IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ems/eureri/14528.html

Some searches may not work properly. We apologize for the inconvenience.

   My bibliography  Save this paper

How to Normalize Co-Occurrence Data? An Analysis of Some Well-Known Similarity Measures

Author

Listed:
  • van Eck, N.J.P.
  • Waltman, L.

Abstract

In scientometric research, the use of co-occurrence data is very common. In many cases, a similarity measure is employed to normalize the data. However, there is no consensus among researchers on which similarity measure is most appropriate for normalization purposes. In this paper, we theoretically analyze the properties of similarity measures for co-occurrence data, focusing in particular on four well-known measures: the association strength, the cosine, the inclusion index, and the Jaccard index. We also study the behavior of these measures empirically. Our analysis reveals that there exist two fundamentally different types of similarity measures, namely set-theoretic measures and probabilistic measures. The association strength is a probabilistic measure, while the cosine, the inclusion index, and the Jaccard index are set-theoretic measures. Both our theoretical and our empirical results indicate that co-occurrence data can best be normalized using a probabilistic measure. This provides strong support for the use of the association strength in scientometric research.

Suggested Citation

  • van Eck, N.J.P. & Waltman, L., 2009. "How to Normalize Co-Occurrence Data? An Analysis of Some Well-Known Similarity Measures," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2009-001-LIS, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    • Handle: RePEc:ems:eureri:14528
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://repub.eur.nl/pub/14528/ERS-2009-001-LIS.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:bla:jamist:v:58:y:2007:i:11:p:1701-1703 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. repec:bla:jamist:v:54:y:2003:i:6:p:550-560 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. repec:bla:jamist:v:52:y:2001:i:13:p:1148-1156 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. repec:bla:jamest:v:50:y:1999:i:3:p:242-253 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. repec:bla:jamist:v:54:y:2003:i:13:p:1237-1249 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. repec:bla:jamest:v:50:y:1999:i:8:p:639-651 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Bo Jarneving, 2008. "A variation of the calculation of the first author cocitation strength in author cocitation analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 77(3), pages 485-504, December.
    8. repec:bla:jamest:v:49:y:1998:i:1:p:7-17 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Kevin W. Boyack & Richard Klavans & Katy Börner, 2005. "Mapping the backbone of science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 64(3), pages 351-374, August.
    10. repec:bla:jamist:v:57:y:2006:i:12:p:1616-1628 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. repec:bla:jamist:v:57:y:2006:i:9:p:1178-1193 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. repec:bla:jamest:v:46:y:1995:i:1:p:9-21 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Liwen Vaughan & Justin You, 2006. "Comparing business competition positions based on Web co-link data: The global market vs. the Chinese market," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 68(3), pages 611-628, September.
    14. repec:bla:jamest:v:42:y:1991:i:4:p:290-296 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. repec:bla:jamest:v:41:y:1990:i:6:p:433-443 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Tijssen, Robert J. W., 1992. "A quantitative assessment of interdisciplinary structures in science and technology: Co-classification analysis of energy research," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 27-44, February.
    17. repec:bla:jamest:v:50:y:1999:i:5:p:427-447 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Waltman, L. & van Eck, N.J.P., 2007. "Some Comments on the Question Whether Co-occurrence Data Should Be Normalized," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2007-017-LIS, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    19. repec:bla:jamist:v:52:y:2001:i:4:p:283-296 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Gaston Heimeriks & Marianne Hörlesberger & Peter Van Den Besselaar, 2003. "Mapping communication and collaboration in heterogeneous research networks," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 58(2), pages 391-413, October.
    21. repec:bla:jamest:v:51:y:2000:i:2:p:166-180 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bar-Ilan, Judit, 2008. "Informetrics at the beginning of the 21st century—A review," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 1-52.
    2. Pamela Lang & Fábio C. Gouveia & Jacqueline Leta, 2010. "Site co-link analysis applied to small networks: a new methodological approach," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 83(1), pages 157-166, April.
    3. Wei Du & Raymond Yiu Keung Lau & Jian Ma & Wei Xu, 2015. "A multi-faceted method for science classification schemes (SCSs) mapping in networking scientific resources," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 105(3), pages 2035-2056, December.
    4. Pardeep Sud & Mike Thelwall, 2014. "Linked title mentions: a new automated link search candidate," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(3), pages 1831-1849, December.
    5. Ismael Rafols & Martin Meyer, 2010. "Diversity and network coherence as indicators of interdisciplinarity: case studies in bionanoscience," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 82(2), pages 263-287, February.
    6. Leydesdorff, Loet & Wagner, Caroline S., 2008. "International collaboration in science and the formation of a core group," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 317-325.
    7. José-Antonio Ontalba-Ruipérez & Enrique Orduna-Malea & Adolfo Alonso-Arroyo, 2016. "Identifying institutional relationships in a geographically distributed public health system using interlinking and co-authorship methods," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 106(3), pages 1167-1191, March.
    8. Junping Qiu & Yejun Li & Jiang Li & Quane Ren, 2008. "An exploratory study on substantive co-link analysis: A modification to total co-link analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 76(2), pages 327-341, August.
    9. Kose, Toshihiro & Sakata, Ichiro, 2019. "Identifying technology convergence in the field of robotics research," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 751-766.
    10. Jochen Gläser & Wolfgang Glänzel & Andrea Scharnhorst, 2017. "Same data—different results? Towards a comparative approach to the identification of thematic structures in science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 111(2), pages 981-998, May.
    11. Balland, Pierre-Alexandre & Boschma, Ron, 2022. "Do scientific capabilities in specific domains matter for technological diversification in European regions?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    12. Takahiro Kawamura & Katsutaro Watanabe & Naoya Matsumoto & Shusaku Egami & Mari Jibu, 2018. "Funding map using paragraph embedding based on semantic diversity," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(2), pages 941-958, August.
    13. Andreas Bjurström & Merritt Polk, 2011. "Climate change and interdisciplinarity: a co-citation analysis of IPCC Third Assessment Report," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 87(3), pages 525-550, June.
    14. Seongkyoon Jeong & Jong-Chan Kim & Jae Young Choi, 2015. "Technology convergence: What developmental stage are we in?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 104(3), pages 841-871, September.
    15. Citron, Daniel T. & Way, Samuel F., 2018. "Network assembly of scientific communities of varying size and specificity," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 181-190.
    16. Xuefeng Wang & Huichao Ren & Yun Chen & Yuqin Liu & Yali Qiao & Ying Huang, 2019. "Measuring patent similarity with SAO semantic analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 121(1), pages 1-23, October.
    17. Giovanni Abramo & Ciriaco Andrea D'Angelo & Flavia Costa, 2012. "Identifying interdisciplinarity through the disciplinary classification of coauthors of scientific publications," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(11), pages 2206-2222, November.
    18. Sungho Son & Nam-Wook Cho, 2020. "Technology Fusion Characteristics in the Solar Photovoltaic Industry of South Korea: A Patent Network Analysis Using IPC Co-Occurrence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-19, October.
    19. Jianhua Hou, 2017. "Exploration into the evolution and historical roots of citation analysis by referenced publication year spectroscopy," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(3), pages 1437-1452, March.
    20. Yongjun Zhu & Erjia Yan, 2015. "Dynamic subfield analysis of disciplines: an examination of the trading impact and knowledge diffusion patterns of computer science," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 104(1), pages 335-359, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Jaccard index; association strength; cosine; inclusion index; similarity measure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C49 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Other
    • M - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics
    • M11 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Production Management
    • R4 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ems:eureri:14528. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: RePub (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/erimanl.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.