Page 18 - Becoming Metric Wise

7
Introduction

artefact is just a thing. A typical example of an artefact is a previously
unknown object found on an archeological site. No one knows its use.
An artefact becomes an instrument when knowledge and understanding
about the proper use of the artefact develops. This knowledge is called a
mental scheme. For most people a computer once was an artefact; knowl-
edge about how to use it makes it an instrument. Clearly with a complex
artefact such as a computer, knowledge is often partial, so it often hap-
pens that the instrument is not used to its full capacity. Similarly, databases
such as the WoS, Scopus and Google Scholar, mathematical formulae and
statistical software are just artefacts. Only a mental scheme, i.e., thorough
understanding of their functionalities, makes them into instruments fit for
further research and for the evaluation of scientific research (Rousseau,
2005b).
Citation analysis, and in particular its applications in research evalua-
tion, makes use of indicators, which, however are not perfect; but neither
is peer review. Indicators may have inherent logical problems, such as the
h-index which is not independent (see Subsection 7.3.3), may not be
optimal in a statistical sense and/or are not applied in a rigorous way,
such as the standard JIF (see Section 6.15); they depend on fields and
always on the used database. In that sense, results based on scientometric
indicators, but also on peer review, are never perfect but rather Probably
Approximately Correct, borrowing a term introduced by Valiant (Valiant,
2013; Rousseau, 2016). That is the best one can do in any field which is
not purely theoretical, and in particular in those fields which involve a
human factor (Bernstein et al., 2000).
It is well-known that in some corners bibliometrics and the other
metrics are not really popular. Titles such as “Scientometrics: A dismal
science” (Balaram, 2008) and “Metrics: a long-term threat to society”
(Blicharska & Mikusinski, 2012) are clear in this respect. May we suggest
that, besides pointing to the misuse of some metric techniques, these
statements may also indicate that some colleagues do not yet see infor-
metric techniques as real instruments. We hope that this book helps in
making artefacts into instruments.

1.4 OTHER METRICS AND THE LARGER PICTURE
Metrics not only exist in the information sciences. One also knows the
terms biometrics, econometrics, archaeometrics, chemometrics, juri-
metrics and a whole series of software metrics and sustainability metrics.