Knowledge Discovery through Co-Word Analysis.
He Qin · Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) · 1999
IN THE LAST HALF CENTURY, AS THE SCIENCE I,ITERATURE has increased dramatically, scientists found it increasingly difficult to locate needed data, and it is increasingly difficult for policymakers to understand the complex interrelationship of science in order to achieve effective research planning.Some quantitative techniques have been developed to ameliorate these problems; co-word analysis is one of these techniques.Based on the co-occurrence frequency of pairs of words or phrases, co-word analysis is used to discover linkages among subjects in a research field and thus to trace the development of science.Within the last two decades, this technique, implemented by several research groups, has proved to be a powerful tool for knowledge discovery in databases.This article reviews the development of co-word analysis, summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of this method, and discusses several research issues.