On Metrics and Metaphysics

[Loet Leydesdorff]

> Fair question. Here is a quick and dirty solution, by way of 
> illustration.
> (Many more are possible along analogous lines.)
> 
> (1) Compare like with like. So we are only looking at literary
> studies. The subject matter can be narrowed down by Boolean means,
> including taxonomic descriptors. No comparing Shakespeare scholarship
> works with molecular biology.

Dear Stevan and colleagues, 

Against any theoretical objection, one can always argue that it is possible
to do things "quick and dirty". In my opinion, this approach can easily
damage standards in this field.

The delineation of fields and subfields, for example, cannot easily be
discarded, particularly on the web. In other words, standards for the
normalization are never to be taken lightly.

Best wishes, 


Loet

________________________________

Loet Leydesdorff 
Amsterdam School of Communications Research (ASCoR), 
Kloveniersburgwal 48, 1012 CX Amsterdam. 
Tel.: +31-20- 525 6598; fax: +31-20- 525 3681 
loet at leydesdorff.net ; http://www.leydesdorff.net/