The Use of Library Materials in Doctoral Research: A Study of the Effect of Differences in Research Method

159 Pages·08.902 MB·English

by  Stevens, Rolland Elwell

1 1
COPYRIGHTED
BY
ROLLAND ELWELL STEVENS
1952
THE. USE OF LIBRARY MATERIALS IN DOCTORAL
RESEARCH: A STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF
DIFFERENCES IN RESEARCH METHOD
BY
ROLLAND ELWELL STEVENS
A.B., Washington University, 1939
A.M., University of Illinois, 1943
THESIS
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN LIBRARY SCIENCE
IN THE GRADUATE COLLEGE OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, 19B1
URBANA, ILLINOIS
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
THE GRADUATE COLLEGE
Align at 17, 19-51.
T HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY
SUPERVISION BY Holland-TC. Stymie
ENTITLED The URC of Library Materials In Doctoral Reaearch; A Study of
Th« Bffwrtt rsf D<ffflrftWy».flB In Rfteaarnh Met.frnri
BE ACCEPTED* AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE DEGREE OF Doctor of Philosophy In Library Science
In Charge of Thesis
"KA^.pj^r^g
Head of Department
Recommendation concurred inf
ncupLJ L)/^zw^
Committee
C.Vkj, ^ W,
on
Final Examinationf
* Subject to successful final examination in the case of the doctorate.
t Required for doctor's degree but not for master's.
6M—12-48—40199K
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author "wishes to acknowledge, and to express h is thanks'
for, t he help and guidance of his advisors, Dr. Herbert Goldhor and
Dr. Rose Phelps. Dr. Goldhor gave a great amount of time and thought
in assisting the author in the selection of a problem, in the framing
of the hypothesis, in the methodology of the study, and in many
aspects of the writing. Dr. Phelps gave much helpful criticism of
fche subject matter of the d i s s e r t a t i o n. The author is also indebted
bo Dr. Thelma Eaton, Dr. Robert Downs, Dr. Arthur McAnally, Dr.
Robert Bierstedt, and Dr. C. Walb er Stone, a ll of the University of
I l l i n o is faculty/ f or their careful reading of the dissertation in a
preliminary draft and f or their helpful criticism. ' The manuscript ,
was also read c r i t i c a l ly by Mr. James Skipper, to whom the writer is
grateful. Thanks are due also to Dr. Edith Jones, Dr. Theodore
3estor, Dr. Arthur G. Vestal, Mr.-Ralph McCoy, and Mr. James Ranz,
all of the University of I l l i n o is faculty, and to Miss Swift, Miss
ptellhorn, and Miss Gordon, a ll of the Washington University Library _
J
staff, for their assistance in judging the researph types of the
iis,sertations examined. The author wishes to express his thanks to
pr. Warner Rice, Director of the Univeraity of Michigan Library, and
o Dr. Jerrold Orne, Director of Washington University Library, for
bermission to do part of the research in those libraries. Finally,
;he author wishes to acknowledge the great help of his wife, who 6Vid
nuch of the proofreading and verifying of statistical work in the
lissertation.
ii
<5 N_ TABLE OF CONTENTS
* Page
LIST OF
Chapter
I. PRORT.T-.MS OF TCYPATtfTTTMf!- RTT:5VRARHTT T/TRR AKTRS - 1
The Problem
Technological Solutions
Divisional Solutions^
Limits on the Collection of All Library Materials
Needed in Research
Hypothesis -
Summary
I I.
/
Kinds of Reported Evidence Examined
/
Title-Dispersion of Subject Literatures
The Adequacy of the Library in Supporting Research
Questions Needing Further Investigation
Summary
I I I.
i
Use of the Doctoral Dissertation
/
Selection of Institutions
Selection of Dissertations / ..
-
Procedure /
Summary /
i
i
IV. COMPARISON OF HISTORICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH . . 43'
Plan of Investigation
The Ascriptive Hypothesis
i
The Relational Hypothesis on the Level of Titles
Summary i
V. THE USE OF INFREQUENTLY CITED REFERENCES IN RESEARCH . 79 '
/
The Relational Hypothesis on the Level of Disserta-
ti ons
• Matched Dissertations
Alternative Hypotheses
Summary
VI. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH . . . 102
1 -
Summary
Implications
Need for Further Research ---..
•
-
tfr " l ii
Page
{Appendix
A. LIST OP DISSERTATIONS USED 120
B. CLASSIFICATION OP DISSERTATIONS 131
C. STATISTICAL METHOD 137
blBLIOGRAPHY . . . . 143
IVITA ." 149
N
lv
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1. Dispersion of Subject Literatures 19
2. Scholarly Use of Libraries in Belgium 26
3. Size of Selected Libraries -. 31
4. Number of Dissertations Selected from Each Institution. 32
5. Summary of Statistics by Type of Research . .' 35
6. Research Types of Dissertations Taken from Each Institu
tion . 40
7. Difference in the Mean Number of NIL Titles Cited in
Each Type of Research ..' 47
8. Number of NIL Titles Cited in Each Type of Research . • 48
9. Proportion of NIL Titles Cited in Each Type of Research 49
10, Difference in the Mean Number of Fringe Titles Cited by
Each Type of Research 50
11. Number of Fringe Titles Cited by Each Type of Research. 51
12. Proportion of Fringe Titles Cited by Each Type of
