Investigación cualitativa. Comprender al usuario de la información

Content analysis, grounded theory, discourse analysis and social network analysis are analyzed in the context of research on how users generate and share information in everyday life and in the context of social media. For each of the three designs, the research ques on, methods of data analysis and research output are studied. This combina on of three methodologies is valuable to gain knowledge about the user in that environment, de ning the object of study from various aspects of user interation with information

European research on information behaviour in the 21st century

This paper contributes to global knowledge of the study of information behaviour by offering a map of European research during the 21st century from quantitative and qualitative points of view. From a quantitative point of view, we detail the countries and institutions whose researchers have published results. From a qualitative point of view, we describe the researchers and areas of study at the main European research centres. The results show that there is no common research area, but rather isolated researchers or small leading research groups, generally from northern Europe, who worked in this area during the first years of the 21st century

Modelado de las propiedades dieléctricas del suelo. Aplicación en el diseño de sensores para sistemas de control en agricultura de precisión

[SPA] Esta tesis doctoral se presenta bajo la modalidad de compendio de publicaciones. El agua es una sustancia clave para el desarrollo de la vida en La Tierra. Es por ello que la búsqueda de oportunidad de vida en otros planetas y satélites se basa en la presencia de agua en los mismos. La gestión ecológica del agua es necesaria para la sostenibilidad de los ecosistemas. Uno de los ecosistemas más amplios y donde el agua juega un papel más importante es el suelo, que alberga multitud de variedades de microorganismos cuya actividad, en parte resultante en la generación de nutrientes para el desarrollo de las especies vegetales, es totalmente dependiente del contenido de agua en el suelo. En zonas áridas y semiáridas, como es el caso de la cuenca Mediterránea, la escasez de agua supone un grave problema a la hora de gestionar los pocos recursos hídricos disponibles. En este caso, donde las condiciones geográficas son idóneas para el desarrollo de la agricultura, las soluciones pasan por una optimización de las técnicas de riego y un mayor control sobre los recursos hídricos. En este sentido, las técnicas de riego deficitario controlado se han mostrado exitosas en la reducción de la dotación hídrica a los cultivos en fases no críticas. Sin embargo, para realizar una aplicación prudente y eficiente de las mismas, resulta necesario monitorizar el estado hídrico de los cultivos, con el objetivo de que éstos no alcancen situaciones de estrés irreversible en términos de producción o estado vegetativo. Los indicadores que mayor información aportan sobre el estado hídrico de la planta suelen estar relacionados con variables medibles a partir de la propia planta, pero que son difícilmente automatizables debido a las operaciones de manejo asociadas. Este es el caso del potencial hídrico de tallo a mediodía medido con cámara de presión, considerado hasta la fecha como el indicador más fiable del estado hídrico de los cultivos en general. Es por ello que, para lograr una monitorización continua de esta variable, se busquen otras variables del continuo suelo-planta-atmósfera que puedan estar relacionadas y a partir de las cuales obtener una estimación indirecta. El suelo es la matriz de donde la planta adquiere la mayor parte del agua y los nutrientes que necesita para realizar la fotosíntesis. La relación entre el estado hídrico del suelo y el estado hídrico de los cultivos está más que demostrada. Sin embargo, la precisión alcanzada en los modelos de correlación entre ambos estados requiere de una mejora considerable para hacer un uso realmente fiable de los mismos, y esta mejora no solo pasa por encontrar mejores métodos de correlación, sino también por mejorar la precisión de las medidas obtenidas del suelo. Para monitorizar el estado hídrico del suelo, existen diversas metodologías que ofrecen parámetros medibles como el contenido de agua. El método de medida más extendido para monitorizar el contenido de agua en el suelo es a través del uso de sensores dieléctricos. Sin embargo, la precisión de los mismos está sujeta a diversos factores, entre ellos las características propias del suelo donde se instalan y su coste, relativamente alto para el pequeño y mediano agricultor, condicionando una implantación extensiva de la Agricultura de Precisión y limitando a veces la aplicación de algunos desarrollos únicamente a trabajos de investigación. Esta tesis, elaborada bajo la modalidad de compendio de publicaciones, aborda a través de cuatro artículos científicos la propuesta de soluciones accesibles para la medida del estado hídrico del suelo, con especial enfoque en el contenido de agua; explora las limitaciones y retos asociados con la calibración de los sensores dieléctricos de suelo; participa en la generación de nuevos conocimientos y propuestas para un mejor entendimiento del comportamiento del agua en el suelo y de su interacción con las ondas electromagnéticas; y establece nuevos enfoques y modelos que mejoran la predicción del estado hídrico de los cultivos a partir de medidas indirectas y automatizables en suelo y atmósfera. [ENG] This doctoral dissertation has been presented in the form of thesis by publication. Water is a fundamental substance for the development of life on Earth. That is why the search for life on other planets and satellites is based on the presence of water on them. Ecological water management is necessary for the sustainability of ecosystems. One of the most extensive ecosystems where water plays a major role is soil, which hosts a large variety of micro-organisms whose activity, partly resulting in the generation of nutrients for the development of plant species, is totally dependent on the water content of the soil. In arid and semi-arid regions, as it