Research status and evolutionary trends on early childhood sports in China: a perspective of co-word analysis

ABSTRACT

In this study, 285 Chinese core journal papers involving early childhood sports in the CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) database from 1993 to 2022 were selected as samples. Text mining and data statistical analysis tools, such as BICOMB2.0, SPSS22.0, UCINET6.0, EXCEL2016, and other research methods in bibliometrics, such as word frequency analysis, co word clustering analysis, multidimensional scale analysis, and strategic coordinate map analysis, were used to explore the status and evolutionary trends of early childhood sports in China. The results are as follows: Since 2011, the annual number of documents has indicated a wave-like increasing trend every year, reaching its peak in 2020. In total, 237 institutions participated in this study. The journal distribution of papers in this field was close to the 1:4:16 ratio of Bradford’s law. A relatively stable periodic group was formed. 12 cluster themes have been formed in the field of children’s sports in China.

KEYWORDS:

• Early childhood sports
• co-word analysis
• China

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zhang Yuanliang

Dr. Zhang Yuanliang is an Associate Professor and Master Supervisor in the College of Physical Education at the Shanghai Normal University. His research focuses on theory and practice of physical education and training.

Xue Yuan

Dr. Xue Yuan is an Professor and Master Supervisor in the College of Physical Education at the Shanghai Normal University. His research focuses on theory and practice of school physical education.