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Research database: Modern Сultural-Historical Psychology Keywords

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A bibliometric analysis of 551 scientific publications indexed by the Web of Science Core Collection for the 2010-2020 period was carried out. To analyse the keywords related to cultural-historical psychology, the frequencies of their representation in the sample were calculated. Thus, following a semantic analysis of the initial set of 1742 words and phrases, a semantic equivalence was established, followed by the unification of semantically equivalent expressions. As a result, a sample of 1532 terminological units was obtained.
Cluster and factor analyses of frequency distributions (profiles) of keywords in a sample of publications took into account a number of grouping variables (year of publication, country, source of publication, scientific organisation, area of research). The sampling procedure included the formation of a “core” of publications (n = 105) which, according to the expert assessment, correspond to the thematic area of cultural-historical psychology, as well as the formation of the “core +” sample on its basis, comprising “core” publications and other publications citing “core” publications (n = 446). The assumed existence of three main theoretical and methodological directions within the framework of contemporary research into cultural-historical psychology and the activity approach was confirmed by the results of cluster and factor analyses of the frequency distributions of keywords in sub-samples of publications grouped by countries and universities. The conclusion presents a complex interpretation of these results along with an exploration of possible directions for their further verification. The terminological analyses of the three directions (approaches) carried out in the study reveal that the contemporary stage in the development of cultural-historical psychology and activity approach (in a broad sense) can be characterised by both unity and diversity.

Funding

Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Moscow, Russia

History

Research questions / Hypotheses

We advance a hypothesis concerning the existence of three theoretical and methodological approaches (directions) in the framework of contemporary research on the cultural-historical psychology and activity approach.

Research aim

The present study was aimed at analysing the thematic diversity of publication activity within the framework of the contemporary cultural-historical psychology and activity approach studies from the period 2010–2020, taking into account certain bibliographic variables (year of publication, country, journal, university, research area).

Participants / Sample description

The initial set of keywords Total sample size (N = 1742) Period: 2010—2020

Apparatus and materials

Web of Science platform Software program VOSviewer (v.1.6.13) SPSS (v.23)

Experimental design

The methodology of the present study primarily involved a bibliographic analysis across scientific publications to test the study hypothesis about the thematic heterogeneity of cultural-historical psychology and the activity approach. Bibliometric analysis of publications involved using the tools of the Web of Science platform. Bibliometric analysis of the core and core+ publications was carried out according to the following parameters: year of publication, country, source of publication, scientific organisation, area of research. The thematic diversity of the content of the core+ sample was analysed on the basis of author keywords. A free software program VOSviewer v.1.6.13 was used to process the information received via the Web of Science portal through co-word analysis of the text and visualise the relationships between the author keywords.

Data collection procedure

The semantic analysis of the initial set of 1742 words and phrases. - As a result of the expert assessment of the primary sample of 181 publications, we selected 105 articles corresponding to the cultural-historical approach according to the classical understanding. These publications thus constituted the core of publications for further analysis. - In order to obtain the main sample of publications, a citation analysis of the core sample was carried out using the Web of Science, producing a new sample of 446 publications citing the core publications. - Additional expert assessment of the sample of publications citing the core (n = 446) was carried out in order to establish the relevance of this sample to the combined subject of cultural-historical psychology and activity approach. Then the samples of the core and the publications citing the core were combined to obtain a combined core+ sample (n=551).

Statistical methods

The mathematical statistics methods: Pearson product-moment method. Hierarchical cluster analysis. Factor analysis (principal component analysis).

Results

The terminological analyses of the three directions (approaches) carried out in the study reveal that the contemporary stage in the development of cultural-historical psychology and activity approach (in a broad sense) can be characterised by both unity and diversity.

Journal

Mind, Culture, and Activity

Affiliation

Moscow State University of Psychology and Education; GBOU VPO of Moscow Region Dubna State University