The use of research methodologies in the knowledge management literature

Abstract

The texts of 630 knowledge management articles were analyzed to address the question of what research methodologies are used in the knowledge management literature. It was found that 27.8 percent of knowledge management-related articles in knowledge management journals used no identifiable research method. Of the remaining 455 refereed articles, 60 percent employed mainstream social sciences research methodologies. The remaining 40 percent of the articles using an identifiable methodology were characterized by the use of "provisional methods" that appeared to substitute for more formally defined or scientifically based research methodologies.

Authorship productivity in the knowledge management literature

“…This study continued earlier explorations of the research core of the knowledge management literature begun by Wallace, Van Fleet, and Downs (2010, 2011) by conducting a Lotka study of author productivity for a sample drawn from the knowledge management literature. The study was designed to address one very straightforward research question:…”

“…There have been very few bibliometric or related studies of the knowledge management literature. Scandura and Williams (2000), Schultze and Leidner (2002), Schultze and Stabell (2004), Guo and Sheffield, and Wallace, Van Fleet, and Downs (2010) used content analysis to examine the core characteristics of the research literature of knowledge management. Ponzi (2003) explored the evolution and nature of knowledge management through citation and cocitation analysis.…”

The research core of the knowledge management literature

“…The study presented here extends from and expands the work of Wallace, Van Fleet, and Downs (2009). The study was designed to address two very straightforward research questions:…”

Automatically assigning research methods to journal articles in the domain of social sciences

“…Wallace et al (2010) manually analyzed full‐texts of knowledge management articles in order to identify the research methodologies used. Their goal is to characterize the professional discipline “knowledge management” based on research methods use.…”

“…Answers to this question are not only needed when searching for publications using a particular method, but also when analyzing the use of methods in a scientific discipline based on a large publications database. Such an analysis is performed, for instance, when particular scientific subfields are to be characterized according to the research methodologies used (Wallace et al 2010), or if the use of research methods over time is investigated, e.g., (Sondergeld & Botte 2013).…”