Research methods and the use of visual representation in library and information science research
分析了751篇信息科学论文，发现多数实证研究采用定量设计，常用数据挖掘、文献计量和实验等方法；视觉呈现以表格和图表为主，定性研究更依赖表格和图示。
Abstract The increasing variety of research strategies and data collection techniques in information science, the access to large secondary data sets, and the ubiquity of information visualization call for expanding the classification of research methods and exploring how research is communicated visually. This study examined the relationship between types of data used in empirical research, visualizations, and research methods applied in information science studies. It analyzed 751 research articles published in the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology ( JASIST ) using content analysis and machine learning techniques. The study finds that most empirical studies adopted a quantitative design with data mining, bibliometrics, experiments, and surveys as dominant strategies. The substantial use of secondary data points to the shift in how data are collected in empirical research. The JASIST articles used a variety of visualizations to present research designs and findings, with quantitative and mixed methods studies employing primarily tables and charts and qualitative studies relying more on tables and diagrams. This study uniquely explores the relationship between research methods and visualization. It contributes to the classification of the methods in information science by expanding the range of strategies within the quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods designs.