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Ten Years of Research Methods Publishing

Ten Years of Research Methods Publishing. Malcolm Williams University of Plymouth. Reflections, Observations and speculations……. Reflections: The last ten years and before….. Observations: Producers and consumers Speculations: Are we better researchers?. Reflections.

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Ten Years of Research Methods Publishing

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  1. Ten Years of Research Methods Publishing Malcolm Williams University of Plymouth

  2. Reflections, Observations and speculations…….. • Reflections: The last ten years and before….. • Observations: Producers and consumers • Speculations: Are we better researchers?

  3. Reflections • Context: Huge growth in number of text books / monographs in methods/ methodology in last ten years. • What it was like in the old days? • What it is like now? • Range of methods published as books Table 1) • Journal publishing

  4. Table 2 – The Sage Catalogue

  5. IJSRM – The Growth of a Journal • International Journal of Social Research Methodology first published 1997 • 253 papers published by end 2007 • In 1998: 22 papers, no international authors and 1 ‘quants’ paper • In 2007: 25 papers, 11 international and 9 quants. • Mainly academic papers

  6. IJSRM • ‘absence of any forum for methods discussion in the UK, other than quantitative’ • Dedicated methodological space are able to take a reflexive approach • Social research, not substantively/ disciplinary based (successful) • Relevant to all social sectors (less successful)

  7. MI Online – the new kid on the block • Methodological Innovations Online. First published 2006. 2 issues a year (plus ‘specials’). Open access • Focuses on methodological problems/ innovations • Works with early career researchers • Aimed to span all social sciences & connections with natural sciences/ humanities, but still predominantly ‘sociological’

  8. Observations • Growth in UK student numbers (& demand for methods education) in social science/ humanities. • UK. Two key audiences. Students and teachers/ researchers. • The role of ‘benchmarking’ / ESRC. • The role of technology in methods accessibility.

  9. Observations • Growth in UK student numbers in social science/ humanities. • The US/ Europe divide. (crudely) US statistical analysis techniques. Europe qualitative methods • A quants crisis? Methods and social science output (evidence from sociology. Table 2) • A quants crisis? Methods and student attitudes (more evidence from sociology. Table 3)

  10. Table 2 Mainstream UK Sociology Journals output 2004/5

  11. Table 3 Sociology undergraduate attitudes toward research methods

  12. Conclusions andSpeculations • Publishing and methods. The causal direction? • How good is what is published. Has quantity produced quality? • Are our students driving the publishing market? • Has the ‘cultural turn’ (in Europe) deskilled social research methods? When method became an ‘ology’ • Market research methods – the people next door • Futurology

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