The use of citations in educational research: the instance of the concept of ‘situated learning’

Abstract

This article provides a citation analysis of Lave and Wenger’s work on ‘communities of practice’ and ‘situated learning’ over the period 1991–2001. The data relate to educational research in the UK, although comparisons are made with the USA. The findings indicate that although the text was incorporated and heavily used within educational research over the period of the study there were very few citations that could be identified as cumulative. The discussion considers the value of using citations as an indicator of quality within any research excellence framework and argues the case for taking a broader, more qualitative approach to assessing research quality in the social sciences.

Keywords:

• educational research
• citation analysis
• Lave and Wenger

Acknowledgements

The article has been produced as a result of the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)‐funded project ‘Emergent Models of Modern Apprenticeship in Scotland’ (R000223298).