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Dissertation Information for Carolyn O. Frost

NAME:
- Carolyn O. Frost
- (Alias) C. Olivia Frost

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- University of Chicago (USA) (1977)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Ambiguous

Title: USE OF SCHOLARLY MATERIALS IN GERMAN LITERARY RESEARCH: AN ANALYSIS OF REFERENCE CITATIONS IN PUBLICATIONS ABOUT LITERARY WORKS WRITTEN IN THE GERMAN LANGUAGe

Abstract: This dissertation classified citations in a humanistic discipline, German literary research, according to properties of the cited works which could be ascertained by the information contained in the citation; and according to the function of the citation, stated or implied, to the extent that this could be ascertained by context.

Relatively little research has been carried out on the subject literatures in humanistic disciplines. The study of literature constitutes a considerable portion of humanistic scholarship, and it was felt that an analysis of scholarship in German literature would provide some insight into the study of other literatures as well.

In a survey of previous research using citation analysis previous studies are considered as possible models for this study. Two types of citation analysis are distinguished: (1) the analysis of cited works as indicators of the kinds of materials used in research, and (2) the analysis of citation functions as indicators of the ways in which the cited materials were used in the research process. The second kind of analysis is relatively rare: only a few studies have classified different types of citation usage.

In the design of our classification scheme for literary research, we wished to take into account differences in research methodologies between the natural and social sciences and the humanities. While empirical evidence and factual data have their place in humanistic scholarship, the subjective or evaluative element is an aspect of considerable importance, and opinion in addition to fact will have a significant role to play in supporting an argument. We expected citations in publications of humanistic scholars, as in the sciences, to refer to sources to document techniques of research, to support evidence, and to show the current state of research. Distinctive of humanistic scholarship should be (1) the extent of primary sources which are the object of study, (2) the extent of citations to older scholarship, and (3) references to the ideas or opinions (as opposed to factual statements) of other scholars.

To enable a comparison across temporal and national spans, the sample included works from three-different time-periods, 1935, 1956, and 1972, and from four different countries, pre-1945 Germany, the two post-war Germanies, and the United States. Journal articles were taken from appropriate source journals in German literature; monograph titles were taken from bibliographies. Two sets of categories were used in the study. The first characterized citations with regards to their purpose; another set of categories was used to classify the works referred to in the citations.

The citation usages which occur most frequently in literary research are those which document the primary sources of the literary author or work being discussed in the citing work. The most frequent citation usages of secondary sources were (1) to indicate prevailing views on a topic, (2) to suggest further reading, (3) to document an opinion or (4) source of factual information used in the argument of the citing author.

Over a third of the works cited were written twenty-five years or more earlier, and over 75 percent of the works cited were monographs. The results of a cross-analysis showed that, while the secondary literature is noticeably more recent than the primary literature, the difference is a relatively modest one.

Another part of the study tested bibliographic coverage of titles cited which were published after 1960. Almost half of the titles cited appeared in both bibliographies examined. The bibliographies were also tested for subject coverage. Approvimately 75 percent of the titles in both bibliographies were listed under specific subject headings for the specific literary suthor or work which was the topic of the listed titles.


MPACT Scores for Carolyn O. Frost

A = 5
C = 9
A+C = 14
T = 5
G = 1
W = 5
TD = 5
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:15:17

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