Abstract
The general objective of this research is to carry out a theoretical-methodological assessment of the digital environment as an object of study in the field of communication sciences in Spain, through the analysis of articles included in specialized journals in this area. By means of the bibliometric analysis, we assess the texts published in specialized journals in this field and, among the important variables, the authors take into account the theoretical features of discourse related to this subject matter, the framework for scientific disciplines, and research categories or concepts. The methodological designs will be mentioned as regards those that evidence scientific discourse, areas of analysis, privileged research techniques, and which in specific have been used the most, as well as the predominant forms of triangulation. This new study will complete a decade of analysis of research productivity in communication at Spanish universities, which began with research projects based on communicative intra-history such as MAPCOM by designing a map of the research system on communication practices.
TopIntroduction
The Academic Discourse of Communication Research in Spain
In Spain, the field of research in social communication practices is an object of study and interest in the latter has progressively increased in recent years in our scientific context, therefore, its academic discourse requires a certain degree of epistemological vigilance to correctly assess the state of development in a field and to facilitate the management of scientific policies on certain objects of interest.
The general objective of this research is to carry out a theoretical-methodological assessment of the digital environment as an object of study in the field of Communication Sciences in Spain, through the analysis of articles included in specialized journals in this area.
Thus, in Spain, an objective and scientifically and methodologically rigorous analysis of the projects, research groups, lines, objects and methods that make up the reality of Communication as an area of knowledge and research has recently been completed. This study is therefore a continuation of the projects. “The research system in Spain on social Communication practices: map of projects, groups, lines, objects of study and methods”, directed by professors José Luis Piñuel, Juan Javier Sánchez Carrión, Carmen Peñafiel, Bernardo Díaz Nosty and Javier MarzalFelici (MapCom, 2017) and “Maps of Communication Research in Spanish Universities from 2007 to 2018”, coordinated by Professors Carmen Caffarel Serra and Carlos Horacio Lozano Ascencio. This chapter is proposed as an approximation to the study of digital evolution as an object of research in academic journals in Spain andevidences destructuringfeatures, with a relatively high level of isolation or insularity.
Through bibliometric analysis, we assess the texts published in specialized journals in this field and, among the important variables, we will take into account the theoretical features of discourse related to this subject matter, the framework for scientific disciplines and research categories or concepts.The methodological designs will be mentioned as regards those that evidence scientific discourse, areas of analysis, privileged research techniques and whichspecifically have been used the most, as well as the predominant forms of triangulation.
Performing an approximation to the state of analysis on the evolution of digital environments as an object of study is therefore proposed. It constitutes a fundamental problem that originates from the introduction of this meansinto the daily search for new and different methods and theories to research these realities whichhave begun to appear in the Network of networks. This indicates the extent to which meta-analytical reflections and also systematic review reflections can become a feature of Communication as an academic area.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Digital Society: Process of evolution derived from the information society through the intensive use of technologies and digital media where the internet positions itself as the information tool itself and whose decentralized set of networks form a union in access and transmission collaborative learning.
ANECA: Is the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation in Spain. Its objective is to contribute to the improvement of the quality of the higher education system through the evaluation, certification, and accreditation of teaching, teaching staff and institutions.
Content Analysis: Methodology of social discipline and bibliometrics that focuses on the study of communication content and its discourse.
Scientific Magazine: Periodical publication in charge of collecting the progress of a specific science and its evolution in a given field. They are generally peer-reviewed (arbitrated) within a scientific community to ensure their quality and validity. Unlike a common journal, these are characterized by institutional repositories, article access and indexing in scientific evaluation databases.
Mapcom: Spanish knowledge generation tracking project around the research production in the field of communication and its scientific community that includes doctoral theses, R&D projects, books, monographs, communications in congresses and research groups from 2007 to 2018.
Meta-Research in Communication: It is the scientific methodology that studies the way in which research and teaching staff in communication sciences investigate, identifying biases and improving the effectiveness of the scientific process.
Bibliometry: Specific field of statistics that analyzes and studies scientific activity using bibliometric indicators. With it you can choose the scientific production of researchers, the scientific activity of a country, the most productive authors, or the aging of science.
Cyber Mapping: Intermediate mode between cyber-geography and the metasystem used for the visual elaboration of bibliometric indicators.