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MT-Project Isabella Wagner 1114 MASTERARBEIT Titel der Masterarbeit Gaining a Picture of Science? Visualisations in the Research Community of Scientometrics and Informetrics A Case Study at the ISSI Conference 2013 verfasst von Isabella Elisabeth Wagner angestrebter akademischer Grad Master of Arts (MA) Wien, 2014 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 066 906 Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt: Masterstudium Science-Technology-Society Betreut von: Univ. Prof. Dr. Ulrike Felt 2 Content 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 5 2. Visualisations in Scientometrics ..................................................................................... 8 2.1. Scientometrics ........................................................................................................ 8 2.1.1. Entering the Discipline ..................................................................................... 8 2.1.2. Entering the Community ................................................................................ 12 2.2. Illustrating Dynamics in Science ............................................................................ 14 2.3. Representations of Scientific Knowledge .............................................................. 17 2.3.1. Production ..................................................................................................... 19 2.3.2. Engagement .................................................................................................. 21 2.3.3. Deployment ................................................................................................... 25 3. How are Visualisations in Scientometrics Performative? .............................................. 26 3.1. Visualisation as Social Technology ....................................................................... 27 3.2. Visualisation as Transportable Object ................................................................... 27 3.3. Visualisation as Actant .......................................................................................... 28 4. Research Conduct ....................................................................................................... 28 4.1. Scope of the Study................................................................................................ 29 4.2. Research Field, Data and Methods of Data Collection .......................................... 40 4.2.1. Literature Review ........................................................................................... 40 4.2.2. Analysis of the Conference Papers ................................................................ 41 4.2.3. Ethnography .................................................................................................. 43 4.2.4. Participant Observation .................................................................................. 44 4.2.5. Qualitative ethnographic Interviews ............................................................... 45 4.3. Methods Used in Data Analysis - Data Validation and Interpretation ..................... 46 4.3.1. Analysis of Field Notes .................................................................................. 46 4.3.2. Analysis of Ethnographic Interviews ............................................................... 47 4.3.3. Coding, Developing Concepts, ....................................................................... 48 3 4.4. Critical Reflections on Field Research and its Limitations ..................................... 48 5. In the Field: ISSI 2013.................................................................................................. 50 5.1. Description of the Study Environment ................................................................... 50 5.2. Preparations: Content Analysis and Choices Made ............................................... 52 5.3. On-Site Experience ............................................................................................... 53 5.3.1. Participant Observation Data ......................................................................... 53 5.3.2. Qualitative Data from Interviews .................................................................... 55 5.3.3. Poster Sessions ............................................................................................. 57 5.4. Aftermath: Filling Gaps in Data? ........................................................................... 61 6. Results and Discussion ................................................................................................ 61 6.1. Interpreting Empirical Data .................................................................................... 61 6.2. Visualisation Culture and Techniques ................................................................... 62 6.3. Mediators Between Disciplines ............................................................................. 71 6.4. Performativity and Enacted Realities .................................................................... 78 7. Conclusions and Outlook ............................................................................................. 90 8. Bibliography ................................................................................................................. 95 9. List of Figures ............................................................................................................ 100 10. List of Tables .......................................................................................................... 102 11. Annex ..................................................................................................................... 103 11.1. Abstract ........................................................................................................... 103 11.2. Kurzfassung .................................................................................................... 104 11.3. Conference Programme .................................................................................. 105 12. Curriculum Vitae ..................................................................................................... 107 4 Introduction 1. Introduction The way images are produced, presented and interpreted in scientific publications and presentations is a relatively new research topic, yet it is of growing importance since producing and sharing images has never been as easy as it is today. With digitalisation and therefore simplification of image production, the general use of visualisations has been increasing significantly not only within the scientific context, but it has also changed the way science and its outcomes are perceived. According to Silverman, the interest in analysing visualisations is linked to the general rise of humanities and culture related disciplines: “ with the burgeoning of cultural studies within social science, the study of visual images has become a highly fashionable topic ” (Silverman 2006, 264). Mitchell refers to this as the pictorial turn , the change of both popular and academic culture(s) and he develops the studies of visual culture (e.g.: Mitchell 1995; Mitchell 1996). The rising prevalence of visualisations is definitely observable in the field of scientometrics. By screening publication abstracts of one of the field’s most important journals - Scientometrics (by Springer Netherlands) – one can track the frequency of usage of the term “visualization” or “visualisation” which has been significantly increasing in recent years. Based on a simple search in Elsevier’s Scopus database, the number of mentions is 270 for all publications in Scientometrics between 2003 and 2013. Before this time span tracking back to 1996, the term can only be found 34 times 1. In parallel and since the nineteen seventies there has been a rising interest in science studies examining how these cultural changes of using images also change the way scientific output is produced, engaged and deployed (Lynch 2006; Burri and Dumit 2008) with(in) pictures and what ways their audience perceives, translates, deconstructs and interprets these new forms of visual knowledge (Galison 1997; Beaulieu 2002). With my professional interest in scientometrics and my background in the Social Studies of Science and Technology (STS), these two developments drew my attention. Coincidentally, it turned out that in the year dedicated for my master thesis the world’s biggest scientometrics conference, the ISSI 2013, would be held in Vienna, so a great occasion for studying visualisation habits of this specific research community opened up. I took this opportunity for framing an ethnographic case study by having a closer look at the performativity (Law 2009) of the images used in the context of this scholarly meeting. This endeavour was considered 1 Source: Scopus ( http://www.scopus.com/ ); Query: SRCTITLE(scientometrics) 5 Introduction as relevant since this community works frequently at the interface of science and science policy making and thus the question of knowledge politics and what role images can play suggests itself . The International Society of Scientometrics and Informetrics (ISSI) Conference 2 is the core conference for the disciplines of scientometrics and informetrics and serves to “ provide an international open forum for scientists, research managers, authorities and information professionals to debate the current status and advancements of informetric and scientometric theories and their deployment.
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