Abstract
It is shown that in natural sciences, interdependences between variables are determined regardless of the distributions of variable values, whereas in science studies, distributions should be used as a starting point. This difference is due the nature of measuring instruments: in natural sciences, measurements are performed with the use of devices, while science of science uses “human devices” adapting themselves to the measured objects. Practical inferences are drawn.
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References
See the first article of this series: S. D. HAITUN, Problems of quantitative analysis of scientific activities: The non-additivity of data. Part I. Statement and solution,Scientometrics, 10 (1986) 3; Part II. Corollaries,Scientimetrics, 10 (1986) 133.
S. D. HAITUN, Stationary scientometric distributions. Part I. Different approximations,Scientometrics, 4 (1982) 5; Part II. Non-Gaussian nature of scientific activities,Scientometrics, 4 (1982) 89; Part III. Role of the Zipf distribution,Scientometrics, 4 (1982) 181; S. D. HAITUN,Naukometriya: Sostoyanie i perspektivy (Scientometrics: State and Prospects), Nauka, Moskva, 1983.
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Haitun, S.D. Science studies and natural sciences: Which is primary, distribution or interdependence between variables?. Scientometrics 15, 45–58 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02021798
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02021798
Keywords
- Measured Object
- Natural Science
- Science Study
- Practical Inference
- Human Device