CALL FOR ABSTRACTS - Concept Mapping at 25: Special Issue of Evaluation and Program Planning

[Announcement from SCRA-L]

Call for Abstracts

for a Special Issue of

EVALUATION AND PROGRAM PLANNING

Concept Mapping at 25:

Development, Applications, and Future Directions

Issue Editors:  William Trochim, PhD & Daniel McLinden, EdD

Abstract Submissions Due: June 30, 2014

Twenty five years ago, Jon Morell, the then and still editor of Evaluation and Program Planning devoted a special issue of the journal to a relatively new and novel structured conceptualization methodology known as concept mapping (CM).  William Trochim was the developer of the method in the early 1980s and acted as guest editor for the volume which was published in 1989, (Volume 12, number 1). In many ways this volume can be viewed as the public inauguration of the concept mapping method which had been developed earlier but not previously widely published. Since that volume approximately twenty-five years ago, the methodology of concept mapping has matured and has been applied in a broad array of settings and for a wide range of applications. The purpose of this special 25-year anniversary issue is to revisit this important methodology, consider with the value of hindsight how it began and evolved, examine the varieties of applications that have been accomplished, discuss in detail key methodological and implementation issues, and consider the potential the methodology has moving into the future. This announcement calls for interested authors to submit abstracts of manuscripts that broadly address the methodology of concept mapping in all of its facets. Authors of accepted abstracts will then be invited to prepare full manuscripts for submission in this special issue.

Concept mapping (CM) is a mixed methods participatory approach that involves a number of group processes that are widely familiar – brainstorming, sorting and rating of ideas – and integrates these with a sequence of multivariate statistical analyses (most notably multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis) to yield two-dimensional idea and cluster maps and a variety of auxiliary graphical and statistical results. Over the past 25 years CM has been widely applied for a number of different purposes (program and policy planning and evaluation, theory development, measurement and scale development, as a framework for thematic coding of qualitative data, etc.) and in a wide array of fields (health and biomedicine, education, mental health, business, human services, etc.), has been the focus of well over fifty dissertations and theses, and has been the subject of numerous publications.

As a methodology concept mapping is unique.  The method is inclusive, participatory, collaborative, and inductive, moving from detailed idea generation by stakeholders to a higher-level conceptual representation that they jointly interpret and use. The analysis involves sophisticated multivariate analyses but is accessible to stakeholders because the results are visual and intuitive.  The approach is flexible and can be used to conceptualize virtually any topic.  It has been applied in program planning and evaluation, and in a host of other contexts.

The editors welcome both theoretical and empirically-based papers that focus on: important historical perspectives; unique or important examples of its application; methodological concerns or enhancements; cases where the methodology has been integrated with other approaches; new statistical or software tools; and, considerations of how the method might evolve over the next quarter century and beyond.  This call is deliberately broad in nature. Virtually any paper that addresses some aspect of the concept mapping methodology and its applications would be potentially appropriate. However, all submissions must be able to be linked directly to the concept mapping methodology in some manner. For instance, generation of a large set of statements that address a focus is central to the concept mapping methodology. Usually (but not necessarily) this is accomplished through some form of brainstorming.  A paper proposal that talks about new ways to generate sets of statements (such as by automated content analysis of internet materials) would only be acceptable if it includes a discussion of how such approaches might be integrated into the concept mapping methodology. We are also interested in receiving papers that provide a critique of all or of some aspect of the concept mapping method, or that compare the method to other approaches that set out to accomplish similar tasks. While simple write-ups of current or recent concept mapping projects may be of interest, such proposals will be greatly enhanced if they break new ground by describing novel application contexts, variations in implementation, integration with other methods, and so on.

NOTES FOR INTENDING AUTHORS

To submit an abstract for consideration, please complete the form at http://tinyurl.com/lpxv2cp (you can copy this link and paste it into a browser). The following information will be required your submission:

(1)      A title, author(s), and detailed narrative abstract of 250-500 words

(2)      Contact information for one of the authors who will be the correspondent on behalf of the proposal.

Abstracts must be submitted no later than June 30, 2014.

Authors may submit more than one abstract proposal. If you have any questions about how to submit your abstract or you would like to discuss the feasibility of an idea, please contact either William Trochim (wmt1@cornell.edu) or Daniel McLinden (Daniel.McLinden@cchmc.org) directly.

IMPORTANT DATES AND GENERAL PROCESS

For consideration, abstracts must be received by June 30, 2014. Authors will be notified about whether they are invited to submit a complete manuscript no later than September 1, 2014. Completed manuscripts must be submitted no later than December 31, 2014. The special issue is expected to be completed by June 2015 and published some time in 2015 or early 2016. Final paper submissions are expected to be formatted following guidelines of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6^th edition and will typically be between 15-25 manuscript pages in length. Specific paper guidelines and final deadlines will be included with notifications of accepted abstracts.