The influence of Elfreda Chatman’s theories: a citation context analysis

Abstract

The range of theoretical frameworks currently being used by researchers into information behaviour is abundant and diverse. We need to examine thoroughly the contribution of theories and models to further research, as this would help to improve future investigations in the field. This paper adopts this approach, by thoroughly examining the influence that Elfreda Chatman's three middle-range theories have had on subsequent research. A citation context analysis was carried out on the basis of those received by Information poverty theory, Life in the round theory and Normative behaviour theory. Analysis covered the year of publication, the type of work and the subject-matter of the citing documents. The cites in context or theoretical incidents were analysed for frequency of citation in citing documents, the content of Chatman's work being cited, the context co-citation analysis, the citation style and the citation location. The analysis of citation in context has allowed us to draw a distinction between the author and her work, while verifying that not all cites are the same. These differences reflect the unequal relevance of these theories to subsequent research.

The diffusion and influence of theoretical models of information behaviour. The case of Savolainen's ELIS model

“…In this sense, this work offers a complementary vision, by introducing certain nuances that can be used to evaluate the aspects concerned. On the other, it uses a methodological design that has already been applied to Chatman's three theories (González-Teruel and Abad García, 2018), thereby also allowing us to compare the contributions made by two of the leading exponents of research into everyday life information seeking.…”

“…To answer the aforementioned questions, CCA was carried out, guided by the proposals of Zhang et al (2013) and Ding et al (2013). It is, as already mentioned, a tried-and-tested methodology used to analyse the influence of the theories of Chatman (González-Teruel and Abad-Garcia, 2018), which allows us to obtain comparable results from two of the main theoretical developments in the field of everyday life information seeking.…”

“…More recently, Dewey (2016) has analysed cites in the context of the citing documents Archaeology of Knowledge and The Order of Things of Foucault in the literature on LIS, revealing a superficial use that diverges from the original text. Finally, González-Teruel and Abad Garcia (2018) have investigated the influence and degree of assimilation of the information poverty theory (IPT), the life in the round theory (LRT) and the normative behaviour theory (NBT) of Elfreda Chatman.…”

“…The paper by González-Teruel and Abad Garcia (2018) included an analysis from the point of view of the citing documents and citations in the context of the documents concerned. The analysis of the citing documents revealed a greater number of IPT citations, followed by LRT and NBT.…”

“…It is in this context that this work is being presented, following the approach initiated by González-Teruel and Abad Garcia (2018). Its objective has been to gauge the diffusion and influence of Savolainen's Everyday Life Information Seeking (ELIS) model, with particular reference to how it has been used as a theoretical and/or methodological basis of subsequent research.…”