Research Methods Introduction Jarod Locke

Everyday research skills What research activities do you/have you taken part in? E.g. Making a shopping list Critically read (or ignore!) literature on healthy eating; recipe books etc. Investigate what is in the cupboard and fridge Ask friends and family if they need anything Plan for the week Write an organised list Uses the research skills of reading; observation; questioning; talking and listening to people; collecting, selecting, summarising and organising data; planning; writing and presenting

“Professional” research Professionalises everyday research skills by … Clearly stated aims related to existing knowledge and needs Investigation through well-designed research programs, using appropriate methods Collection of precise and valid data in a justifiable and ethical way Producing findings from which generalisations can be made, or which contribute to a growing body of evidence Open-minded and reflective practice Recognising the rights of participants Publishing claims to be reviewed by peers

Quality criteria in research Purpose Relevance Originality Accuracy Accountability Generalisations Objectivity Ethics Proof (See Denscombe, Ground Rules for Good Research)

Why study research methods? To learn the transferable skills of – Defining a question or problem Designing and planning an empirical investigation into an area of uncertainty Analysing evidence and making valid conclusions Presenting findings Critically evaluating other peoples’ research

Why study research methods? Skills can be applied in practical IT work e.g. Requirements investigation and evaluation Market research for new software products Evaluating software before procurement Measuring IT use in the workplace Your individual project Requires researching relevant literature May require practical research techniques – interviews, questionnaires, running workshops or focus groups Report writing, bibliographic referencing

A research process N.b. Real world research is usually much messier than this – especially if it involves researching human subjects

Ways of doing research Quantitative or Qualitative? Fieldwork or deskwork? These are not exclusive – it’s possible to design a research project that combines approaches Quantitative research = studies where data is analysed numerically E.g. How many students drop out of University before they graduate? Qualitative research = non-numeric data, interest is in how people behave, attitudes E.g. Why do students drop out before they graduate?

Ways of doing research Fieldwork = going out into “the field” to collect data Requirements investigation activities in software design Deskwork = research that can be carried out without leaving the desk or laboratory E.g. Literature reviews E.g. Carrying out controlled scientific experiments All research will involve some deskwork – literature review and writing up results

Approaches to research Approaches = different ways of designing research programs Action research Case studies Experiments Surveys Internet research Action research – researcher works with participants to intervene in a situation, change it in some way and reflect on the results. Objective is to improve the situation. Many systems development projects are action research.

Approaches to research Case studies – focuses on one (or two or three) examples. E.g. a single organisation, workplace, fans of a football team, cohort of students etc. Can be comparative. Experiments – main approach to scientific research – carrying out repeatable experiments to prove or disprove a hypothesis Done in a controlled setting to reduce complexity – by cutting down on the number of variables Also used in computing – e.g. usability testing

Example of a scientific experiment Hypothesis – gas is compressible. Therefore, under increased pressure, if the temperature remains constant, the volume of the gas will decrease. Experiment - fill a balloon with air and take it down the deep end of the swimming pool! Repeat this several times. Result – hypothesis is proved: the volume of the gas varies inversely in proportion to pressure This can be expressed as p * V = constant (Boyles Law) Applied as the science behind SCUBA diving

Approaches to research Surveys – involve collecting data from a representative sample of a target population in order to produce results that can be extrapolated to the population as a whole. Internet research – a more recent approach to research. Offers a huge volume of ready-made data for study. Can use the internet as a tool for carrying out research – internet survey or discussion; or as a subject of study; or as a source of large datasets E.g. how programmers share code through internet chat rooms. E.g. genealogy websites and databases

Research methods Also called techniques, tools or instruments “Horses for courses” – the research method has to suit the problem and the constraints of the research context Interviews Workshops Observation Questionnaires Analysing documents Will be covering research methods in depth in lectures/tutorials

Selection of research methods Has to suit the subject of the study… Can the data be quantified? Can I get access to site +/ informants? What resources are available – TIME, money, people? Also has to suit the researcher … Do I like talking to people? Do I prefer working with very “hard” data or fuzzy information? Do I like reading? Or being out and about?

Reading and tutorial Blaxter et al, Chapters 1 and 3. Look at the research web pages of a large software organisation (e.g. Microsoft, Hewlett Packard Labs, Xerox, IBM) and find out about leading edge computing research projects Next week’s lecture – Designing a Research Project. Blaxter et al, Chapter 2 if you want to prepare by reading.