Well Declan, as far as I know those two are exactly the same.
With the Mapping Node’s Type set to Point (that is the default), having the Scale to (2, 2, 2) means you are scaling the UV’s by 2.
You can also do that in the UV Editor by selecting all UV’s and pressing S, 2. Then you see the UV’s ‘growing’, but the result is the same as scaling in the Mapping Node.

