1 IS8004 – Seminar 4 Proposal Initiation Issues in the Field and Anthropology

Syllabus Requirement Proposal Development (30%): Each student is required to develop a research proposal founded on a qualitative research methodology, demonstrating their ability to solve research problems. 2

The Time to Think is Now Developing a good proposal takes time You need time to reflect, to think, to create, to imagine What kind of research question, which method, what data? What are the hoped-for outcomes? Please start to do this now. In week 8, you will need to make a 10-minute presentation of your initial proposal ideas 3

4 Learning Objectives Today To explore issues associated with doing field research This is primarily for qualitative research, though it applies to quantitative as well To try and ensure that things don’t go wrong!

5 Origins Field research has a long history in cultural anthropology – Where the researcher goes to live with a culturally interesting group of people and learn their way of life – Two ‘nice’ human examples: Philippe Descola’s account of life in the Ecuadorean jungle with the Achuar from Robert Klitzman’s account of kuru, cannibalism and mad cow disease in Papua New Guinea in 1972

6 Alternatively Jane Goodall’s research into Chimpanzee behaviour in Gombe forest, Tanzania Birute Galdikas’ research into Orang-Utan behaviour in Indonesia Similar work with elephants, macaques, baboons, bonobos, etc. This is zoology, not anthropology – but it is still field research

7 In Information Systems Anthropology is also an accepted research method – and most field research in IS involves some aspect of anthropological technique Avison and Myers (1995) Klein and Myers (2000) – A Set of Principles for Conducting and Evaluating Interpretive Field Studies in Information Systems, MISQ.

8 Issues in Field Research Contacting Organisations Respecting and Working with Organisations Studying and Observing Organisations Reporting and Publishing Findings Legal and Ethical Issues

9 Contacting Organisations 1 You have your research question, you think you know which method (but you might change your mind later), you know (perhaps) what kind of data you want Now you have to find an organisation where you can try out your ideas, collect the data, see if your plans are doing to work

10 Contacting Organisations 2 Where do you start? – This is a huge problem! Most PhD students don’t have very good contacts in organisations – Or at least they think they don’t But there are some routes to explore… which leverage your (or your family’s) guanxi.

11 Contacting Organisations 3 Who do you know? – Friends, classmates? – Family connections? – Supervisor connections Be careful. The supervisor will not want to trouble his connections with ‘nonsense’ so you must plan carefully Who could you know? – Who could be available and how could you get to meet them?

12 Contacting Organisations 4 EMBA, MBA and DBA students can be a good source of contacts Find out who is teaching these people and ask if you can take 10 minutes of their class time to talk to them You have 10 minutes to sell your ideas – and yourself.

13 Contacting Organisations 5 Sell??? These people are busy and have short term thinking They might be interested – can you persuade them? What would motivate them to be interested? Think of what value you can create for them So, it is not just that you want to study something, but you also want to contribute something to them This means that when they work with you, then they get something out of you as well.

14 Contacting Organisations 6 If none of these work, then you can try cold calling – by phone, letter, You still have to sell yourself and your ideas You need to tell them enough so that they think it is worthwhile to spend 30 mins of their time in a face-to- face meeting with you If they like your ideas, the 30 mins can be extended. If not, it will be 5 minutes and polite ‘no thank you’. Cold calling has low success rates. – When I did my PhD, I sent 100 letters to get one +ve reply – Perhaps I did not sell myself very well?

15 Respecting and Working With Organisations 1 Once you are in, you don’t want to be asked to leave! So, you must follow their rules, procedures and expectations If a meeting is scheduled at 0900, plan to be there at If a meeting is cancelled, don’t complain – just set up another time. Remember, they are the busy business people. You are not.

16 Respecting and Working With Organisations 2 You need to set up protocols for how you will work with the organisation You need to have a contact person – ideally a senior person There has to be an agreement (NDA) between both parties about how to work. This agreement may be formal or informal, signed or not. The agreement should cover issues like access to people, data, meetings, documents – and also how you can report these things

17 Respecting and Working With Organisations 3 It is probably better to keep a low profile, to be unobtrusive, not to get in the way, not to obstruct You are there to learn, to observe, to collect data – but not to criticise or offer too many opinions – unless they ask you explicitly You will get better quality data if people forget that you are a researcher – and behave normally. So don’t draw too much attention to yourself. Blend in, become invisible as an outsider.

