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Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
The aging experiences of English speaking older white woman in central South Africa
No full textEnglish: The aim of this study was to explore the aging experiences of older white English speaking
women in central South Africa. The initial motivation for this study came from a
conversation I had with my study supervisor and mentor regarding the disparity between the
manner in which older people were portrayed in society and the way in which they view their
own aging experiences. Six women, aged 65 years and older, within the Bloemfontein area
(the capital of the Free State Province in South Africa) were recruited to take part in this
study.
A qualitative research approach is used to explore the stories the women shared of their aging
experiences in in-depth interviews. An interpretive sociological approach, which incorporates
phenomenology, existential sociology, and reflexive sociology, is chosen for the purpose of
this study. The narrative accounts of their stories are constructed in terms of themes that
emerged, linking it with the literature. Role changes during their life course are found to
influence who they have become. The dissertation starts off by introducing aging as a
phenomenon before reviewing the concept of aging and components such as, society’s view
of aging, retirement, social relationships, living arrangements and spirituality. Identity and
the changing roles during the life course of a women is conceptualized as means of further
understanding of the aging process before introducing the ontological and epistemological
foundation on which the investigative process is based.
The narratives of the older women in the study portray a holistic picture of aging. Contrary to
older women being portrayed as frail, dependent individuals in society, the analysis reveals
that they view aging as a positive process. They have clear ideas and expectations of what
they want from life. It affords them the freedom to utilize their time in a manner that pleases
them without having the responsibility of having to take a spouse into consideration, or to care for children. Despite living on a marginal financial budget, they construct themselves as
women having close links with family and friends, being active members in their churches
and societies, and as independent women who enjoy the freedom of living life on their own
terms and within their means. Being older brings with it, for them, confidence, selfawareness,
and the freedom to make their own choices.Afrikaans: Die doel van hierdie studie was om die verouderingservarings van die ouer wit
Engelssprekende vroue in sentraal Suid-Afrika te verken. Die aanvanklike motivering vir
hierdie studie het gespruit vanuit ‘n gesprek wat ek gehad het met my toesighouer en mentor
oor die verskille tussen die wyse waarop ouer mense in die gemeenskap uitgebeeld word, en
die manier waarop hulle hul eie verouderingservarings sien. Ses vroue, in die
ouderdomsgroep, 65 jaar en ouer, is binne die Bloemfontein-area (die hoofstad van die
Vrystaat Provinsie in Suid-Afrika) gewerf om deel te neem aan hierdie studie.
‘n Kwalitatiewe navorsingsbenadering word gebruik om die stories te verken, deur in-diepte
onderhoude te voer met die vroue wat hulle verouderingservarings deel. ‘n Interpretatiewe
sosiologiese benadering, wat die fenomenologie, eksistensiële, en refleksiewe sosiologie
insluit, is gekies vir die doel van hierdie studie. Die narratiewe verhaling van hulle ervarings
is gekonstrueer in terme van temas wat na vore gekom het en is gekoppel aan bestaande
literatuur. Daar is bevind dat rolveranderinge tydens hulle lewensloop ‘n invloed het op wie
hulle geword het. Die verhandeling begin met die bekendstelling van veroudering as ‘n
verskynsel, voordat die konsep van veroudering, sowel as komponente soos die samelewing
se siening van veroudering, aftrede, sosiale verhoudings, verblyfsreëlings, en spiritualiteit,
verken word. Identiteit en die veranderende rolle tydens die lewensloop van ‘n vrou word
gekonseptualiseer as middele tot verdere begrip van die verouderingsproses alvorens die
ontologiese an epistemologiese grondslag waarop die ondersoekende proses gebaseer is,
verreken word.
Die narratiewe verhale van die ouer vroue in die studie beeld ‘n holistiese prentjie van
veroudering uit. In teenstelling met hoe ouer vroue uitgebeeld word as verswakte, afhanklike
individue in die samelewing, toon die ontleding dat hulle veroudering as ‘n positiewe proses sien. Hulle het duidelike idees en verwagtinge van wat hulle wil hê in die lewe. Dit bied aan
hulle die vryheid om hulle tyd te benut soos dit hulle behaag, sonder die verantwoordelikheid
van ‘n gade, of om versorging van kinders in ag te neem. Ten spyte daarvan dat hulle op ‘n
beperkte finansiële begroting lewe, konstrueer hulle hulself as vroue wat noue bande het met
familie en vriende, as aktiewe lede in hulle kerke en gemeenskappe, en as onafhanklike vroue
wat die vryheid geniet om ‘n lewe op hulle eie terme en binne hulle eie vermoë te benut. Vir
die navorsingsdeelnemers bring dit vertroue, bewussyn van die self, en die vryheid om hulle
eie keuses te maak.Research Directorate at the University of the Free State and Prof Doreen Atkinson of
the UFS Research Cluster on Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Developmen
Young and upwardly mobile: voices from historically disadvantaged groups
No full textEnglish: South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994 signalled a fundamental shift in the country’s social environment. The institutionalized racism that once subjugated the Black majority during apartheid gave way to legislature that aims to bring South Africa into a wholly new era of egalitarianism, the most striking result of which has been the steady influx of young Black people achieving upward mobility and making the transition into the middle- and upper-classes. The aim of this study is to conduct a phenomenological exploration into young Black South Africans’ lived experiences of upward mobility (the transition from a lower to a higher social class) with the express purpose of understanding how they construct their identities, both subjectively and in their interactions with others.
