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Theories in communication science: a structural analysis using webometrics and social network approach

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Abstract

This exploratory study analyzes the networked structure of theories in social sciences represented by co-occurrences on the World Wide Web. For this, co-occurrences of communication science theories were retrieved from the Web and analyzed using social network analysis tools. Several networks and node-level properties were measured to examine the relationships of theories in terms of co-occurrences. Communication science theories were grouped into four clusters. The results shed some important light on structural dynamics of communication science theories on the academic and social Web.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Administration, Keimyung University, Daegu, South Korea

    Gohar Feroz Khan

  2. Department of Journalism and Communication Studies, Cheongju University, Cheongju, South Korea

    Sungjoon Lee

  3. Interdisciplinary Program of East Asia Cultural Studies, Cyber Emotions Research Institute, YeungNam University, Gyeong-san, South Korea

    Ji Young Park

  4. Interdisciplinary Program of East Asian Cultural Studies, Interdisciplinary Program of Digital Convergence Business, Cyber Emotions Research Institute, YeungNam University, Gyeong-san, South SKorea

    Han Woo Park

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  1. Gohar Feroz Khan
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  2. Sungjoon Lee
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  3. Ji Young Park
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  4. Han Woo Park
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Correspondence to Han Woo Park.

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Khan, G.F., Lee, S., Park, J.Y. et al. Theories in communication science: a structural analysis using webometrics and social network approach. Scientometrics 108, 531–557 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-015-1822-0

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