Information Technology in eParticipation Research: A Word Frequency Analysis

Recent literature and project reviews suggest information technology is inadequately reflected in eParticipation research. This study uses text search queries to investigate the occurrence of 60 technology categories in a bibliographic database consisting of over a thousand research articles. The results show that eParticipation research have overwhelmingly focused on websites and discussion forums as the main technologies under study. Many other technologies that are frequently mentioned in overview articles as being part of eParticipation have received relatively scant attention in actual research. This article presents findings that may be useful in broadening and deepening the field’s treatment of technology.