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The Critical Assessment of Research: Traditional and new methods of evaluation

Alan Bailin and Ann Grafstein, Hofstra University, USA

Chandos Information Professional Series

This is an excellent introduction to assessing and evaluating research and unlike any book currently available.
Journal of Academic Librarianship

An engaging and thoroughly useful book… it addresses everything outlined in the introduction, and offers intuitive and uncomplicated methods of approach in its examination of modern research methods
Australian Academic and Research Libraries

 - highlights frequently overlooked criteria for evaluating research
 - challenges the assumption that the gold standards for evaluation are sufficient
 - examines the role of new technologies in evaluating and disseminating research
 - offers state-of-the-art techniques for evaluating research in context

This book examines the following factors: sponsorship of research, control of the dissemination of research, effects of dominant research paradigms, financial interests of authors, publishers, and editors, role of new technologies (for example, Web 2.0).

It is widely accepted among researchers and educators that the peer review process, the reputation of the publisher and examination of the author's credentials are the gold standards for assessing the quality of research and information. However, the traditional gold standards are not sufficient, and the effective evaluation of information requires the consideration of additional factors. Controversies about positive evaluations of new medications that appear in peer-reviewed journals, the financial reports on Enron prior to the revelations that led to its collapse, and obstacles to the publication of research that does not conform to dominant paradigms are just a few examples that indicate the need for a more sophisticated and nuanced approach to evaluating information.

Each of the factors is discussed in a factual manner, supported by many examples that illustrate not only the nature of the issues but also their complexity. Practical suggestions for the evaluation of information are an integral part of the text.

Readership: Educators, librarians, researchers, college and university students.

£47.50 / US$80.00 / €55.00

An e-book version of this title is available to purchase as part of a Collection or Pick n Mix. Visit Chandos Publishing Online

About the authors

Alan Bailin is Associate Professor of Library Services, Hofstra University. He has a PhD in English (McGill University, 1983) and an MLS (Queens College, City University of New York, 2001). He has been associate editor for Computers and the Humanities and a reviewer for both the National Science Foundation, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Among his many publications are “Online Tutorials, Narratives and Scripts” (Journal of Academic Librarianship, 2007), “The Evolution of Academic Libraries: The Networked Environment” (Journal of Academic Librarianship, 2005), “The Linguistic Assumptions Underlying Readability Formulae” (Journal of Language and Communication, 2001), and a book entitled Metaphor and the Logic of Language Use (Legas, 1998).

Ann Grafstein is Associate Professor of Library Services, Hofstra University. She has a Ph.D. in linguistics (McGill University, 1984) and an MLIS (University of Western Ontario, 1989). Her publications include “Information Literacy and Technology: An Examination of Some Issues” (portal: Libraries and the Academy, 2007), “The Evolution of Academic Libraries: The Networked Environment” (Journal of Academic Librarianship, 2005), A Discipline-Based Approach to Information Literacy” (Journal of Academic Librarianship 2002), and “The Linguistic Assumptions Underlying Readability Formulae” (Journal of Language and Communication, 2001). She received the prestigious Association of College and Research Libraries Instruction Section Publication Award for “A Discipline-Based Approach to Information Literacy” in 2004.

Titles which may also be of interest:
The Evaluation of Research by Scientometric Indicators
Measuring Academic Research
Prometheus Assessed?

Contents

Introduction

Gold standards for evaluating information
 - Introduction
 - Peer review
 - Publisher reputation
 - Author credentials
 - Gold standards and the mass media
 - Limitations of the gold standards

Sponsorship and funding
 - Introduction
 - Case 1: hormone replacement therapy
 - Case 2: Enron
 - Case 3: The Bell Curve
 - Summary and concluding remarks

Research paradigms
 - Introduction
 - Case 1: intelligence testing
 - Case 2: what causes ulcers?
 - Case 3: artistic canons
 - Summary and concluding remarks
 - Notes

The dissemination of research
 - Introduction
 - Case 1: research on homosexuality and feminist research
 - Case 2: pharmaceutical research
 - Case 3: gray literature
 - Summary and concluding remarks
 - Notes

Moving beyond the gold standards: tools and techniques
 - Introduction
 - Investigating research
 - Striking the right balance