Qualitative Research in Information Technology

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Qualitative Research in Information Technology

• Liaquat Hossain
• School of IT
• The University of Sydney

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Outline

• phases in research
• from research problem to practice?
• research approaches
• alternative research methods
• qualitative research

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Phases in research

• Research problem
• Earlier literature
• More detailed research problem
• Research design
• Data collection and analyses
• Conclusions

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Orthodox Understanding 1

• problems, thoughts, interests
• exploratory research
• confirmatory research

(Hirschheim, 2002)
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Orthodox Understanding 2

• problems
• research
• knowledge, understanding
• practice

(Hirschheim, 2002)
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The Reality The Vicious Cycle

• problems
• research
• knowledge, understanding
• practice

(Hirschheim, 2002)
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Four-Tiered Research Model

• Paradigms
• (Functionalism, Interpretivism, Radical
  Structuralism, Neohumanism)
• Approaches
• (Language Analysis, Phenomenology,
  Action-Oriented, Historical,
• Conceptual, )
• Methods
• (Ethnography, Case Study, Action research, Field
  Research, Lab. Experiment, Model building,
  simulation, .)
• Techniques

(Hirschheim, 2002)
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Research Approaches

• Two main classes of approaches
• Theory testing apply theory to read the
  data
• Theory emergent look for patterns,
  understanding emerges from the data

(Hirschheim, 2002)
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Combining Approaches

• Case study/action research
• leads to
• Research question
• leads to
• Theory building
• leads to
• Theory testing with lab. experiments
• and
• Theory testing with field experiments
• leads to
• Theory extension and feedback loop to Theory
  testing

(Galliers, 1992) see also (Mingers, 2001)
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Research approaches

• Mathematical approaches
• Approaches studying reality
• Research stressing what is reality
• Conceptual-analytical approaches
• approaches for empirical studies
• theory-testing approaches
• theory-creating approaches
• Research stressing utility of artifacts
• artifact-building approaches
• artifacts-evaluating approaches

(Järvinen Järvinen, 1999)
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Alternative Research Methods

• Constructivist Methods
• conceptual development and technical development
• Nomothetic Methods (Confirmatory)
• field research, surveys, lab experiments using
  the hypothetico-deductive method
• Idiographic Methods (Exploratory)
• case studies and action research

(Hirschheim, 2002)
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Plausible inference

• Logical inference can be used only when one has
  complete information about the phenomenon to be
  modeled
• In research situation one has
• theoretical background
• results from previous studies
• some data
• For which of these there exist complete
  information?

Plausible inference is inference with
uncertain and incomplete information
(Tirri, 2002)
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Qualitative Research

• Methods
• action research
• case study research
• ethnography
• grounded thoeory
• Data sources
• observation and participant observation (gield
  work)
• interviews and questionnaires
• documents and texts
• reserachers impressions and reactions
• Modes of analysis
• hermeneutics
• semiotics
• narrative and metaphor

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Philosophical perspectives

• positivist research
• interpretive research
• critical research

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Underlying assumptions
(Myers, http//www.qual.auckland.ac.nz)
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Questions?