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Policy and the mapping of scientific change: A co-word analysis of research into environmental acidification

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Abstract

This paper describes recent developments in the co-word method and illustrates, for the case of acid rain research, the way in which the method can be used to detect (a) the themes of research to be found in a given area of science, (b) the relationships between those themes, (c) the extent to which they are central to the area in question and (d) the degree to which they are internally structured. It is also suggested that the method may be used to draw comparative research profiles for different countries. Though the data used are only preliminiary, it is argued that the method has now been developed to the point where its results are both quite robust and easily assimilable. It is, accordingly, now an appropriate tool for policy analysis.

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Notes and references

  1. M. CALLON, J. LAW, A. RIP (Ed.),Mapping the Dynamics of Science and Technology: the Sociology of Science in the Real World, London, Macmillan, 1986.

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  2. P. HEALEY, H. ROTHMAN, P. K. HOCH, An experiment in science mapping for research planning,Research Policy, 15 (1986) 233.

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  3. S. BAUIN, B. MICHELET,Comprende la Réaction Chimique: Etude des Tendances Internationales par la Méthode Leximappe, CDST-CNRS, Paris, 1987.

  4. J.-P. COURTIAL, Artificial intelligence networks: The contribution of the co-word analysis method to the study of a scientific field,Social Studies of Science, 18 (1988) forthcoming.

  5. A. RIP, A cognitive approach to science policy,Research Policy, 10 (1981) 294.

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  6. M. CALLON, Some elements of a sociology of translation: Domenstication of the scallops and fishermen of St. Brieuc Bay, inPower, Action and Belief: a New Sociology of Knowledge?, J. LAW (Ed.), Sociological Review Monograph 32, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1986, 196–233.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit for Technology Analysis and Department of Sociology, Social Anthropology and Social Work, University of Keele, ST5 5BG, Keele, Staffs, UK

    J. Law

  2. Centre de Documentation Scientifique et Technique, 26, rue Boyer, 75020, Paris, France

    S. Bauin

  3. Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation, Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines, 62, Boulevard Saint Michel, 75006, Paris, France

    J. -P. Courtial

  4. Department of Sociology, Social Anthropology and Social Work, University of Keele, ST5 5BG, Keele, Staffs, UK

    J. Whittaker

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  1. J. Law
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  2. S. Bauin
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  3. J. -P. Courtial
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  4. J. Whittaker
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Law, J., Bauin, S., Courtial, J.P. et al. Policy and the mapping of scientific change: A co-word analysis of research into environmental acidification. Scientometrics 14, 251–264 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02020078

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02020078

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