A summary of literature on the studies of research methods in LIS
| Study . | Data sample . | Key findings w.r.t. research methods . |
|---|---|---|
| Järvelin and Vakkari (1990) | 833 articles from 37 journals in 1985 | A classification scheme consisting of five “research strategies” and seven “data collection methods” |
| Kumpulainen (1991) | 632 articles from 30 LIS journals in 1975 | 51% “empirical research,” 48% “nonapplicable,” 13% “historical method,” 11% “questionnaire and interview” |
| Bernhard (1993) | Including journals, theses, textbooks, and reference sources in LIS | 13 research methods; some relate to the “research strategies” whereas others relate to the “data collection methods” in Järvelin and Vakkari (1990) |
| Blake (1994) | LIS dissertations between 1975 and 1989 | 13 research methods, most of which are similar to Bernhard (1993) |
| Park (2004) | 71 syllabus of Korean and U.S. universities between 2001 and 2003 | 17 research methods, some not reported before (e.g., field study, focus group) |
| Fidel (2008) | 465 articles from LIS journals between 2005 and 2006 | Only 5% used “mixed methods,” whereas many that claimed to do so actually used “multiple methods” or “two approaches” |
| Hider and Pymm (2008) | 834 articles from 20 LIS journals in 2005 | Based on the Järvelin and Vakkari (1990) classification, “survey” remained as the predominant “research strategy” and “experiment” had increased significantly |
| Chu (2015) | 1,162 articles from LIS journals between 2001 and 2010 | A classification that extends earlier work in this area; “survey” no long dominating; instead, “content analysis,” “experiment,” and “theoretical approach” become more popular |
| VanScoy and Fontana (2016) | 1,362 journal articles published between 2000 and 2009 | A classification scheme similar to the previous work; majority of research was “quantitative”, with “descriptive studies” based on “surveys” most common |
| Ferran-Ferrer et al. (2017) | 580 Spanish LIS journal articles between 2012 and 2014 | Proposed nine “research methods” and 13 “techniques.” “Descriptive research” was the most used “research method,” and “content analysis” was the most used “technique” |
| Togia and Malliari (2017) | 440 LIS journal articles between 2011 and 2016 | A similar classification of 12 “research methods” similar to that in Chu (2015). “Survey” remained the dominant method |
| Grankikov et al. (2020) | 386 LIS journal articles between 2015 and 2018 | Showed an increase in the use of “mixed methods” in this field |
| Study . | Data sample . | Key findings w.r.t. research methods . |
|---|---|---|
| Järvelin and Vakkari (1990) | 833 articles from 37 journals in 1985 | A classification scheme consisting of five “research strategies” and seven “data collection methods” |
| Kumpulainen (1991) | 632 articles from 30 LIS journals in 1975 | 51% “empirical research,” 48% “nonapplicable,” 13% “historical method,” 11% “questionnaire and interview” |
| Bernhard (1993) | Including journals, theses, textbooks, and reference sources in LIS | 13 research methods; some relate to the “research strategies” whereas others relate to the “data collection methods” in Järvelin and Vakkari (1990) |
| Blake (1994) | LIS dissertations between 1975 and 1989 | 13 research methods, most of which are similar to Bernhard (1993) |
| Park (2004) | 71 syllabus of Korean and U.S. universities between 2001 and 2003 | 17 research methods, some not reported before (e.g., field study, focus group) |
| Fidel (2008) | 465 articles from LIS journals between 2005 and 2006 | Only 5% used “mixed methods,” whereas many that claimed to do so actually used “multiple methods” or “two approaches” |
| Hider and Pymm (2008) | 834 articles from 20 LIS journals in 2005 | Based on the Järvelin and Vakkari (1990) classification, “survey” remained as the predominant “research strategy” and “experiment” had increased significantly |
| Chu (2015) | 1,162 articles from LIS journals between 2001 and 2010 | A classification that extends earlier work in this area; “survey” no long dominating; instead, “content analysis,” “experiment,” and “theoretical approach” become more popular |
| VanScoy and Fontana (2016) | 1,362 journal articles published between 2000 and 2009 | A classification scheme similar to the previous work; majority of research was “quantitative”, with “descriptive studies” based on “surveys” most common |
| Ferran-Ferrer et al. (2017) | 580 Spanish LIS journal articles between 2012 and 2014 | Proposed nine “research methods” and 13 “techniques.” “Descriptive research” was the most used “research method,” and “content analysis” was the most used “technique” |
| Togia and Malliari (2017) | 440 LIS journal articles between 2011 and 2016 | A similar classification of 12 “research methods” similar to that in Chu (2015). “Survey” remained the dominant method |
| Grankikov et al. (2020) | 386 LIS journal articles between 2015 and 2018 | Showed an increase in the use of “mixed methods” in this field |