Büky Béla: A tudományos tájékoztatás egyik feladatköre. Témamegoszlási statisztikák készítése és alkalmazása (A MTAK kiadványai 43. Budapest, 1964)

kákát a kutatás Irányító szerveinek kell készíteniük, hiszen ezek irattáraiban futnak össze azok a közlésre nem kerülő kutatási tervjelentések és bizalmas jellegű adatszolgáltatások, amelyek alapján kirajzolódik a kutatás problematikája, ennek jelenlegi nehézségei stb., és amelyek alapjfin megállapítható, hogy hol milyen témastatisztika készítésére volna szükség A helyes út, véleményünk szerint, középen van: témastatisztikák kitűzése és készítése ügyében a kutatásirányítás és a tudományos téjákoztatás szerveinek, ill. e szervek munkatársainak szoros együttműködésére van szükség.

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0 STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THEME DISTRIBUTION: THE IMPORT ANCE OF ITS PREPARATION AND APPLICATION FOR SOIENTIFIC INFORMATION A specific duty of scientific information service is to determine the distribution of themes in various scientific publieations. Such an undertaking calling attention to both the distribution of studied themes and to those themes inadequately covered or omitted, inay indieate this distribution both in the literature of a narrow scientific fiekl and within broader sphere or even within fhe whole scientific publicational arca. The extent to which a theme is treated by those engaged in the study of the field may alsó he examined statistically. Briefly, this study introduces a method of scientific information comprising the statistieal analysis of theme-distribution in the scientific publieations. Such a statistieal analysis is not quite new. Detailed information on its methodological history may be found in M. Duverger: Methodes dans les sciences sociales (Paris, 1961), or in I. De Sola Poól's Trends in Content Analysis (Urbana, 1959). The present author alsó gives a short history of fhe application of content, analysis and mentions somé results acliieved in Hungary. The possibilities of the method are alsó deseribed. After determining the text (or texts) to be analysed, the firsf important sfep in the application of the method is to divide it (or them) into small units. This may be done in reference to both form and content. The author examines the latter. The small units (e.g. themes) are to be homogeneous, because they must be suitable for statistieal examination of their distribution, of their ratios of distribution in the various subdivisions and of the curve of their appearance (frequency, decrease, etc.). The second step in the application of the method is the classification of the small units of the given text, its themes. How should this be done? The author suggests that, the classification should be carried out on the basis of the Universal Decimai Classification System, or other infinitely subdividable systems of classification. Speaking about classification, it ought to be noted that certain themes may be classed into one group only, while others into several. There is eonsequently bound to be a certain disproportion among the groups and thus the final result is not quite exact, nevertheless the relatively exaot results are still sufficient for the purposes of scientific information. The third step is the statistieal interpretation of the various relations among the classified units (themes, in our case). If we begin with the scientific material of a point of time and base our statistics of themes on this, then we are going to get a cross-section of this scientific field accoiding (o the distribution of themes. It may oceur tliat the temporary flucluation of the distribution of themes must be examined. In such a case the method is somewhat different to that, used in making a cross-section. Actually, not one set of statistics has to be made on the themes, but several. In addition to a crosssection, or deseription of fluctuation trends, there is a third way of application: the theme-distribution of the various scientific f ields are to he compared. This way we are able to compare the scientifie work of different countries. (Thus the problematics of natural gas research in Hungary and the United States become comparable, or for instance, tbc questions of onomastic literature in Hungary and the Soviet, Union.) Such an application alsó allows the com parison of identical research in different institutions. (We can compare, for instance, the slate and problematics of scientific research lead by the2

0 Ezúton mondok köszönetet SZALAI Sándor akadémiai lev. tagnak, aki tanácsaival és több ízben adott lektori jelentésével nagymértékbon segítségemre volt a dolgozat végső formájának kialakítáában. 15