Although there has been considerable interest in South Africa’s Black Diamonds and Buppies (as upwardly mobile Black people are often referred to), academic work on the upward mobility of Black people has largely been limited to quantitative studies in the field of economics and market research. This study thus attempts to fill a gap in the academic literature by offering insight into young Black South Africans’ subjective experiences of upward mobility and identity navigation.
The foundation of this study is guided by the philosophical principles of interpretive research. As such, the aim is not to provide an objective explanation of the research participants’ experiences, but to explore how they perceive various experiences from their own unique perspectives. The research participants for this study are comprised of young, Black South Africans (between the ages of 18 and 30) who reside in the Bloemfontein area of Central South Africa. They are also specifically chosen to participate in this study because they have acquired professional occupations through educational attainment, which has placed them in a social position that is comparatively higher in the social hierarchy than that of their parents.
The data for this study is collected by way of one-one-one interviews and a focus group discussion. The ultimate aim of the data collection is to obtain data that gets as close as possible to providing a first-hand account of the participants’ experiences with upward mobility and identity. This study therefore makes use of a narrative-centred approach to research, and the research participants’ stories are analysed according to an analytical framework known as the narrative practice approach. Rather than focusing purely on the content of the research participants’ stories, the narrative practice approach also focuses this study’s attention on how they tell their stories.
The findings presented in this study touch upon numerous aspects of young Black South Africans’ lived experiences of upward mobility and identity, the most notable of which relate to the intersection of race and class in their interaction with others. Having made the transition from a lower social class that has historically been occupied by Blacks, into a higher social class that has historically been reserved for Whites, the research participants’ narratives richly illustrate how the accomplishment of upward social mobility is intrinsically affected by the everyday social process of identity construction and the unequal distribution of economic and cultural capital.
As the dissertation’s findings suggest, the transition into a higher social class is not without its hardships. Apart from overcoming the more recognizable economic obstacles inherent in achieving upward mobility, the research participants’ narratives also shed light on transcending more implicit challenges to achieving upward mobility, such as cultural biases towards education, the lack of cultural knowledge needed to attend university, as well as the lack of cultural knowledge required to occupy a higher social class. More specific to the issue of identity construction, the research participants’ narratives indicate that because of their achievements, they are identified as members of a higher social class, both by people in their social class of origin, and by those in their achieved social class.
However, the salience of race in South African society, coupled with the fact that South Africa’s class structure has invariably been shaped by race politics, means that the research participants find themselves in a unique position that requires them to successfully negotiate the presence of two separate and often contrasting identities. On the one hand, is an identity shaped by African traditions and culture within the lower class, and on the other hand, is a higher class identity that requires adherence to White South African culture if the participants are to fit in with those in their achieved social class.Afrikaans: Suid-Afrika se eerste demokratiese verkiesing gedurende 1994 het ‘n fundamentele verskuiwing meegebring wat betref die land se sosiale omgewing. Die ingewortelde rassisme wat voorheen die Swart meerderheid gedurende apartheid in onderdrukking gehou het, het plek gemaak vir wetgewing wat ten doel het om Suid- Afrika in ‘n gehele nuwe tydvak van gelykheid binne te neem. Die mees merkwaardige uitvloeisel hiervan was die bestendige toevoeging van jong Swart mense wat opwaarts beweeg het in die oorgang tot middel- en hoërklasse. Die doel van hierdie studie is om ‘n fenomenologiese ondersoek in te stel na jong Swart Suid-Afrikaners se beleefde ervaringe van opwaartse mobiliteit (die oorgang van ‘n laer- tot ‘n hoër sosiale klas) met die uitsluitlike doel om te verstaan hoe hulle dit persoonlik ervaar en hoe dit hulle identiteit rig, beide met betrekking tot hulle subjektiewe belewenis en hulle interaksies met andere.
