J. Swygart-Hobaugh "A citation analysis of the quantitative/qualitative methods debate's reflection in sociology research: Implications for library collection development"

[Eugene Garfield]

Amanda J. Swygart-Hobaugh: aswygart at cornellcollege.edu


AUTHOR   Amanda J. Swygart-Hobaugh

TITLE    A citation analysis of the quantitative/qualitative methods

         debate's reflection in sociology research: Implications for library
         collection development

SOURCE   Library Collections, Acquisitions, and Technical Services,
         Volume 28, Issue 2, Summer 2004, Pages 180-195

Abstract

This study examines how the social sciences' debate between qualitative and
quantitative methods is reflected in the citation patterns of sociology
journal articles. Citation analysis revealed that quantitative articles were
more likely to cite journal articles than monographs, while qualitative
articles were more likely to cite monographs than journals. Quantitative
articles cited other articles from their own quantitative-dominated journals
but virtually excluded citations to articles from qualitative journals,
while qualitative articles cited articles from the quantitative-dominated
journals as well as their own qualitative-specialized journals. Discussion
and conclusions include this study's implications for library collection
development.