Comparative Scientometric Analysis in Social Media: What Can We Learn? And What Is Next? - Information and Communication Technologies in Public Administration - page 102

assistance to researchers, informing them of the most appropriate methodology
to be adopted for the purposes of their research, thus avoiding possible method-
ological mistakes (Lan & Anders, 2000; McCurdy & Cleary, 1984; Plümber &
Radaelli, 2004). The following research question is therefore derived:

RQ4: What research methodologies are employed in analyzing social media?

Finally, a study of different social media experiences in the United States,
Europe, and Asia could enhance our understanding of the instruments used to
promote the social media implementation in public affairs and thus facilitate a
resolution of democratic deficits (Nabatchi, 2010), improving the efficiency, accep-
tance, and legitimacy of political processes. In addition, the different interests of
researchers in this field of knowledge could be the result of the universities to which
they belong and could be a reflection of the concerns of the country in which social
media is analyzed by the universities. The following research question is therefore
derived:

RQ5: Are there differences in social media research among American, European,
and Asian countries?

To address these research questions, we conducted a descriptive scientomet-
ric study (Neufeld et al., 2007) of social media articles published in JCR-listed
international journals in the areas of Information Science and Library Science,
Communication, and Public Administration, as described in the methodology sec-
tion of this chapter (Figure 5.1).

RQ3 Journals that publish most
frequently

RQ1 Social media articles
published in JCR

RQ2 Aspects of social media
(research topics, evolution, theories,
and social networks used)

RQ4 Research methodologies

RQ5 Differences among American,
European, and Asian countries

Figure 5.1 Research framework. JCR = Journal Citation Report.