Date of Award
1989
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Abstract
The collaborative coefficient (CC), a measure that combines some of the merits of two earlier measures of research collaboration, is presented. This measure is used to compare the degrees of collaboration in the fields of engineering sciences, medical sciences, physical sciences, mathematical sciences, social sciences, and humanities. A theoretical model for the distribution of authorships is also developed. This model, the shifted Waring distribution, and 15 other discrete probability models are tested for goodness-of-fit against 96 data sets collected from the six fields listed above. The shifted inverse Gaussian-Poisson is found to be the best model. It is suggested that this model could be used in the estimation of the number of entries in an author index and in determining the maximum number of authors per paper to be included in an author index. A relationship is established between the parameters of this model and the collaborative coefficient.
Recommended Citation
Ajiferuke, Isola S., "A Probabilistic Model For The Distribution Of Authorships And A Measure Of The Degree Of Research Collaboration" (1989). Digitized Theses. 1765.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/1765