Analysis of the “European Educational Research Journal”: a comparison of publication patterns in leading journals in education

Author(s):

Klaus Zierer(presenting / submitting)Hubert Ertl(presenting)Lukas Otterspeer

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

20. Research in Innovative Intercultural Learning Environments

Format:

Paper (Copy for Joint Session)

Session Information

20 SES 08 JS, Joint Session NW 17 and NW 20 Histories of EERA

Paper Session Joint Session NW 17 and NW 20

Time:

2014-09-04

09:00-10:30

Room:

B221 Sala de Aulas

Chair:

Ian Grosvenor

Contribution

The paper based on the research conducted in two DFG(German Research Foundation)-funded projects that analysed all articles published in a total of 14 leading journals of education between 2001 and 2010. The work covered over 4000 articles and analysed authors, methods and themes covered by the papers. The analysis included three German, three English, four European and four USA journals – particularly the European Educational Research Journal, Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, Zeitschrift für Soziologie der Erziehung und Sozialisation, Oxford Review of Education, British Educational Research Journal, British Journal of Sociology of Education, American Educational Research Journal, Review of Educational Research, Review of Research in Education, Sociology of Education, European Journal of Education, Journal of Studies in International Education, Learning and Instruction.

The descriptive results of the projects demonstrate clear differences in terms of thematic and methodological focus of papers published in the different journals. The results show specific publication patterns in the different national contexts that have developed over time. In the first part of the proposed session key publication patterns and developing trends in different national contexts will be introduced.

The presentation of the main findings from that research will be presented in three parts.

The analysis of authors in terms of their institutional association, gender and number of authors revealed a number of clear differences in the journals from the different national contexts. The results show, that there are significant differences in all of these dimensions and that there are clear changes in characteristic of the authorship identifiable in some national contexts and some specific journals.

The methodological analysis aimed at understanding patterns of research methods used in educational research published in journals. The analysis revealed substantial differences in terms of the use of interdisciplinary, historical and international approaches, as well as in the use of primary data.

The thematic analysis aimed at developing an understanding of research foci in educational research reported in the journals and the self-perception of researchers working in this area. Significant differences were found in terms of coverage of different sectors of education (elementary to the quartiary sector) and the degree to which research work is underpinned by theoretical considerations.

Method

The investigation draws on a number of different analytical methods for the different parts of the project: Thematic analysis: Formal-descriptive analysis of journal papers sheds light on the topics and themes of published papers. This analysis involves categorising papers according to a categorisation developed on the basis of three perspectives. 1) Developmental perspective: This categorisation includes the phases of “elementary”, “primary”, “secondary”, “tertiary” and “quaternary” education. 2) Educational perspective: “Learning and development”, “education”, “teaching and instruction” and “socialisation”. 3) Scientific perspective: “contents of education” and “methods of education”. The results of the thematic categorisation will contribute to our understanding of research foci in education research and the perceptions of education as an academic discipline working in this area (see Bos & Tarnai, 1989; Früh, 2004). Methodological analysis: In this part of the work, formal-descriptive analysis of research methods displayed in published papers is conducted. This involves categorising papers into the main methodological approaches found in educational research. The methodological categories will connect to categorisations, which have been used several times in studies in the German context (cf. Macke 1989; Keiner 1999). The categorisation comprises the dichotomies “empirical” vs. “analytical”, “historical” vs. “non-historical”, “national” vs. “international”. The methodological analysis of the journal papers will improve our understanding of patterns of research methods used in educational research, of connections between topics and methods, and of dominant methodological approaches used in the two countries of this study (see Klusmeyer, 1998). Author analysis: In this part of the project formal-descriptive analysis of authors’ details is conducted, including gender, number of authors, country and institutional affiliations. This will provide us with insights into patterns of research collaboration (national and international) and connections between research topics and institutional affiliations of authors (Zierer, 2010). In a final step, the paper will present overarching findings of the study by drawing together the results of thematic, methodological and author analyses in the form of cross-tabulation and comparative interpretation. This will identify publication patterns, dominating research traditions, developments of patterns over time, and thematic and methodological gaps in the research literature.

Expected Outcomes

The paper will report on the fundamental findings of the projects, particularly with regard to the following questions: • What do publication patterns tell us about the topics of research in education? • What are the predominant methods and methodologies used in educational research? • What is the distribution of publishing authors according to gender, number of authors, institutional affiliations? • What are the patterns in educational research regarding the connection between themes, methods and authors? All four questions are investigated in a longitudinal (how have patterns changed over the years under investigation?) and a comparative (what are the differences between patterns found in the US-american, European, English and German journals?) perspective. A special focus regarding these question is aimed at the European Educational Research Journal.

References

Bos, W. / Tarnai, C. (1989): (Hrsg.): Angewandte Inhaltsanalyse, 1989 Dees, W. (2008): Transparenz und Evaluierbarkeit des erziehungswissenschaftlichen Publikationsaufkommens, in: Erziehungswissenschaft, 2008, Vol. 37, pp. 27 - 32 Eigler, G. / Macke, G. (1994): Wissenschaftstheorie und erziehungswissenschaftliche Forschungspraxis, in: Pollak, G. / Heid, H. (Hrsg.): Von der Erziehungswissenschaft zur Pädagogik?, 1994, pp. 77 - 114 Keiner, E. (1999): Erziehungswissenschaft 1947 – 1990, Weinheim: Deutscher Studien Verlag, 1999 Macke, G. (1989): Rekonstruktion von Wissenschaftsentwicklung, in: Bos, W. / Tarnai, C. (Hrsg.): Angewandte Inhaltsanalyse, 1989 Tooley, J. & Darby, D (1998): Educational Research: A critique. A survey of published educational research (London: Ofsted), 1989 Zierer, K. (2010): Alles prüfen! Das Beste behalten! Zur Eklektik in Lehrbüchern der Didaktik und des Instructional Design, 2010

Author Information

Klaus Zierer (presenting / submitting)

University Oldenburg, Germany

Hubert Ertl (presenting)

University Oxford, England

Lukas Otterspeer