Vocational Guidance and Psychology in Spain: a Scientometric Study

Abstract

Introduction. Studies that investigate research activity are possible by quantifying certain variables pertaining to articles published in specialized journals. Once quantified, numerical data are obtained that summarize characteristics of the research activity. These data are obtained through scientometric indicators. This is an objective and verifiable method whose results are both reproducibe and applicable to a large amount of data, allowing significant results to be obtained from statistical studies. Method. In this paper we carried out a scientometric study on Vocational Guidance and Psychology in Spain (1990-2008) by analysing the following scientific journals: Revista Española de Orientación y Psicopedagogía (REOP), Bordón Revista de Pedagogía, Revista de Investigación Educativa (RIE) and Revista de Psicología General y Aplicada. Of all the articles published, we selected those that expressly refer to vocational guidance; we then focused the study on analysis of personal productivity, institutional productivity, article content, instruments that researchers used in their studies, and bibliographic references. Results. From these results, we note that most of the authors who publish in Spain in this area are affiliated with Spanish universities. Also, the most pertinent topic areas addressed are Vocational Counseling / Vocational Guidance, and Intervention Programs / Systems. Discussion and conclusion. These types of publications provide direct communication between researchers and guidance professionals, allowing science to reach everyone. Keywords: Vocational Psychology, Vocational guidance in Spain, Scientometric indicators, ICT.