Theories of Informetrics and Scholarly Communication

Scientometrics have become an essential element in the practice and evaluation of science and research, including both the evaluation of individuals and national assessment exercises. Yet, researchers and practitioners in this field have lacked clear theories to guide their work. As early as 1981, then doctoral student Blaise Cronin published The need for a theory of citing - a call to arms for the fledgling scientometric community to produce foundational theories upon which the work of the field could be based. More than three decades later, the time has come to reach out the field again and ask how they have responded to this call. This book compiles the foundational theories that guide informetrics and scholarly communication research. It is a much needed compilation by leading scholars in the field that gathers together the theories that guide our understanding of authorship, citing, and impact

Theories of Informetrics and Scholarly Communication

Scientometrics have become an essential element in the practice and evaluation of science and research, including both the evaluation of individuals and national assessment exercises. Yet, researchers and practitioners in this field have lacked clear theories to guide their work. As early as 1981, then doctoral student Blaise Cronin published "The need for a theory of citing" —a call to arms for the fledgling scientometric community to produce foundational theories upon which the work of the field could be based. More than three decades later, the time has come to reach out the field again and ask how they have responded to this call. This book compiles the foundational theories that guide informetrics and scholarly communication research. It is a much needed compilation by leading scholars in the field that gathers together the theories that guide our understanding of authorship, citing, and impact

Theories of Informetrics and Scholarly Communication

Scientometrics have become an essential element in the practice and evaluation of science and research, including both the evaluation of individuals and national assessment exercises. Yet, researchers and practitioners in this field have lacked clear theories to guide their work. As early as 1981, then doctoral student Blaise Cronin published "The need for a theory of citing" —a call to arms for the fledgling scientometric community to produce foundational theories upon which the work of the field could be based. More than three decades later, the time has come to reach out the field again and ask how they have responded to this call. This book compiles the foundational theories that guide informetrics and scholarly communication research. It is a much needed compilation by leading scholars in the field that gathers together the theories that guide our understanding of authorship, citing, and impact

“WHEN OUR CROPS BURN, WE BURN”: HOUSEHOLD CULTIVATION, INATTENTION AND EXCLUSION IN TAJIKISTAN\u27S WATER MANAGEMENT REFORM

The Republic of Tajikistan possesses the largest amount of internally produced surface water in Central Asia; however, poor irrigation management has led to water shortages in agrarian communities. In support of government efforts to reform water management, international development actors have established Water Users’ Associations (WUAs) throughout the country. WUAs are non-governmental groups of irrigation water users responsible for local infrastructure maintenance, conflict resolution, and scheduling water distribution. These groups are expected to increase participation in irrigation management, the equity and efficiency of water supply to agricultural plots and by extension, crop yields and food security. Drawing on interviews with development actors, government representatives, and WUA leaders, and rural households, I show that plans to improve rural wellbeing through WUA creation are undermined by legal frameworks that limit formal participation in associations to one water user – farm managers. Reinforced by the actions and inactions of the government and development actors, this policy is drawn from and advances a fragmented understanding of the irrigation landscape, wherein the cultivation of irrigation dependent household plots is devalued or made invisible. Neglecting to actively include theses plots in WUA structures can contribute to reduced household water access, prompting crop failure and increased food insecurity among rural families. This thesis contributes to ongoing discussions about the risks and opportunities associated with approaches to rural development and community-based natural resource management globally

Proceedings of the Salford Postgraduate Annual Research Conference (SPARC) 2011

These proceedings bring together a selection of papers from the 2011 Salford Postgraduate Annual Research Conference(SPARC). It includes papers from PhD students in the arts and social sciences, business, computing, science and engineering, education, environment, built environment and health sciences. Contributions from Salford researchers are published here alongside papers from students at the Universities of Anglia Ruskin, Birmingham City, Chester,De Montfort, Exeter, Leeds, Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores and Manchester

Literacy and Society in Ireland 1900-1980

This thesis focuses critical attention on the long-standing claim that the Irish population was fully literate in the twentieth century. Unquestioned assertions that marginalize the illiterate Irish person are supported by a limited set of documents. This claim is revisited using a wider range of written materials, located in publicly-accessible archives. A thematic analysis moves beyond the surface semantic level of the data to explore the shared assumptions, conceptualizations, and discursive resources that contribute to the social construction of literacy, illiteracy, and the illiterate person. The thesis adopts the position that literacy and society are entwined in a complex and dynamic relationship. It explores one dimension of this relationship by asking: How does Irish society construct the illiterate person? A chronological approach spanning the years 1900-1980 describes how several discourses of literacy operate to produce different constructions of the illiterate person. The documentary evidence provides access to a range of shared discursive resources and their influence on material conditions for a significant minority in twentieth-century Ireland. Three key findings are presented. One is the presence of the illiterate person within mainstream Irish society, in contrast to prevailing accounts that locates those with literacy difficulty at the margins. A second key finding is that a continuum of literacy is evident in the data. Stratified forms of literacy, a hierarchy of readers, and multiple subject positions for the illiterate person provide alternative ways to conceptualise literacy proficiency, moving beyond a simple dichotomy of literate and illiterate. The third key finding is that silences in relation to literacy in these documents are not innocent omissions, but instead provide strategic support for claims to full literacy. The study ultimately produces a challenge to existing accounts that reify literacy proficiency as a key distinguishing feature of the Irish nation-state

