Cover Image
QR Code

The Evolution of Social Work from Disconnected Groups to a Scientific Community: A Social Network Analysis.

This study investigates the collaboration networks within the social work discipline using the recently established Social Work Research Database. By means of network-analysis methods, we investigate the collaborations between 1990 and 2014, while the nodes of this network represent social work scho...

Full description

Published in:British Journal of Social Work Vol. 49; no. 2; pp. 428 - 448
Main Authors: Eckl, Markus, Ghanem, Christian, Löwenstein, Heiko
Format: pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Oxford University Press / USA Mar2019
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=135444437&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ccm
    uiTerm: 135444437
    longDbName: CINAHL Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    dissinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        00453102
        BHO
      jtl: British Journal of Social Work
      issn: 00453102
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Mar2019
      vid: 49
      iid: 2
      pid: 622
      pub: Oxford University Press / USA
    artinfo:
      ui:
        135444437
        135444437
        135444437
        10.1093/bjsw/bcy050
        135444437
      ppf: 428
      ppct: 20
      formats:
        fmt:
          @attributes:
            type: P
      tig:
        atl: The Evolution of Social Work from Disconnected Groups to a Scientific Community: A Social Network Analysis.
      aug:
        au:
          Eckl, Markus
          Ghanem, Christian
          Löwenstein, Heiko
        affil: Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Passau, Passau, Germany
      sug:
        subj:
          Research, Social Work
          Social Networks
          Authorship Methods
          Collaboration Trends
          Human
          Research Personnel
          Conceptual Framework
          Programming Languages
          Serial Publications
          Authorship Trends
          Social Work
          Descriptive Statistics
          Intraprofessional Relations
          Social Networking
          Bibliometrics
      ab: This study investigates the collaboration networks within the social work discipline using the recently established Social Work Research Database. By means of network-analysis methods, we investigate the collaborations between 1990 and 2014, while the nodes of this network represent social work scholars (N  = 19,789) connected by edges representing common publications (N  = 314,180). We analyse the structural characteristics of these co-authorship networks and how they changed over time. The results show an increase in scientific collaborations among social work scholars and an evolution from mainly disconnected groups to a collaborating scientific community, while the network shows a small-world structure. The findings also reveal the existence of the so-called Matthew effect within the social work discipline. Specifically, nodes with a high number of connections are associated with a higher probability of acquiring new connections than other nodes, as well as becoming hubs. We therefore argue that an inequality is constantly reproduced and growing over time that implies barriers especially for early-career researchers.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        pictorial
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
    refInfo:
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N