Understanding the nature of citation: Examination of structure in citation analysis and its application to communication discipline in the information age

This dissertation examines how the structure of the field of Communication has changed in response to the diffusion of new integrated media by employing three different network analyses (an affiliation, semantic, and citation network). The dissertation also examines the relationships and validity among these three network analyses using QAP regression based on the three competing theoretical models. The initial results in the structure of Communication from three different networks suggest that there is no mere evidence of a shift toward a converging trend in Communication. The results in relationships among three networks reveal the following two findings: (1) relational patterns in a citation network are more similar to those in an affiliation network than in a semantic network (2) the affiliation and semantic networks predict the structure of citation network significantly. These findings imply that scholars cite others' works not only because they want to indicate they know those who can back up their arguments in the scientific community but also they think others' works have perceived conceptual relevance with citers' own works even though the former is the stronger drive behind citation.