Scientometrics

, Volume 109, Issue 3, pp 1761–1787 | Cite as

Subject–method topic network analysis in communication studies

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Abstract

Communication studies depend on information and communication technology (ICT) and the behavior of people using the technology. ICT enables individuals to transfer information quickly via various media. Social changes are occurring rapidly and their studies are growing in number. Thus, a tool to extract knowledge to comprehend the quickly changing dynamics of communication studies is required. We propose a subject–method topic network analysis method that integrates topic modeling analysis and network analysis to understand the state of communication studies. Our analysis focuses on the relationships between topics classified as subjects and methods. From the relationships, we examine the societal and perspective changes relative to emerging media technologies. We apply our method to all papers listed in the Journal Citation Reports Social Science Citation Index as communication studies between 1990 and 2014. The study results allow us to identify popular subjects, methods, and subject–method pairs in proportion and relation.

Keywords

Communication studies ICT Subject–method topic network analysis Text mining 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2015S1A3A2046711). This work was supported in part by the Yonsei University Future-leading Research Initiative of 2015 [2014-22-0116].

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Copyright information

© Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Creative Technology ManagementYonsei UniversitySeoulKorea
  2. 2.Science and Technology Policy InstituteSejongKorea
  3. 3.Department of Library and Information ScienceYonsei UniversitySeoulKorea

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