An Automatic Method for Classifying Medical Researchers into Domain Specific Subgroups

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Main Author: Cecchetti, Alfred A.
Format: Recurso educativo Open Access
Language:en
Published: 2009
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author Cecchetti, Alfred A.
author_facet Cecchetti, Alfred A.
Cecchetti, Alfred A.
collection Education Resources Information Center
contents An Automatic Method for Classifying Medical Researchers into Domain Specific Subgroups Cecchetti, Alfred A. Medical Research Medical Schools Medicine Classification Researchers Methods Intellectual Disciplines Content Analysis Automation Computational Linguistics Expertise Interrater Reliability Comparative Analysis Medical School Faculty Bibliometrics Outcome Measures Information Systems Information Science Library Services Objective: This dissertation developed an automatic classification procedure, as an example of a novel tool for an informationist, which extracts information from published abstracts, classifies abstracts into their "fields of study," and then determines the researcher's "field of study" and "level of activity." Method: This dissertation compared a domain expert's method of classification and an automatic classification procedure on a random sample of 101 medical researchers (derived from a potential list of 305 medical researchers) and their associated abstracts. Design: The study design is a retrospective, cross-sectional, inter-rater agreement study, designed to compare two classification methods (i.e., automatic classification procedure and domain expert). The study population consists of University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Department of Medicine (DOM) professionals who (1) have published at least one article listed in PubMed[R] as first or last author and/or (2) are the primary investigator for at least one grant listed in CRISP. Main outcome measures. Three outcome measures were derived from the domain expert's versus automatic categorization procedure: (1) an abstract's "field of study," (2) a researcher's "field of study" and (3) a researcher's "level of activity and field of study." Results: Kappa showed moderate agreement between automatic and domain expert classification for the abstracts' "field of study" (Kappa = 0.535, n = 504, p less than 0.000). Kappa showed moderate agreement between automatic and domain expert classification of the researcher's "field of study" (Kappa = 0.535, n = 101, p less than 0.000). Kappa showed good agreement between automatic and domain expert classification of the researcher's "level of activity and field of study" (Kappa = 0.634, n = 101, p less than 0.000). Conclusion. The study suggests that an automatic library classification procedure can provide rapid classification of medical research abstracts into their "fields of study." The classification procedure can also process multiple abstracts' "fields of study" and classify their associated medical researchers into their "field of study" and "level of activity and field of study." The classification procedure, used as a tool by an informationist, can be used as the basis for new services. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
format Recurso educativo Open Access
id eric_ED531700
institution ERIC Institute of Education Sciences
language en
publishDate 2009
record_format eric
spellingShingle An Automatic Method for Classifying Medical Researchers into Domain Specific Subgroups
Cecchetti, Alfred A.
Medical Research
Medical Schools
Medicine
Classification
Researchers
Methods
Intellectual Disciplines
Content Analysis
Automation
Computational Linguistics
Expertise
Interrater Reliability
Comparative Analysis
Medical School Faculty
Bibliometrics
Outcome Measures
Information Systems
Information Science
Library Services
An Automatic Method for Classifying Medical Researchers into Domain Specific Subgroups Cecchetti, Alfred A. Medical Research Medical Schools Medicine Classification Researchers Methods Intellectual Disciplines Content Analysis Automation Computational Linguistics Expertise Interrater Reliability Comparative Analysis Medical School Faculty Bibliometrics Outcome Measures Information Systems Information Science Library Services Objective: This dissertation developed an automatic classification procedure, as an example of a novel tool for an informationist, which extracts information from published abstracts, classifies abstracts into their "fields of study," and then determines the researcher's "field of study" and "level of activity." Method: This dissertation compared a domain expert's method of classification and an automatic classification procedure on a random sample of 101 medical researchers (derived from a potential list of 305 medical researchers) and their associated abstracts. Design: The study design is a retrospective, cross-sectional, inter-rater agreement study, designed to compare two classification methods (i.e., automatic classification procedure and domain expert). The study population consists of University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Department of Medicine (DOM) professionals who (1) have published at least one article listed in PubMed[R] as first or last author and/or (2) are the primary investigator for at least one grant listed in CRISP. Main outcome measures. Three outcome measures were derived from the domain expert's versus automatic categorization procedure: (1) an abstract's "field of study," (2) a researcher's "field of study" and (3) a researcher's "level of activity and field of study." Results: Kappa showed moderate agreement between automatic and domain expert classification for the abstracts' "field of study" (Kappa = 0.535, n = 504, p less than 0.000). Kappa showed moderate agreement between automatic and domain expert classification of the researcher's "field of study" (Kappa = 0.535, n = 101, p less than 0.000). Kappa showed good agreement between automatic and domain expert classification of the researcher's "level of activity and field of study" (Kappa = 0.634, n = 101, p less than 0.000). Conclusion. The study suggests that an automatic library classification procedure can provide rapid classification of medical research abstracts into their "fields of study." The classification procedure can also process multiple abstracts' "fields of study" and classify their associated medical researchers into their "field of study" and "level of activity and field of study." The classification procedure, used as a tool by an informationist, can be used as the basis for new services. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
title An Automatic Method for Classifying Medical Researchers into Domain Specific Subgroups
topic Medical Research
Medical Schools
Medicine
Classification
Researchers
Methods
Intellectual Disciplines
Content Analysis
Automation
Computational Linguistics
Expertise
Interrater Reliability
Comparative Analysis
Medical School Faculty
Bibliometrics
Outcome Measures
Information Systems
Information Science
Library Services
url https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED531700