The proposed research method classification scheme
| Method . | Relation to previous work . | Indicative key-words/phrases5 . |
|---|---|---|
| From Chu (2015) | ||
| bibliometrics | Same as Chu | impact factor, scientometric, bibliometric, citation analysis, h-index… |
| content analysis | Same as Chu | content analysis, inter coder reliability, inter annotator agreement, krippendorff |
| delphi study | Same as Chu | delphi study |
| ethnography/field study | Traditional ethnographic studies excluding those done in a digital context (see “digital ethnography” below). | Hammersley, participant observation, ethnography, ethnographic, ethnographer… |
| experiment | Classic experimental studies, not the generalized concept as per Chu. | dependent variable, independent variable, experiment |
| focus group | Same as Chu | focus group |
| historical method | Same as Chu | historical method |
| interview | Same as Chu | interview, interviewed, interviewer, interviewee, interviewing |
| observation | Same as Chu | observation |
| questionnaire | Same as Chu | respondent, questionnaire, survey, Likert, surveyed… |
| research diary/journal | Same as Chu | diary study, cultural probe |
| think aloud protocol | Same as Chu | think aloud |
| transaction log analysis | Same as Chu | log analysis/technique |
| theoretical studies | Same as Chu | Studies that cannot be classified into any of the other method categories |
| webometrics | Same as Chu | webometrics, cybermetrics, link analysis |
| New | ||
| agent based modeling/simulation | Studies that use computational modeling methods for the purpose of simulation | agent model/modeling, multi-agents |
| annotation | Studies that focus on using human users to create coded data | annotation, tagging |
| classification | Studies that focus on developing computational classification techniques | classification, classify |
| clustering | Studies that focus on developing computational clustering techniques | cluster, clustering |
| comparative evaluation | Studies that follow systematic evaluation procedures to compare different methods | comparative evaluation, evaluative studies |
| document analysis | Studies that analyze secondary document collections (e.g., historical policy documents, transcripts) with a critical close reading | document/textual analysis, document review |
| information extraction | Studies that develop computational methods for the purpose of extracting structured information from texts | named entity recognition, NER, relation extraction |
| IR related indexing/ranking/query methods | Studies that develop methods with a goal to improve search results | Learning to rank, term weighting, indexing method, query expansion, question answering |
| mixed method | Fidel (2008) | cresswell and plano clark, mixed method |
| digital ethnography | Studies applying ethnography to the digital context | digital ethnography, netnography, netnographic |
| network analysis | Studies that apply network theories with a focus to understand the properties of social networks | network analysis/study |
| statistical methods | Studies of correlations between variables, hypothesis testing; proposing new statistical metrics that quantify certain problems other than bibliometrics. This category excludes comparisons based on simple descriptive statistics | correlation, logistic test, t-test, chi-square, hypothesis test… |
| topic modeling | Studies that develop computational topic modeling methods | topic model, topic modeling, LDA |
| user task based study | Studies that require human users to carry out certain tasks (sometimes using a system) to produce data for further analysis | user study, user analysis |
| Method . | Relation to previous work . | Indicative key-words/phrases5 . |
|---|---|---|
| From Chu (2015) | ||
| bibliometrics | Same as Chu | impact factor, scientometric, bibliometric, citation analysis, h-index… |
| content analysis | Same as Chu | content analysis, inter coder reliability, inter annotator agreement, krippendorff |
| delphi study | Same as Chu | delphi study |
| ethnography/field study | Traditional ethnographic studies excluding those done in a digital context (see “digital ethnography” below). | Hammersley, participant observation, ethnography, ethnographic, ethnographer… |
| experiment | Classic experimental studies, not the generalized concept as per Chu. | dependent variable, independent variable, experiment |
| focus group | Same as Chu | focus group |
| historical method | Same as Chu | historical method |
| interview | Same as Chu | interview, interviewed, interviewer, interviewee, interviewing |
| observation | Same as Chu | observation |
| questionnaire | Same as Chu | respondent, questionnaire, survey, Likert, surveyed… |
| research diary/journal | Same as Chu | diary study, cultural probe |
| think aloud protocol | Same as Chu | think aloud |
| transaction log analysis | Same as Chu | log analysis/technique |
| theoretical studies | Same as Chu | Studies that cannot be classified into any of the other method categories |
| webometrics | Same as Chu | webometrics, cybermetrics, link analysis |
| New | ||
| agent based modeling/simulation | Studies that use computational modeling methods for the purpose of simulation | agent model/modeling, multi-agents |
| annotation | Studies that focus on using human users to create coded data | annotation, tagging |
| classification | Studies that focus on developing computational classification techniques | classification, classify |
| clustering | Studies that focus on developing computational clustering techniques | cluster, clustering |
| comparative evaluation | Studies that follow systematic evaluation procedures to compare different methods | comparative evaluation, evaluative studies |
| document analysis | Studies that analyze secondary document collections (e.g., historical policy documents, transcripts) with a critical close reading | document/textual analysis, document review |
| information extraction | Studies that develop computational methods for the purpose of extracting structured information from texts | named entity recognition, NER, relation extraction |
| IR related indexing/ranking/query methods | Studies that develop methods with a goal to improve search results | Learning to rank, term weighting, indexing method, query expansion, question answering |
| mixed method | Fidel (2008) | cresswell and plano clark, mixed method |
| digital ethnography | Studies applying ethnography to the digital context | digital ethnography, netnography, netnographic |
| network analysis | Studies that apply network theories with a focus to understand the properties of social networks | network analysis/study |
| statistical methods | Studies of correlations between variables, hypothesis testing; proposing new statistical metrics that quantify certain problems other than bibliometrics. This category excludes comparisons based on simple descriptive statistics | correlation, logistic test, t-test, chi-square, hypothesis test… |
| topic modeling | Studies that develop computational topic modeling methods | topic model, topic modeling, LDA |
| user task based study | Studies that require human users to carry out certain tasks (sometimes using a system) to produce data for further analysis | user study, user analysis |