Hoewel daar ‘n beduidende belangstelling in Suid-Afrika se “ Swart Diamante” en “Buppies” (soos wat daar gereeld na Swart opwaarts mobiele mense verwys word), is akademiese werk oor hierdie groep opkomende Swart mense grotendeels beperk tot kwantitatiewe studies in die ekonomie en in marknavorsing. Hierdie studie prober derhalwe om die gaping te vul in die akademiese literatuur deur insig te bied oor hierdie jong Swart Suid-Afrikaners se subjektiewe ondervindings van opwaartse mobiliteit en persoonlike ontwikkeling.
Die grondslag van hierdie studie word gelê deur filosofiese beginsels van interpretatiewe navorsing. As sodanig is die bedoeling nie om ‘n objektiewe verduideliking van die deelnemers aan die navorsing se ondervindings weer te gee nie, maar om ondersoek in te stel oor hoe hulle sekere ondervindinge ervaar het vanuit hulle eie unieke gesigspunte. Die deelnemers aan die navorsing vir hierdie studie is saamgestel uit jong, Swart Suid-Afrikaners (tussen die ouderdomme van 18 tot 30) wat in die Bloemfontein-omgewing van Sentraal Suid Afrika woonagtig is. Hulle is ook spesifiek gekies om aan hierdie studie deel te neem aangesien hulle profesionele beroepe bekom het deur hulle opvoedkundige bekwaamheid, wat hulle in ‘n sosiale posisie plaas wat vergelykenderwys hoër is as die sosiale posisie van hulle ouers. Die inligting vir hierdie studie is bekom deur persoonlike onderhoude en gefokusde groepbesprekings. Die uiteindelike doel met hierdie inligting is om begrip te bekom en om so na as moontlik te kom aan ‘n eerstehandse weergawe van die deelnemers se ondervindings van opwaartse mobiliteit en identiteit.
Hierdie studie maak derhalwe gebruik van ‘n verhalende (narratiewe) benadering tot navorsing en die navorsingsdeelnemers se stories word ontleed ooreenkomstig ‘n ontledingsraamwerk wat bekend staan as die narratiewe benadering. Eerder as om suiwer te fokus op die inhoud van die navorsingsdeelnemers se stories, fokus die narratiewe benadering ook op hoe hulle hul stories vertel.
Die bevindinge soos aangebied in hierdie studie raak aan talle aspekte van jong Swart Suid-Afrikaners se lewenservaringe van betreffende opwaartse mobiliteit en persoonlike ontwikkeling, waarvan die mees vernaamste verband hou met die raakpunte tussen ras en klas met betrekking tot hulle interaksie met ander. Die navorsingsdeelnemers se ondervindinge illustreer belangrike aspekte in die voortdurende ontwikkeling van Suid-Afrika se groeinde demokrasie, soos byvoorbeeld onderliggende tussen-groepverhoudings, rassisme en armoede
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Old stories and new chapters: a biographical study of white Afrikaans speaking identity in central South Africa
No full textSince the fall of apartheid and the emergence of a wholly democratic South Africa in 1994, little research has been done on the topic of white identity in this rapidly transforming multicultural society. Indeed, apart from an array of popular books on the subject, there has been virtually no academic interest in the question of how white South Africans have reconstructed their individual and collective identities since the fall of apartheid, and the resulting erosion of the ready answers previously provided to them regarding questions of belonging and identification. This study set out to remedy this situation through exploring the identities that white South Africans, and white Afrikaans speakers in particular, have constructed out of the wreckage of the 20th century. Embracing a qualitative approach, this study focused on exploring stories of contemporary white Afrikaans speaking identity as told in the participants’ own words. Six individuals, ranging from students in their late teens to a grandson of Hendrik Verwoerd, shared their stories, which were reflexively engaged through an interpretive sociological approach that incorporated elements of phenomenology, existentialism and reflexive sociology. The dissertation starts off with an introduction to the epistemological and ontological foundation upon which the investigative process was built, before investigating the concept identity as conceptualised during the research process, namely as constituting a relatively stable but malleable set of understandings regarding the self and its place within society in general and specific racial, religious and cultural collectivities in particular. A history of white Afrikaans speaking identity is then presented, which makes clear the prior existence of at least three historical white Afrikaans speaking collectivities, namely the Burghers of the 17th and 18th centuries, the Boers of the 1800’s, and the Afrikaners of the 20th century. The stage is then set for the examination of the new collectivities that have developed since the demise of a coherent Afrikaner identity in the late 20th century. The data, collected by means of reflexive individual and group interviews, and analysed using ‘Dialogical Narrative Analysis’ (DNA), a process that focuses on the