Research . . . . . .. 5 1'
13, Number of Fringe Titles for- Each Type of Researcn: Core
Title - Cited by Three or More Dissertations 52
14• Number of Fringe Titles for Each Type of Research: Core
Title - Cited by Four or More Dissertations 53
15. Number of Fringe Titles for Each Type of Research: Core
Title - Cited by Five or More Dissertations 53
16. Distribution of Titles by Frequency of Demand and by
Availability in Collection . . . . .. 55
17. Percentage of Fringe and: Core Titles That Are Not in
the Library . . . . . . .. 55
18. Distribution of Fringe Titles by Availability According
to Library 57
x
19. Availability of Titles Cited in University of Illinois
Dissertations 58
20. Availability of Titles Cited in University of Michigan
Dissertations •• 58
V I *_
Table -Pag©
21. Availability of Titles Cited in Washington University
Dissertations . . . . .. .• 58
22. Proportion of Fringe Titles in Library • . .' 60
23.- Proportion of Core Titles in Library 60
24. Differences by Library between Proportion of NIL Fringe
Titles and Proportion of NIL Core Titles . 60
25. Proportion of Fringe Titles in the Library by Subject
Field of Dissertation 62
26. Proportion of Core Titles In the Library by Subject
, Field of Dissertation • 62
27. Differences by Subject between Proportion of NIL Fringe
Titles and Proportion of NIL Core Titles 63
28. Proportion of Fringe Titles by Subject in the, University
of Illinois Library 65
29. Proportion of Core Titles by Subject in the University
of Illinois Library 65
30. Differences by Subject between Proportion of NIL Fringe
Titles and Proportion of NIL Core Titles at the Univer
sity of Illinois • 66
31. Proportion of Fringe Titles by Subject in the Univer
sity of Michigan Library 66
32. Proportion of Core Titles by Subject In the University
of~Michigan Library • . .—•—.—i~~.—.—.—i- v^i—.—.—*—.—i—.- 67
^33. Differences by Subject between Proportion of NIL Fr^cige
Titles and Proportion of NIL Core Titles at the'Univer
sity of Michigan 67
34. 'Proportion of Fringe Titles by Subject in the Washington
University Library • 68
35. Proportion of, Core,Titles by Subject in the Washington
University Library •• 68
36. Differences by Subject between Proportion of NIL Fringe
Titles and Proportion of NIL Core Titles at Washington
University • 69
37. Proportion of Fringe Titles by Type of Research In the
Library . . ' . . • "71
38. Proportion of Core Titles by Type of Research in the
Library • 71
vi
Table < Page
\39« Differences by1 Type of Research' between Proportion of NIL
\ Fringe Titles and Proportion, of NIL Core Titles . . .. 71
\
40.\ Proportion of Fringe Titles by Type of Research In the
\University of Illinois Library 72
\
41. proportion of Core Titles by Type of Research in the
University of Illinois Library 73
\
42. Differences by Type of Research between Proportion of
NIL Fringe Titles and Proportion of NIL Core Titles at
the^ University of Illinois 73
i
43. Proportion of Fringe Titles by Type of Research in the
University of Michigan library .- • 73
\
44. Proportion of Core Titles by Type of Research In the
University of Michigan Library •• 74
45. Differences by Type of Research between Proportion of
NIL Fringe Titles and Proportion of N>IL Core Titles at
the University of Michigan . " 74
46. Proportion of Fringe -Titles by Type of Research In the
Washington University Library 75
47. Proportion of Core Titles by Type of Research in the
Washington University Library . . . ._ 75
48. Differences by Type of Research between Proportion of
NIL Fringe Titles and Proportion of NIL Core Titles at
Washington University 76
49. Number of NIL Titles Cited by Dissertations Compared
^with Number of Fringe Titles Cited "80
5Cf. Correlation of NIL Titles Cited with Fringe Titles Cited 83
t
51. Difference between Matched Groups of Dissertations In
Number of NIL Titles Cited 85
52. Difference between Historical and Experimental Types of
Education Dissertations in the Number of Fringe Titles
Cited 89
53. Difference between Historical and Experimental Types of
Education Dissertations in the Number of NIL Titles
Cited 90
54. Difference between Historical and Textual Types of
Classics Dissertations in the Number of Fringe Titles
Cited * 91
v%.
vii
Table Page
55. Differences between Historical and Textual Types o£
Classics Dissertations in the Number of NIL Titles
Cited 91
56. Difference between Historical Dissertations in Educa
tion and Classics In the Number of Fringe Titles Cited. 94
57. Difference between Historical Dissertations in Educa
t i on and Classics in the Number of NIL Titles Cited . • 94
58. Difference between Experimental Dissertations In Botany
and Psychology in the Number of Fringe Titles Cited • 95
59. Difference between Experimental Dissertations in Botany
and Psychology in the Number of NIL Titles Cited . .. 96
60. Correlation of NIL Titles Cited with Total Titles Cited 99
61* General Analysis of Titles Cited in the Dissertations
Examined - 128
\
\
\
\
\ *
viir