Johann Mouton

How relevant are local scholarly journals in global science? A case study of South Africa

We performed a critical analysis of the South African scientific serials literature, including ‘international’ journals indexed by international bibliographical databases, such as Thomson Scientifics Web of Science and other citation indices, as well as ‘local’ journals that are processed for these sources. A ‘composite extended journal impact factor’ was applied in order to compute robust measures of international citation impact that can cope with the small numbers of citations within the international research literature to local journals. Statistical analyses of publication output and citation impact of some 200+ South African journals indicate that the vast majority of local journals are indeed virtually invisible within the global science arena. The outcomes of this novel approach raise important issues about criteria for selecting the most appropriate sets of journals for journal-based research funding formulas, quality assurance systems, and evaluations of research performance. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

A typology of designs for social research in the built environment

This article presents a typology of designs for social research in the built environment. Currently there is no such typology, while the notion of ‘research design’ is less known in the built environment compared to the social sciences. Twenty-five subtypes are identified and clustered into 10 prototypical designs, namely: (1) surveys, (2) experiments, (3) modelling, simulation, mapping and visualisation, (4) textual and narrative studies, (5) field studies, (6) case studies, (7) intervention research, (8) evaluation research, (9) participatory action research and (10) meta-research. After determining the extent to which these designs feature in actual studies, the designs are classified according to six design considerations, including research – context, aim and purpose, methodological – paradigm and approach, and source of data. The typology contributes towards greater clarity in terms of ‘research design’, improved teaching of research methodology and greater methodological coherence in projects.

South African Science in Transition

Our main argument in this paper is that South African science is currently experiencing the third major transitional period in its long and interesting history. With the advent of a free and democratic South Africa in 1994, a new era dawned for science as well. We argue, in the main body of the paper, that it is appropriate to refer to this as the third transitional phase in the history of South African science. Two parallel challenges face the new government: first, to democratise the science system; second, to ensure that the national system of innovation is indeed sufficiently competitive to take its rightful place within a globalising science system. The paper discusses in some detail how South African science has attempted to address these two challenges over the past eight years. It concludes with an assessment of the current tensions and challenges in the national system of innovation.

Co-authorship networks in South African chemistry and mathematics

Co-authorship networks are graphs in which the nodes of the graph represent authors and two authors are connected by an edge if they have written one or more papers together. When applied to the authorship of scholarly papers, analysing the structure of a co-authorship network can provide useful insights into the way in which research is carried out in a particular field. We examine two co-authorship networks in our article, constructed from papers written on the subjects of chemistry and mathematics during the period 1990 to 2005, in which at least one of the authors was South African. Local results are compared with other studies conducted in much larger discipline-wide networks. We find that many of the same patterns exist locally, with the main difference being a far more fragmented South African mathematics network. We discuss some tentative implications of these results.

Kwantitatiewe en kwalitatiewe metodologieë in die geesteswetenskappe

Abstract Quantitative and qualitative methodologies in the human sciences. The basic aim of this article is to explicate, In terms of my own model of the research process, two concepts central to current debates in the methodology of human sciences, namely ‘quantitative‘ and ‘qualitative‘ methodology. To realize this aim, the following strategy was followed. Firstly, three concepts ‘philosophy of science’, ‘research methodology’ and ‘research technology’ were defined. In this discussion it is shown that the terms ‘positivism’ and ‘humanism’ refer to particular conceptions of science which belong to the domain of the philosophy of science, whereas ‘quantitative’ and ‘qualitative’ methodology refer to methodological models which belong to the domain of research methodology. In the second part I show, by outlining my systems-theoretical model of the research praxis, what relationship exists between conceptions of science, methodological models and the research process.

Between adversaries and allies: The call for strategic science in post-apartheid South Africa

Abstract This paper addresses the issue of the relationship of science and the state within post-apartheid South Africa. Through various policy documents over the past seven years, the South African Government has called on the South African scientific community to produce more strategic research, i. e. research that supports national socio-economic goals. The notion of strategic research, however, is not unproblematic, A main aim of the paper is to analyse the empirical findings of the National Research and Technology Audit conducted in 1997 in which scientists at South African universities and technikons were asked to describe and classify their research activities into such categories as “strategic”, “fundamental” or “applied” research. Through comparative analyses of these classifications and other data in the survey (e.g. research output and funding information), the study attempts to establish how salient the notion of “strategic research” is and what function it performs in the discourse of scientists. The main conclusion is that the notion of “strategic science” is used in two interesting — and sometimes even complementary — meanings. From the point of view of the scientific community, the notion enables scientists to avoid the straitjackets of dichotomous classifications such as basic and applied, or Mode 1 or Mode 2 or even, at a higher level, of choosing between the interests of science as opposed to the interests of the state or society. From a different point of view, “strategic science” assumes the character of a handy rhetorical device and even a form of “posturing”. In this sense, “strategic science” is a useful category because it allows scientist to play for whatever audience is deemed to be most useful at a given point in time. Whichever interpretation one opts for, we conclude that the increasing acceptance (it seems) of the concept might yet be another signal that the relationship between scientists and the state are couched in terms which are decidedly less ideological and more instrumentalist.

A review of models of research utilisation

CITATION: Bailey, T. & Mouton, J. 2005. A review of models of research utilisation. Stellenbosch: AFRICAN SUNMeDIA. doi:10.18820/9781919980690.

Second language teaching for primary school students: An evaluation of a new teaching method

Abstract The article reports on the results of an evaluation of a new method for teaching English to black school students in KwaZulu, South Africa. The aim of the teaching method was to improve both the language proficiency and cognitive skills of grade five students. It was also hypothesized that an improvement in these skills would be transferred to their other subjects (e.g. Social Studies). Employing both quantitative and qualitative methods, an evaluation of the programme was carried out over more than a year, showing conclusively that the new method led to significant improvements in the overall performance of the students, especially in Mathematics and Social Studies. At the same time, the evaluation also showed that extra-curricular factors, such as the socioeconomic background of the students, the size of classes and the quality of teaching, play an equally important role in explaining scholastic performance.

Causality and determinism in the social sciences: A critique of empiricism

Abstract This article presents a critique of currently dominant views on causality and determinism in the social sciences. It is shown how the empiricist conception of causality — according to which causality is interpreted as the regular connection of events — underlies the causal modelling paradigm. Some criticisms of this approach are discussed in the first part of the article. In the second part, an alternative conception of causality, based upon a realist ontology, is outlined. It is argued that such a conception solves some of the fundamental shortcomings inherent to the empiricist conception of causality.

The Doctorate in South Africa:Trends, challenges and constraints

CITATION: Mouton, J. 2016. The Doctorate in South Africa: Trends, Challenges and Constraints, in M. Fourie-Malherbe, R. Albertyn, C. Aitchison & E. Bitzer. (eds.). Postgraduate Supervision: Future Foci for the Knowledge Society. Stellenbosch: SUN PRESS. 51-82. doi:10.18820/9781928357223/04.