Are the h-index and some of its alternatives discriminatory of epistemological beliefs and methodological preferences of faculty members? The case of social scientists in Quebec

Mathieu Ouimet (), Pierre-Olivier Bédard and François Gélineau
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Mathieu Ouimet: Université Laval
Pierre-Olivier Bédard: Université Laval
François Gélineau: Université Laval

Scientometrics, 2011, vol. 88, issue 1, No 6, 106 pages

Abstract: Abstract This exploratory study aims at answering the following research question: Are the h-index and some of its derivatives discriminatory when applied to rank social scientists with different epistemological beliefs and methodological preferences? This study reports the results of five Tobit and two negative binomial regression models taking as dependent variable the h-index and six of its derivatives, using a dataset combining bibliometric data collected with the PoP software with cross-sectional data of 321 Quebec social scientists in Anthropology, Sociology, Social Work, Political Science, Economics and Psychology. The results reveal an epistemological/methodological effect making positivists and quantitativists globally more productive than constructivists and qualitativists.

Keywords: Research performance; Epistemology; Individual researchers; Social sciences; h-index; Cross-sectional survey; Google Scholar; Publish or Perish (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1007/s11192-011-0364-3

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