is the case in the Mediterranean basin, water scarcity is a serious problem when it comes to managing the few water resources available. In this case, where the geographical conditions are ideal for the development of agriculture, the solutions involve optimization of irrigation techniques and greater control over water resources. In this sense, regulated deficit irrigation strategies have proven to be successful in reducing the water supply to crops in non-critical periods. However, in order to apply them prudently and efficiently, it is necessary to monitor the water status of the crops, so that they do not reach irreversible stress situations in terms of yield or vegetative state. The indicators that provide the highest amount of information on the water status of the plant are usually related to variables that can be measured from the plant itself, but which are difficult to automate due to the labor and time-consuming associated operations. This is the case of the midday stem water potential measured with a pressure chamber, considered to date to be the most reliable indicator of the crop's water status in general. In order to achieve a continuous monitoring of this variable, it is necessary to look for other variables of the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum that may be related and from which to obtain an indirect estimate. Soil is the matrix from which the plant acquires most of the water and nutrients it needs for photosynthesis. The relationship between soil water status and crop water status is well established. However, the accuracy achieved in the correlation models between the two requires considerable improvement to make a truly reliable use of them, and this improvement is not only to find better correlation methods, but also to improve the accuracy of the measurements obtained from the soil. To monitor soil water status, there are several methodologies that provide measurable parameters such as water content. The most widespread measurement method for monitoring soil water content is through the use of dielectric sensors. However, the accuracy of these sensors is subject to various factors, including the characteristics of the soil where they are installed, and their relatively high cost for small and medium-sized farmers, conditioning the extensive implementation of precision agriculture and sometimes limiting the application of some developments only to research work. This thesis, elaborated under the modality of a compendium of publications, addresses through four scientific articles the proposal of affordable solutions for the measurement of soil water status, with special focus on water content; it explores the limitations and challenges associated with the calibration of soil dielectric sensors; participates in the generation of new insights and proposals for a better understanding of the behavior of water in soil and its interaction with electromagnetic waves; and establishes new approaches and models that improve the prediction of crop water status from indirect and automatable measurements in soil and atmosphere.Esta tesis doctoral se presenta bajo la modalidad de compendio de publicaciones. Está formada por un total de cuatro artículos: Article I. González-Teruel, J.D., Torres-Sánchez, R., Blaya-Ros, P.J., Toledo-Moreo, A.B., Jiménez-Buendía, M., Soto-Valles, F., 2019. Design and Calibration of a Low-Cost SDI-12 Soil Moisture Sensor. Sensors, 19, 491. DOI: 10.3390/s19030491 - Article II. González-Teruel, J.D., Jones, S.B., Soto-Valles, F., Torres-Sánchez, R., Lebron, I., Friedman, S.P., Robinson, D.A., 2020. Dielectric Spectroscopy and Application of Mixing Models Describing Dielectric Dispersion in Clay Minerals and Clayey Soils. Sensors, 20, 6678. DOI: 10.3390/s20226678 Article III. González-Teruel, J.D., Jones, S.B., Robinson, D.A., Giménez-Gallego, J., Zornoza, R., Torres-Sánchez, R., 2022. Measurement of the broadband complex permittivity of soils in the frequency domain with a low-cost Vector Network Analyzer and an Open-Ended coaxial probe. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 195, 106847. DOI: 10.1016/J.COMPAG.2022.106847 Article IV. González-Teruel, J.D., Ruiz-Abellon, M.C., Blanco, V., Blaya-Ros, P.J., Domingo, R., Torres-Sánchez, R., 2022. Prediction of Water Stress Episodes in Fruit Trees Based on Soil and Weather Time Series Data. Agronomy, 12, 1422. DOI: 10.3390/agronomy12061422Escuela Internacional de Doctorado de la Universidad Politécnica de CartagenaUniversidad Politécnica de CartagenaPrograma de Doctorado en Tecnologías Industriale

The diffusion and influence of theoretical models of information behaviour : the case of Savolainen's ELIS model

To ascertain the diffusion and influence of Savolainen's ELIS model and its use as a theoretical and/or methodological basis for research. A context citation analysis was made of the work where this researcher published his model. Analysis covered the year of publication, the type of work and the subject-matter of the citing documents concerned. In-context citations were analysed for their frequency in each citing text, style, location and content cited. The ELIS model received 18.5 cites/year. 20.2% of them corresponded to papers published in journals in other areas, mainly computer science. The average of cites per paper was 1.8; 64.5% of the citing works cited them only once. 60% of the cites were considered essential. Only 13.7% of these cites appear in theory or methods. 37% of the citing documents contained no concept relating to the model. The method used focuses on the most direct context of a cite (sentence or paragraph), but isolates it from the general context (full document, other documents by the author or their social capital). It has however allowed this research issue to be dealt with under laboratory conditions, and revealed nuances hidden by the absolute number of cites. It has become evident that the dissemination and influence of the ELIS model is less that what the total number of cites indicates, and that it has scarcely been incorporated into research design. Despite its popularity, it is not being validated and/or refuted by way of empirical data

