Thesis-1999-Costa.pdf (9.62 MB)
The impact of computer usage on scholarly communication among academic social scientists
thesis
posted on 2013-03-14, 14:02 authored by Sely M.S. CostaThe study aims to see whether there are differences in the nature and patterns of
computer usage for communicating research between disciplines in the social sciences
in Brazil and, if so, whether they can be related to factors which can affect the process
of communication. The theory embedded in the research model states that pressures
that accompany the introduction of information technologies into a university
environment are significant factors in the use of such technologies. These pressures
produce differences in the communication process itself. Furthermore, there may also
be a relationship between individual factors and the use of IT for communication.
The research data were collected via a survey using two instruments. Firstly, mailed
questionnaires were sent to 760 academic researchers in sociology and economics in
Brazil, working in post-graduate programmes. A response rate of 64.1 percent was
achieved. Secondly, 36 interviews were carried out with a sample of the most
productive researchers in the two subjects studied. The interview sample included
both respondents and non-respondents to the questionnaire. A small sample of 1I
British academic researchers was included in the interview survey, in order to allow
comparisons and see whether Brazilian academics lag behind IT front-runners.
Data collected revealed that there is an impact of computer usage on the scholarly
communication process, especially in terms of informal communication. Such an
impact can be related to changes in the social interactions that underlie knowledge
creation among researchers, and also relates to differences in patterns and processes
of computer usage between the chosen disciplines. Formal communication has
experienced a gradually growing impact by electronic media on the well-established
print environment, with the likely co-existence of the two media for some time to
come. The results obtained showed that Brazilian researchers do not lag behind the
British ones. Not many differences, but most similarities were found between
economists and sociologists in both Brazil and the UK.
History
School
- Science
Department
- Information Science
Publisher
© Sely M. S. CostaPublication date
1999Notes
A Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University.EThOS Persistent ID
uk.bl.ethos.313457Language
- en