Academic Librarianship:Developing a Research Program

For Tenure and Beyond

Deborah V. Dolan, M.A., M.L.S.Assistant Professor, Social Sciences LibrarianJoan and Donald E. Axinn LibraryHofstra UniversityHempstead, NY 11549Deborah.V.Dolan@Hofstra.eduNovember 16, 2006

Why are we here?

• Love conducting research

• Hate conducting research

• Fear conducting research

• Conducting WHAT?

Librarianship is a Social Science

Study of Librarianship is study of human behavior

• Overt behavior (users, library faculty, other faculty, administrators)

• Thought Processes and Concepts (classification, organization, and presentation of materials)

If librarianship is a social science, research in librarianship is subject to practice of the

scientific method

• What is research?– Planned, systematic collection, analysis, and

interpretation of data

• Goals of research– Go beyond experience and common sense (i.e.,

opinion)– Test myths, rules-of-thumb, and convention– Move from experience to empirical evidence

(observable and measurable by all)– Ultimately, to predict behavior

How do we meet goals of research?Two types of research

BASIC

1. Descriptive

2. Goal is understanding

3. Often, but not always qualitative

APPLIED (aka ‘action research’)

1. Prescriptive

2. Goal is prediction and control

3. Quantitative; if qualitative data collected, converted into quantitative scheme

Basic and Applied Research are NOT Dichotomous

Research in Mature Social Science Discipline vs. Research in Librarianship

1. Standardization of tests and methods (e.g., reliability, validity)Lack of standardized tests and methods (what exactly are we measuring? How do we know?)

2. Application of scientific method to problems in and the relationships of components of the disciplineLack of application of scientific method (e.g., development and testing of hypotheses)

3. Basic research to understand phenomena as basis of theoretical foundationLack of basic research inhibits understanding of phenomena as basis of theoretical foundation

4. Development of theoretical foundation toa. Allow generalizability

a. solve professional problems

c. Develop standardized and accepted instruments and methods for the analysis and prediction of

organizational and service behavior

Failure to develop theoretical foundation a. Idiosyncratic research, (e.g.,“how I done it good”)

b. Non-generalizable research does not solve professional problems

c. Does not allow development of standardized …

5. Body of knowledge in discipline is built incrementally, through interrelationships of concepts, methods, and measures

Concepts and research are fragmented and non-cumulative, body of knowledge is limited

Our discipline’s weaknesses are

YOUROpportunities!

Why conduct research?

Signs of Profession– Service ideal– Theoretical and empirical foundation

Universities value and revere scientific method

Understood by most ordinary administrator (support)

Increasing demands for accountability require research to inform decisions and provide service

Well-done research generates excitement, interest, enthusiasm, commitment

What is activity in the absence

of a research-based theoretical basis

and empirically-based evidence?

Educational background

of academic library faculty

does not prepare them

to be competent researchers

Conducting research requires methodological competence

Evaluating others’ research (and shortcomings of such) requires methodological competence

How do we become

competent researchers?

Learn to think like a researcher – critically

Educate yourself in research methods

Consider reading and critiquing

library research literature as part of your faculty responsibilities

How do we ‘know’ what we ‘know’?Four methods of ‘knowing’

Tenacity – Truth is true because I hold firmly to it (nothing will dislodge belief)

Authority – Truth is true because authority says so (physicist, bible, tradition, public sanction)

A priori – based on reason (logic, math proofs)

Scientific method – independent of our thoughts or opinions. Constructs, behaviors, or objects can be measured and observed by all. Alternate hypotheses are proposed and tested. Theories are not ‘proven’ or ‘dis-proven’; they are ‘supported’ or ‘not supported’ by data.

How is a body of knowledge built?Science vs. Common Sense

Ideas are constructs created by humans (defined)

Ideas are ‘real’ (e.g., sin, aggression)

Theories must be testable (refutable)

Acceptance of ideas not testable (not refutable)

Empirically/objectively collects data to support or refute theory

Collects confirming evidence, dismisses contradictory evidence

Systematically investigates nature of relationships

Accepts surface relationships as cause and effect

Goal of Science

Establish general theory of empirical events

which allows us to relate separate events and

explain and predict events and processes

not yet known

Where do we start?

Have an idea that construct A is related to construct B

Form a testable hypothesis (refutable)

Operationalize (how and what will be measured)

Observe/measure

Test (statistical analysis)

Conclusion

Propose alternate explanations of results (for later testing)

Ok, I have my own academic library

experience, I’ve read the literature, and I’ve formed a testable

hypothesis. I’m now on the hunt for good measures of my

constructs

Good Luck!!!

No, really,

the lack of good

measures in librarianshipIs your good fortune

What makes a measure ‘good’?

Reliability

Validity

Reliability – accuracy of measurement (quantitative)

• Test-retest – are test results consistent over time when ‘reality’ is consistent

• Inter-rater – do raters rate the same item, observation, etc. in the same way

• Internal consistency – items which are measuring the same component of construct should correlate more highly with each other than with items that are measuring different areas of construct

Validity – are we measuring what we think we are measuring (qualitative question)

• Content – measure reflects full content of what one is measuring

• Criterion – scores relate to external criteria (e.g., outcome – predictive)

• Construct – the “what” that the instrument is measuring (formalized concept)

• Convergent – “all roads lead to Rome” or “if it walks like a duck…”

Research Strategy #1

Conduct research on a form of reliability or validity for an existing research instrument

This is a major contribution to the field in terms of improving instrumentation

Research Strategy #2

A. Replicate an existing study

B. Replicate an existing study modifying a single variable (e.g., population, database)

These strategies address the ‘fragmented’ and ‘non-cumulative’ issues in library research

Research Strategy #3

Conduct a ‘secondary analysis’ of data already collected as part of a large scale government or agency study

(see Rice, 1997 in Suggested Reading Materials for information)

Research Strategy #4

If there is something that really turns you on, but doesn’t fit into Research Strategies 1, 2, or 3,

GO FOR IT!!! GET EXCITED!!!

But, do your homework – develop a theoretical framework based on the literature, formulate a testable hypothesis – you know….

Research Strategy #5

If you have an absolutely irresistible compulsion to write a “how we done it good” paper

(which is NOT research)

Turn it into research by

• Comparing what your institution did to what other institutions have done

• Relating different approaches to problem to another variable of interest (either descriptive or predictive)

Some topics…

Information-seeking behavior examples

• Optimal foraging behavior• Stopping behavior• Resource rankings• Search strategies

Scholarly Communication Examples

• Citation analysis• Co-citation analysis• Journal Citation Report (JCR)• Content Analysis• Technology and …

Professional Issues Examples

• Academic status• Workload• Research time• Tests and measures• Position advertisements comparison• Media portrayal of profession• University portrayal of profession

Collection Development Examples

• Core List comparisons• Circulation policies• Interlibrary loan• User satisfaction• Electronic and print collections• Journal collections

The above are just a few examples,

for illustrative purposes,

in just a few areas of librarianship.

Their inclusion and the omission of others

in no way reflects any value judgment

on what is important

in research in academic librarianship

Thank you for attending and for your

contributions to this workshop

Best Wishes and Have Some Fun

(REALLY!)