Die Systematisierung visueller Darstellungsformen in der sozialwissenschaftlichen Forschung

Visualisations are an important aspect in knowledge transfer however are instruments for generating knowledge. Furthermore they can be a source and/or item of research. While visualisations are a matter of course in many scientific disciplines (mainly the natural sciences), the social sciences are said to refuse them. This is due to an exaggeration of the written or spoken word as a high-culture asset (see Feldmann 2003). Until now there has been no empirical data about the use of visualisations in the social sciences. From this academic void different forms of publications were analysed in regard of the use of visualisations and a systematisation of the different forms of visualisations was created. Therefore 136 relevant works about social science research were subjected to a content analysis. The basis for this analysis are the recommendations of the two methodological sections of the German Sociological Association. As a further form of publication, five volumes of five social science journals were analysed.