18 Studying and Observing Organisations 1 You need to keep your research questions in mind all the time – And collect data that is going to help you to answer those questions You need to restrict yourself to what you agreed to with the organisation – If you want to do something different, you need permission

19 Studying and Observing Organisations 2 You need to respect the privacy of individual employees – Yes, feel free to write down what they say, but try to disguise their identities – If they give you private or confidential data, use it carefully – You will have to be sure that you do not violate the organisation’s or individual’s confidentiality

20 Studying and Observing Organisations 3 You need to build up a body of evidence that will answer your research questions This may take some time – so don’t give up Be alert to unexpected findings – That challenge existing theory – That challenge your preconceived ideas – That do not fit what you thought you would find Try to keep an open mind at all times – Don’t jump to conclusions

21 Studying and Observing Organisations 4 Keep very careful notes of what you do It is very easy to forget a conversation – and then it is lost Every day, write up notes in detail You may need to go back to someone to ask a question to clarify a situation – Your notes will help you to do that – if you have them

22 Studying and Observing Organisations 5 Reflect on theory as you go Does what you are observing – Fit, violate, extend the theory? Is there a need for a new theory – Yes, even though this is not your intended contribution, you may identify the opportunity to develop a new theory

23 Studying and Observing Organisations 6 Serendipity! – Be aware of the possibilities offered by unexpected, unsought findings You may have planned 1-2 papers, but there could be more – We will discuss this more in a later class Remember, imagination is the limit of possibility

7 Principles for Interpretive (Hermeneutic) IS Research The fundamental principle of the hermeneutic circle The principle of contextualisation The principle of interaction between the researcher and subjects The principle of abstraction and generalisation The principle of dialogical reasoning The principle of multiple interpretations The principle of suspicion 24

The Fundamental Principle of the Hermeneutic Circle All human understanding comes from iterating between the independent meaning of the parts, and the whole. Each data item has meaning independently, yet each data item also contributes to the whole picture. We must iterate continually until we have a well developed and justified understanding 25

The Principle of Contextualisation It is necessary to engage in a critical reflection on the social and historical background of the research context The audience must be able to see how the current situation has evolved over time Which old ideas are still influencing today’s practices? Or are still embedded in work routines? 26

The Principle of Interaction between the Researcher and Subjects Critical reflection on the way in which the research materials (data, interviews, etc.) were socially constructed through the interaction between the researcher and the subjects By questioning your assumptions, by recognising your biases, so you may achieve a better understanding of the world in which the subjects live 27

The Principle of Abstraction and Generalisation It is necessary to relate the idiographic details obtained through the data collection and interpretation to theoretical and general concepts that explain human behaviour It is conventional to relate to existing theory, but in the case of grounded theory, a new theory may be developed. 28

The Principle of Dialogical Reasoning It is necessary to be sensitive to any discrepancies that may arise between the theoretical preconceptions guiding the research design and the actual findings (data). Thus, the researcher must engage in a dialogue between the theory and the data If discrepancies arise, then the theory may have to change or be reinformed 29

The Principle of Multiple Interpretations There may be differences of interpretation about events between multiple data subjects / participants This may happen even when the participants are describing the same event as they may see it differently For instance, different employees may have different expectations for a project 30

The Principle of Suspicion It is necessary to be sensitive to the biases and even systematic distortions introduced by participants in their narratives All participants are likely to be biased However, some may deliberately introduce facetious, outlandish or sarcastic remarks that may be fruitful for metaphorical analysis, but should not be taken literally. 31

32 Reporting and Publishing Findings 1 When you first talk to an organisation, you have to make it clear that as an academic, you need to publish your findings However, you can anonymise the company (change the name) if they prefer that – Some companies like to be identified since the project may gain them positive publicity You need to represent your findings carefully – So that you tell the truth about what you found – You do not distort the facts to suit your needs – This is why you must document your notes and thoughts carefully and continually

33 Reporting and Publishing Findings 2 The organisation might object to what you wrote – and might ask for it to be changed Well, that could be reasonable. Now you need to negotiate. – Can you aggregate more? – Can you anonymise more? – Can you modify a bit – but not too much? But you can avoid this situation by ensuring that the organisation knows what is going on all the time

34 Legal and Ethical Issues 1 Privacy – Data subjects have the right to privacy CityU code of research conduct + HK data privacy laws Always get explicit approval from the people described in the data – before you collect / analyse it Confidentiality – The organisation has a legitimate right to protect its information and knowledge assets – So, you can publish, but you must clear content with the organisation first

35 Legal and Ethical Issues 2 NDA – Non Disclosure Agreements are common – and legally binding – They can sue you for breach of contract if you knowingly violate the agreement You should keep all data secure – Restricted access to project members – Do not give to unauthorised others – Destroy when no longer needed

36 References Avison, D.E. and Myers, M.D. (1995) Information Systems and Anthropology: An Anthropological Perspective on IT and Organizational Culture, IT & People, 8, 3, Descola, P. (1996) The Spears of Twilight (originally in French as Les Lances du Crépuscule). Galdikas, B.M.F. (1994) Reflections of Eden Goodall, J. (1971) In the Shadow of Man Klitzman, R. (2001) The Trembling Mountain: Kuru, Cannibalism and Mad Cow Disease. Klein, H.K. and Myers, M.D. (2000) A Set of Principles for Conducting and Evaluating Interpretive Field Research in Information Systems, MIS Quarterly, 23, 1, 67-94