Biblioteks- och informationsvetenskap ? en positionsbestämning. Svenska avhandlingar och uppsatser i en interpretativ innehållsanalys
B&IMetastudieForskningsinriktningarInnehållsanalysTvärvetenskapAvhandlingarMasteruppsatserVetenskaplig kommunikation
The purpose of this study is to gauge the current state of Swedish library and information science research. LIS is generally defined as a cross- or multidisciplinary subject, according to some coupled with heterogenity or dichotomy within the subject. In light of Jack Meadows?s description of the scientific community growth and scientific communication, the following two research questions are formulated as basis for the study: 1. What are the current themes, what range of theories and methods are used in our research material? 2. What are the relationships between our research material with respect to choice of themes, theories and methods used, compared with the image given in earlier studies of LIS research? Our research material consists of all Swedish licentiate and doctoral theses in LIS defended at Swedish universities 1993-2011 and all master?s theses published at three different Swedish LIS departments (Borås, Lund and Uppsala) during the years 2008-2009. The theses have been collected and processed using an interpretative content analysis, which includes categorisation of themes, theories and methods, as well as statistical analysis. A compilation of the results suggests the dominance of certain categories of themes, theories and methods. The dominating themes are focused on different aspects of the Library as an entity. The dominating theories are sociological or philosophical (used alone or in combination), and the prominent methods used are interviews and text analysis. The results overall agree with earlier studies from the 21st century. However, studies from the 1990s show a different distribution of theme categories in older research publications in LIS. This difference may be attributed to different research trends over time, but also to the specific versions of content analysis applied.