The result is a delightful story that is also a primer on historical research.] School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science

25. References • Stylostatistics • Morton, Andrew Q.; McLeman, James. Christianity in the Computer Age. New York, NY: Harper and Row; 1965. [An early stylostatistical publication, this book examines the "Pauline Epistles", the 13 books of the New Testament that have traditionally been attributed to St. Paul. The authors conclude that only 4 of the 13 epistles were, beyond a reasonable doubt, written by Paul.] • Morton, Andrew Q. Literary Detection : How to Prove Authorship and Fraud in Literature and Documents. New York, NY: Scribner; 1978. ISBN:0-684-15516-8. • Mosteller, Frederick; Wallace, David L. Inference and Disputed Authorship: The Federalist. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley; 1964. • Yule, G. Udny. The Statistical Study of Literary Vocabulary. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press; 1944. [The pioneering work on stylostatistics.] School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin LIS 397.1, Introduction to Research in Library and Information Science