Culture of information and information exchange in a public hospital : a study based on the information orientation model and social network analysis

The structures of hospitals have evolved to make them centre on patients and their pathologies, with care procedures that are both interprofessional and interorganisational. This has given rise to work environments made up of teams obliged to collaborate in their problem-solving, with an essential focus on proper collaborative information behaviour (CIB). The aim was to study this behaviour in a clinical service of a hospital in relation to two aspects: information culture (IC) and the exchange of information. This entailed designing a two-part descriptive study. The first step was to administer a survey based on the information orientation model to know more about the service's IC. The second phase focussed on the exchange of information from the perspective of an analysis of social networks. The main characteristic of IC was its proactive nature, especially in the use of information to improve one's own work (mean = 4.58) and to respond to changes and new developments relating to work (mean = 4.18). The factor that least characterised IC was control, particularly in relation to knowledge of the objective of the activity itself (mean = 2.67) and the dispersion of information about hospital processes (mean = 2.64). On social networks, factors contrary to an interprofessional CIB were identified, such as homophily and low reciprocity in terms of relationships. In practice, the results identified a need to reinforce the perception of information as a resource, the proper use of which benefits job performance at both an individual and group level. A need to reinforce flows of internal hospital-related information was likewise evident. From a theoretical and methodological point of view, a useful tool is made available for diagnosing the collaborative information behaviour of an organisation and designing strategies to improve it

Information need and uses : an analysis of the literature published in Spain, 1990-2004

This article presents a descriptive analysis of works published in Spanish journals and of the papers of conferences held in Spain in the field of information needs and uses in the period 1990–2004 in order to determine if the change in approach described by Dervin and Nilan, among others, also occurred outside the English speaking world. An analysis of the characteristics of relevant publications in this field (by year, authorship, type of document, type of work, and means of publication) shows that although activity is increasing, information needs and uses have not yet become a well-established area. In addition, a study of the content characteristics (by type of user, methodology used, aspects of the informationseeking process, use of a theoretical basis, and references to research) leads to the conclusion that in Spain there has not yet been a change in the orientation towards a user-oriented model.Abad García, María Francisca: [email protected]; Gonzalez Teruel, Aurora: [email protected]

Grounded theory for generating theory in the study of information behavior

The use of grounded theory procedures for the study of information behavior has contributed to generating theory in this field. Thirty-one works were analyzed with regard to a) their relationship to the context in which the research was carried out, b) the aspect of information behavior researched, c) the use of grounded theory procedures, and d) the generation of theory. Most of the studies were carried out in the context of health information, and grounded theory procedures were for the most part only partially applied. The theoretical propositions produced depended on the subject being studied. Although this methodology is suitable for the study of an individual’s interaction with information from that individual’s own point of view, documentation of the procedures involved is often deficient

The influence of Elfreda Chatman's theories: a citation context analysis

The range of theoretical frameworks currently being used by researchers into information behaviour is abundant and diverse. We need to examine thoroughly the contribution of theories and models to further research, as this would help to improve future investigations in the field. This paper adopts this approach, by thoroughly examining the influence that Elfreda Chatman's three middle-range theories have had on subsequent research. A citation context analysis was carried out on the basis of those received by Information poverty theory, life in the round theory and normative behaviour theory. Analysis covered the year of publication, the type of work and the subject-matter of the citing documents. The cites in context or theoretical incidents were analysed for frequency of citation in citing documents, the content of Chatman's work being cited, the context co-citation analysis, the citation style and the citation location. The analysis of citation in context has allowed us to draw a distinction between the author and her work, while verifying that not all cites are the same. These differences reflect the unequal relevance of these theories to subsequent research

Aproximación sistemática a la revisión de la literatura en el contexto de un trabajo de fin de master

Los contenidos de este documento son el resultado de la docencia impartida por su autora en las siguientes asignaturas de la Universitat de València (España): 41091 - Investigación básica en odontología. Máster Universitario en Ciencias Odontológicas. 43013 - Fundamentos metodológicos básicos de la investigación biomédica. Máster Universitario en Investigación Biomédica. 43879 - Introducción a la investigación I. Máster Universitario en Optometría Avanzada y Ciencias de la Visión. No se pretende la exhaustividad puesto que existen numerosas monografías y manuales dedicados a desarrollar las distintas etapas de la realización de revisiones sistemáticas profundizando en su metodología. Su objetivo es ofrecer una guía con información básica y de referencia para abordar una revisión con orientación sistémica en el contexto de los trabajos final de master. Por ello, junto con la exposición de los pasos que deben seguirse, se incluye una bibliografía exhaustiva al final del documento