The Evolving Landscape of Research Methods in Library and Information Science
Document Type
Book Chapter
Source of Publication
Advances in Library and Information Science
Publication Date
1-1-2020
Abstract
The library and information science (LIS) profession is influenced by multidisciplinary research strategies and techniques (research methods) that in themselves are also evolving. They represent established ways of approaching research questions (e.g., qualitative vs. quantitative methods). This chapter reviews the methods of research as expressed in literature, demonstrating how, where, and if they are inter-connected. Chu concludes that popularly used approaches include the theoretical approach, experiment, content analysis, bibliometrics, questionnaire, and interview. It appears that most empirical research articles in Chu's analysis employed a quantitative approach. Although the survey emerged as the most frequently used research strategy, there is evidence that the number and variety of research methods and methodologies have been increasing. There is also evidence that qualitative approaches are gaining increasing importance and have a role to play in LIS, while mixed methods have not yet gained enough recognition in LIS research.
DOI Link
ISSN
Publisher
IGI Global
Last Page
17
Disciplines
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Recommended Citation
Mavodza, Judith, "The Evolving Landscape of Research Methods in Library and Information Science" (2020). All Works. 3442.
https://zuscholars.zu.ac.ae/works/3442
Indexed in Scopus
no
Open Access
no