The use of linear models in quantitative research
Castro-Torres, Andrés F (Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics)
Akbaritabar, Aliakbar (Max Planck Institute)
Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics

Date:	2024
Abstract:	The diversity of analysis frameworks used in different fields of quantitative research is under-studied. Using bibliometric data from the Web of Science (WoS), we conduct a large-scale and cross-disciplinary assessment of the proportion of articles that use linear models in comparison to other analysis frameworks from 1990 to 2022 and investigate the spatial and citation patterns. We found that, in absolute terms, linear models are widely used across all fields of science. In relative terms, three patterns suggest that linear model-based research is a dominant analysis framework in Social Sciences. First, almost two-thirds of research articles reporting a statistical analysis framework reported linear models. Second, research articles from underrepresented countries in the WoS data displayed the highest proportions of articles reporting linear models. Third, there was a citation premium to articles reporting linear models in terms of being cited at least once for the entire period, and for the average number of citations until 2012. The confluence of these patterns may not be beneficial to the Social Sciences, as it could marginalize theories incompatible with the linear models' framework. Our results have implications for quantitative research practices, including teaching and education of the next generations of scholars.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Analysis framework ; Linear models ; Quantitative analysis ; Science-of-science
Published in:	Quantitative Science Studies, Vol. 5, núm. 2 (April 2024) , p. 426-446, ISSN 2641-3337

DOI: 10.1162/qss_a_00294

21 p, 1.3 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Social and Legal Sciences > Centre for Demographic Studies (CED-CERCA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles