1. LARS MATHIASSEN Academic director J Mack Robinson College of Business
Designing Engaged Scholarship: From Real-world Problems to Research Publications
LARS MATHIASSEN
Academic director
J Mack Robinson College of Business

2. Engaged Scholarship
“a participative form of research for obtaining the different perspectives of key stakeholders (researchers, users, clients, sponsors, and practitioners) in studying complex problems” (Van de Ven, 2007, p. 9)

3. Publication Challenges
Consistency of argument
Level of contribution
Complexity of process
Proposition: Developing your engaged scholarship research through an iterative design process will help you move more quickly and more likely towards successful publication.

4. Designing Engaged Scholarship

5. Research Design A area of concern P real-world problem F framing
M method
C contributions
(Checkland 1991; McKay & Marshall 2001; Mathiassen et al. 2012)

6. Research Design Components
P real-world problem
A area of concern
FA framing from A
FI framing independent of A
M research method
CP contributions to P
CA contributions to A
CFA contributions to FA
CFI contributions to FI
CM contributions to M
Proposition: There are many different RQ’s for each P
Proposition: FA and FI provide different opportunities for framing your study
Proposition: Always include CP and CA-CFA – only include CFI or CM in rare cases

7. Template for Research Design
Component
Definition
Specification
Journal
The target journal defines the audience for your research and the conversation you seek to join
Title
The title expresses the essence of your research design with emphasis on C P
The problem setting represents people’s concerns in a real-world problematic situation A
The area of concern represents some body of knowledge within the literature that relates to P F
The conceptual framing helps structure collection and analyses of data from P to answer RQ; FA draws on concepts from A, whereas FI draws on concepts independent of A M
The adopted method of empirical inquiry RQ
The research question relates to P, it opens for research into A, and it helps ensure the research design is coherent and consistent C
The contributions to P and A and possibly to F and M

8. Generic Publication Design
TITLE. Express the essence of the research with emphasis on C.
ABSTRACT. Provide the basic argument based on P, A, F, M and C.
INTRODUCTION. Introduce A and motivate study. Introduce P, F and M as appropriate for addressing RQ. State principal results by making clear how C contributes to P and A.
BACKGROUND. Present review of extant literature on A. Substantiate the motivation for the study by evaluating what we know and don’t know about A. Construct opportunity to make a contribution and substantiate choice of RQ.
FRAMING. Introduce and argue for an existing, revised or developed F (FA and FI) as a means for structuring and supporting data collection and analysis.
METHODS. Describe and argue for M. Introduce P to provide context for analysis. Detail and argue for approach to data collection and analysis to respond to RQ.
RESULTS. Present results of analyzing data based on F, following M, and to help answer RQ. Focus on appropriate structuring of analysis and use tables and graphs. Establish empirical foundation to make contribution.
DISCUSSION. Explicate and argue for contribution (CP and CA) as response to RQ based on Results and Background literature. Don’t repeat results, discuss relationships to literature, explicate conclusions with evidence for each conclusion, provide alternative explanations, and state theoretical and practical implications.

9. Iterative Publication Development

10. One study, two papers
South East Health District (SEHD) in Georgia Public health, 130 nurses plus management and support, 24 offices

11. Telehealth at SEHD

12. First publication ( )
Management of rural telehealth innovation
Health Services Research
A rich case study
Punctuated equilibrium theory; encounter-episode analysis

13. Table 1: Research Design for First Publication (Singh et al., 2010)
Component
Specification
Problem setting (P)
Rural areas lack requisite access to medical expertise and healthcare services. Although telehealth solutions can help address this issue, rural health institutions typically don’t have the resources and capabilities required to adopt them.
Area of concern (A)
Adoption of telehealth in rural institutions.
Conceptual framing (F)
FI: Punctuated equilibrium theory (Gersick, 1991).
FI: Episode-encounter process model (Newman and Robey, 1992).
Research method (M)
Longitudinal, qualitative case study of how a rural health district successfully adopted telehealth as a core part of its operation over a 20-year period. RQ
How can rural public health institutions sustainably adopt telehealth innovations?
Contribution (C)
CP: Lessons for how managers can create a path toward sustainable telehealth innovation in rural institutions.
CA: A detailed empirical account of a successful rural telehealth innovation, including a grounded process model that describes how the innovation became sustainable and how actors addressed key challenges.

14. Second publication (2010-2015)
Constitution of technological innovation paths within an organization
MIS Quarterly
A theory paper
A dialectic analysis of telehealth innovation, drawing on path dependence and path creation theory

15. Table 5: Research Design for Second Publication (Singh et al., 2015)
Component
Specification
Problem setting (P)
Rural areas lack requisite access to medical expertise and healthcare services. Although telehealth solutions can help address this issue, rural health institutions typically don’t have the resources and capabilities required to adopt them.
Area of concern (A)
Organizational path constitution in technological innovation.
Conceptual framing (F)
Framing related to A (FA): Path dependence theory (Arthur, 1989; David, 1985).
Framing related to A (FA): Path creation theory (Garud and Karnøe, 2001).
Research method (M)
Theory development based on a longitudinal, qualitative case study of how a rural health district successfully adopted telehealth as a core part of its operation over a 20-year period. RQ
How can we understand and explain organizational path constitution in technological innovation?
Contribution (C)
Contribution to A (CA): A detailed empirical account of organizational path constitution that explains how a rural health district adopted and leveraged telehealth over a 20-year period.
Contribution to FA (CF): A theory of how organizations constitute technological innovation paths.

16. Practical Principles Ensure problem setting engagement
Construct the opportunity to contribute to the literature.
Distinguish the problem from the research question.
Design research around a research question.
Develop contributions to both theory and practice.
Make publication part of a conversation.
Shape the publication through iterative interactions.