Men, Masculinities, and Loneliness: a mixed-methods study of men’s perspectives in a wider context

Background Loneliness is an increasing concern that has been linked to negative physical and mental health. Sex and gender have been theorised as an important influence on loneliness in men, yet empirical research is limited. Aims Investigate the influence of sex and gender on men’s constructions and/or experiences of loneliness. Method A mixed-methods approach was taken. A critical review of the literature synthesised existing evidence, informing a cross-sectional quantitative study interrogating hypotheses derived from the review. An interpretive qualitative study, using semi-structured interviews with a diverse sample of men, considered men’s perspectives on loneliness. A triangulation protocol and thematic syntheses systematically contrasted the findings of each study. Findings In the quantitative study, men showed lower odds than women of stating they are lonely in response to a direct survey item even when controlling for an indirect scale measuring loneliness. Men also showed evidence of more alcohol consumption when lonely, less loneliness in response to severe isolation, and a greater association between partner status and loneliness. In the qualitative study, socially negotiated self-worth and positive mental occupation represented none-loneliness. Social connections were frequently vital to both. Masculine notions of a reluctance to admit loneliness, of loneliness as associated with failure, of avoiding displaying vulnerability, and of masculine-appropriate behaviours, interests, abilities, and roles, impacted whether and how none-loneliness was achieved. The mixed-methods analysis concluded that masculine ideals of invulnerability, nuclear family, and social comparison were the most consistent influence on men’s self-worth and positive occupation, and thus loneliness. Conclusions A novel conceptualisation of loneliness in men suggests facilitating socially negotiated self-worth and providing opportunities for positive occupation are vital. Masculinities often negatively impacted loneliness, yet could provide a cultural framework for social connections and self-worth, thus require deconstructing. Gender-sensitive policy and practice, including a greater focus on primary prevention, is recommended to address loneliness in men

The Lost Environmentalists: The Struggle Between Conservative Protestants and the Environmental Movement, 1970-2010

“The Lost Environmentalists” offers the first historical account delineating the relationship between the religious right, a major Christian fundamentalist led political movement and the hotly debated issue of environmental protection. Past scholars believe this political/religious group traditionally opposed environmental protection efforts due to their conservative militant culture and long-held theological interpretations that marginalized nature as a simple resource for humanity’s financial benefit. In contrast, I reveal new ways the religious right understood nature while they promoted its protection throughout the 1970s to the early 1990s. During the latter decade, the movement ultimately adopted anti-environmentalist views. The religious right’s relationship with nature and environmental protection is indeed complex and evolved over time. In response to Earth Day 1970, fundamentalists initially wanted to participate in the Earth Day observance. However, the secular environmental movement drove fundamentalists away by blaming Christianity for the ecological crisis. Nevertheless, the religious right continued promoting eco-friendly views as they built a national identity for themselves over the next twenty years. During this process, they portrayed nature sympathetically and in many cases understood it as equally important to economic prosperity. Accordingly, members participated in the twentieth anniversary of Earth Day in 1990. Almost simultaneously, the religious right’s most powerful leaders adopted anti-environmental views from pro-business allies and sought to crush the eco-friendly groundswell. Successfully overturning the community’s nature sympathies took years and a variety of tactics including indirectly bullying congregants. This research reveals an entirely new understanding of the religious right’s environmental views and also contributes a new caveat to the movement’s traditional definition as uncompromising religious militants. Furthermore, beyond filling a major gap in religious and environmental history and being of interest to political science, sociology and theology, “The Lost Environmentalists” will enable the general public to understand why an important political group currently opposes environmental efforts

Federally Funded Research: Decisions for a Decade

This report analyzes what OTA identifies as four pressing challenges for the research system i-n the 1990s: setting priorities in tiding, understanding trends in research expenditures, preparing human resources for the future research work force, and supplying appropriate data for ongoing research decision making. Managing the Federal research system requires more than funding; it means devising ways to retain the diversity and creativity that have distinguished U.S. contributions to scientific knowledge