contents and circulation of individual and collectively shared stories, or ‘narrative repertoires’, indicate the existence of at least three relatively coherent contemporary white Afrikaans speaking collectivities. These are the ‘Pseudo-Boers’, the ‘Afrikaners’, and the ‘Afrikaanses’. These three collectivities, developing simultaneously and largely parallel to each other out of the once coherent Afrikaner collectivity of the previous century, exhibit significant variance regarding the content, structure and circulation of their narrative repertoires. This means that Afrikaners, Pseudo-Boers and Afrikaanses, on both the individual and collective levels, differ from each other in terms of the stories they tell and dynamics pertaining to the circulation of these stories, as well as the genres, plots and character types prevalent in them. These shared stories in turn represent, according to this study, the matrix out of which identity is constructed, be it individual or collective. The uncovered data are further represented in a manner borrowing from certain techniques used in the fields of semi-fiction writing and journalism, with the aim to aid understanding through presenting the data themselves in a storied form. This choice was made in line with the hypothesis, developed throughout this dissertation, that the uniquely human phenomenon of storytelling in fact underlies much of the social construction of reality, and serves to inform individual and collectively shared meaning frameworks and understandings regarding the world of everyday life.National Research Foundation (NRF)UFS Research Cluster on Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Developmen
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Nationale Identität und Staatsbürgerschaft: diskursive Identifikationen am Beispiel der schweizerischen Volksinitiative "für demokratische Einbürgerungen"
Get PDFBasierend auf einer wissenssoziologischen Diskursanalyse der Volksinitiative »für demokratische Einbürgerungen« wird der Frage nachgegangen, welche kollektiven Identifikationen und Mitgliedschaftsvorstellungen die Debatte prägten, in deren Zentrum Einbürgerungen und die Staatsbürgerschaft standen. Der Aufsatz stellt dar, welche vier Diskurse die Debatte strukturierten: (1) Demokratie als (absolute) Volksherrschaft, (2) Ausländer(massen), die nicht passen, (3) Demokratie in rechtsstaatlichem Rahmen und (4) integrierende Demokratie. Für zwei dieser vier Diskurse wird schliesslich aufgezeigt, wie sie aus der jeweiligen Perspektive ihres Weltdeutungshorizonts die Schweiz als Nationalstaat, seine BürgerInnen sowie zugewanderte Personen imaginieren und charakterisieren.Based on a discourse analysis of the popular initiative »for democratic naturalizations«, the article seeks to understand what collective identifications and notions of membership were central to the debates provoked by the initiative, the debate focusing on naturalizations and citizenship. Four discourses structured this debate: (1) democracy as (absolute) popular government, (2) (masses of) non-fitting foreigners, (3) democracy based on the rule of law, and (4) integrative democracy. Analyzing two of these discourses, the article examines how within each of their interpretive horizons the Swiss nation state, its citizens as well as migrants are imagined and characterized
A sociology of knowledge approach to discourse ethnography
Get PDFDieser Beitrag geht in drei Schritten der Frage nach, wie die Untersuchung lokaler Settings für die Analyse von Prozessen und Strukturen auf der sogenannten Makroebene fruchtbar gemacht werden kann. Erstens wird aus der Perspektive einer (radikalen) Situationsorientierung gezeigt, dass Interaktionen auch durch externe Bedingungen strukturiert werden (auf der Bedeutungsund Sinnebene) und dass zweitens Mikrosettings auf eigenständige Art und Weise die konkreten Auswirkungen makrostruktureller Prozesse mitbestimmen. Drittens wird gezeigt, wie die theoretische Rahmung der wissenssoziologischen Diskursethnographie (WDE) es erlaubt, Diskurse gleichzeitig alssituative und externe Bedeutungskontexte lokalen Handelns zu konzeptualisieren. Der Aufsatz stellt verschiedene Analysezwecke einer WDE vor.In this conceptual paper, I discuss in three stages how the study of local settings can contribute to an investigation of phenomena and processes on the so-called macro-level of analysis. I first
argue, from a (radical) situational perspective, that the externality of any interaction constraints is established through meaning contexts and that – secondly – micro-settings are centrally implicated in shaping how macro-level processes produce specific social outcomes. Thirdly, I introduce the different analytical purposes of a Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse Ethnography (SKADE), whose theoretical framework makes it possible to conceive of discourses as both situational and external meaning contexts of local action
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