| Qualitative methods were employed to analyze the bibliographic metadata of China's pertinent professional literature to explore the nation's research into space medicine. Official information from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) repository was incorporated into a relational database management system (RDBMS) comprised of multiple, self-contained tables of metadata on the scholarly articles of China's leading space medicine journal: Space Medicine & Medical Engineering (SMME). Through a sequential analytical paradigm known as TiROS (Topics and individual Researchers, Organizations, and Sponsors), descriptive statistical treatments were applied to the data of nearly 2,000 records to explore the China's space medicine research for transparency into the core elements of the investigative endeavor and knowledge about the larger community. Single and cross-table queries were used to sort and group the RDBMS data in the construction of flexible data views. Templates and pivot tables were employed to develop descriptions and identify characteristics, trends, and relationships across the TiROS paradigm. Descriptive statistics generated through this approach resulted in standard data-related objects that enhanced transparency and knowledge relevant to China's space medicine research programs and initiatives. The findings of the exploration represented significant transparency into the parameters and characteristics of the individual components of the TiROS model. However, through an interpretation and elaboration of the results in terms of gains and gaps, it was concluded that the TiROS model was better suited to enhancing transparency into the topics and individual researchers, organizations, and sponsors of China's space medicine research program than to producing detailed knowledge about the program's broader agenda and community. Subsequently, it was recommended that the TiROS model be supplemented with other research initiatives. The recommendations for enhancement included an expansion of the exploitation of CNKI digitized resources to glean a wider sampling of China's national knowledge base on the discipline of space medicine research. The recommendations for supplementation included an incorporation of more sophisticated data analysis capabilities; interviews with key leaders and research personnel; refinements in the assessment of commercial and business factors; and direct engagement in collaborative space medicine research projects of potential mutual benefit. |
