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Research in Social Sciences

Research in Social Sciences is a research topic within Education. Science Explorer counts 25k research works in it since 1950. 9.7% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers covers a wide range of topics in the field of qualitative research, with a focus on social sciences and education. It includes studies on phenomenology, pedagogy, communication, ethics, healthcare, family dynamics, and work environment. The papers explore various aspects of qualitative research methods and their applications in understanding human behavior and societal phenomena.

  • Qualitative Research
  • Social Sciences
  • Education
  • Phenomenology
  • Pedagogy
  • Communication
  • Ethics
  • Healthcare
  • Family Dynamics
  • Work Environment
Research works
25k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.5k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.7%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-27%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
Finland
70% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Research in Social Sciences

Which countries lead Research in Social Sciences research?

By volume, Finland and Denmark publish the most (2.4k and 286 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Finland 2.4k works
  2. 2 Denmark 286 works
  3. 3 United States 178 works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 159 works
  5. 5 Sweden 109 works
  6. 6 Norway 100 works
  7. 7 Australia 69 works
  8. 8 Russia 45 works
  9. 9 New Zealand 42 works
  10. 10 Ireland 38 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

Finland: 70.2%Denmark: 8.3%United States: 5.2%United Kingdom: 4.6%6 others listed: 11.7%70%largest
Finland2,420 · 70.2%Denmark286 · 8.3%United States178 · 5.2%United Kingdom159 · 4.6%6 others listed403 · 11.7%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Research in Social Sciences research?

By volume in 2022-now, University of Helsinki publishes the most Research in Social Sciences research, followed by Tampere University and University of Turku.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 University of HelsinkiFinland 566 works
  2. 2 Tampere UniversityFinland 379 works
  3. 3 University of TurkuFinland 343 works
  4. 4 University of Eastern FinlandFinland 282 works
  5. 5 University of OuluFinland 106 works
  6. 6 Finnish Society of Sciences and LettersFinland 80 works
  7. 7 Aarhus UniversityDenmark 78 works
  8. 8 University of LaplandFinland 69 works
  9. 9 Aalborg UniversityDenmark 67 works
  10. 10 University of VaasaFinland 61 works

Who are the leading researchers in Research in Social Sciences?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Research in Social Sciences include George Davey Smith, Mika Kivimäki and Peter Christian Gøtzsche.

  1. 1 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
  2. 2 Mika Kivimäki United Kingdom 318k citations
  3. 3 Peter Christian Gøtzsche Denmark 292k citations
  4. 4 Martin McKee United Kingdom 270k citations
  5. 5 Pierre Bourdıeu France 268k citations
  6. 6 Tommi Juhani Vasankari Finland 248k citations
  7. 7 James Thomas United Kingdom 242k citations
  8. 8 Harvey Whiteford Australia 222k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Research in Social Sciences?

The most cited paper in Research in Social Sciences is "Interviewing as qualitative research a guide for researchers in education and the social sciences" (Irving Seidman, 2006), with 9,987 citations. Next come "The methodology of Focus Groups: the importance of interaction between research participants" (3,888) and "Motivational Interviewing: Preparing People for Change, 2nd ed." (2,636).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Interviewing as qualitative research a guide for researchers in education and the social sciences Irving Seidman 2006 9,987
2 The methodology of Focus Groups: the importance of interaction between research participants Jenny V. Kitzinger · Sociology of Health & Illness Open access 1994 3,888
3 Motivational Interviewing: Preparing People for Change, 2nd ed. William J. W. Miller, Stephen Rollnick · Journal for Healthcare Quality May 2003 2,636
4 Handbook of Interview Research. Context and Method François Guillemette · Loisir et Société / Society and Leisure Mar 2003 1,464
5 Qualitative research method-interviewing and observation Shazia Qasim Jamshed · Journal of Basic and Clinical Pharmacy Open access 2014 1,307
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Research in Social Sciences research done?

The largest centres of Research in Social Sciences research in 2022-now are Helsinki (Finland), Turku (Finland), Tampere (Finland) and Joensuu (Finland). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Rovaniemi, Hämeenlinna and Joensuu.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 HelsinkiFinland 859 works
  2. 2 TurkuFinland 415 works
  3. 3 TampereFinland 399 works
  4. 4 JoensuuFinland 293 works
  5. 5 OuluFinland 117 works
  6. 6 AarhusDenmark 92 works
  7. 7 RovaniemiFinland 69 works
  8. 8 AalborgDenmark 68 works
  9. 9 CopenhagenDenmark 66 works
  10. 10 VaasaFinland 61 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. RovaniemiFI · 69.5 works522×
  2. HämeenlinnaFI · 22.6 works439×
  3. JoensuuFI · 293.0 works383×
  4. TampereFI · 399.5 works317×
  5. VaasaFI · 60.8 works265×
  6. TurkuFI · 414.8 works236×
  7. HelsinkiFI · 858.5 works208×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Research in Social Sciences than the world average.

See Research in Social Sciences on the map

Where is the best place to study Research in Social Sciences?

Among universities, judged by research, Massey University, University of Iceland and University of Eastern Finland score highest, combining citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 17.77%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Massey UniversityUniversity of IcelandUniversity of Easter…University of Turku
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Massey UniversityNew Zealand 64.835.8%15.8×9 +13.3%
2University of IcelandIceland 60.630.3%18.6×8 +600.0%
3University of Eastern FinlandFinland 59.29.6%387.5×282 +43.7%
4University of TurkuFinland 59.05.2%311.1×343 +35.3%
5University of HelsinkiFinland 58.07.3%241.9×566 -1.5%
6Tampere UniversityFinland 57.26.8%369.8×379 +30.5%
7OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan UniversityNorway 53.019.6%23.9×8 +288.4%
8University of AucklandNew Zealand 52.837.9%5.8×10 -24.3%
9University of VaasaFinland 52.711.7%336.9×61 +86.2%
10University of LaplandFinland 48.313.5%596.2×70 +52.8%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Research in Social Sciences, country by country

Is Research in Social Sciences research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 27% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2018.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Research in Social Sciences as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.021% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Research in Social Sciences0.017% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Research in Social Sciences over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Research in Social Sciences9.6% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

Discussion

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