Sections Of Research Articles Research Articles

Computing Packages for Qualitative Data Management: What is Their Real Impact?

Computer packages targeted at qualitative data are readily available and the methodology sections of research articles indicate that they are being utilised by some health researchers. The purpose of this article is to draw together concerns which have been expressed by researchers and critics and to place these within the perspective of 'framing' (MacLachlan & Reid, 1994). Here, the focus becomes the frame that these computer programs impose on qualitative data. Inevitably, all data sets are disturbed by the techniques of collection and the conceptual and theoretical frames imposed, but computer framing not only distorts physically but also imposes an often minimally acknowledged frame constructed by the metaphors and implicit ideology of the program. This frame is in opposition to most of the recent changes in qualitative data interpretation, which have emphasised context, thick description and exposure of the minimally disturbed voices of participants.

Applied versus basic science in the literature of plant biology: A bibliometric perspective

Abstract Applied and basic approaches to scientific inquiry were compared through a bibliometric analysis of two Canadian journals in plant biology. No differences were found between the journals in the distribution of citations across different sections of research articles (that is, Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion). Moreover, no contrasts were found in the frequency of multiple authorships or in the age distribution of cited works. However, the journals differed significantly on three other bibliometric measures: author affiliation, number of references per article, and publication format of cited works.