When one says something like “most scholars think x” or “the theory of y has not convinced many experts”, how is that actually determined? Are there polls conducted regarding different theories?
When one says something like “most scholars think x” or “the theory of y has not convinced many experts”, how is that actually determined? Are there polls conducted regarding different theories?
Scholarly articles have ‘impact’ measurements. ie. The impact they have on that field. My understanding is that it’s a combination of # of times it’s been cited, # of times its been downloaded/read with a heavier weighting towards citation. You can filter articles by ‘impact’ in many library databases.
A theory that is not well accepted will be cited less, even if it’s being cited to be debunked the citations still count as impact, however an article with a greater impact will be cited significantly more which suggests the theory is more compelling.
As far as my understanding goes.