Design of the Study

Abstract

This chapter presents the analytical scheme and research questions guiding the study of the Bibliometric Research Indicator (BRI). The design, methods and data sources are presented, and different methodological issues are discussed. The analyses are based on quantitative and qualitative data in the form of questionnaires (surveys) and interviews with university employees, from ordinary researchers all the way up to the rector of the university, as well as official documents and different sources of statistical data, among these the BRI database. The study applies pre-intervention and post-intervention measurement with two waves of data collection in 2011 and 2015 as well as variations across organisational units (universities, faculties and departments) and between individual university scholars according to how the BRI has been implemented locally.