Methodological Characteristics of SROI Research in Sustainability Evaluation : A Bibliometric Analysis of the Relationship Between Research Fields and Evaluation Approaches

This study conducts a bibliometric analysis of academic publications related to Social Return on Investment (SROI) published between 2020 and 2024 to examine the relationship between research fields and evaluation methodologies. The objective is to clarify how analytical approaches and data collection methods are distributed across various academic disciplines. By analyzing a dataset of 185 peer-reviewed articles from the Scopus database, the study identifies methodological patterns and disciplinary concentrations.The results reveal that SROI research is characterized by an interdisciplinary structure centered on Social Sciences and Medicine, with significant extensions into Environmental Science, Economics, and Engineering. Quantitative analysis emerges as the dominant analytical framework across major fields, particularly in health-related disciplines, where standardized indicators are widely used. However, qualitative and participatory approaches also play a crucial role, especially in Nursing and Social Sciences, where capturing subjective stakeholder perspectives and contextual factors is essential. The study concludes that SROI functions as a flexible evaluation framework that translates social value into measurable indicators for policy evaluation and investment decisions. While quantitative methods prevail, the integration of qualitative information and participatory processes allows for a comprehensive assessment of social impacts. These findings suggest that effective SROI applications must consider the methodological traditions of different disciplines, providing insights for the development of sustainability-oriented decision-making processes.