1. Introduction to IN 5000 Qualitative Research Methods in Information Systems
Johan Saebo &
Brian Nicholson
HISP group

2. Agenda Course overview and assignment (Johan)
Intro to qualitative research (Brian)
- overview of the field
- research paradigms

4. Having passed IN5000 After you have completed this course, you can
explain and compare different qualitative research paradigms including the
interpretive, critical, and positivist paradigms
explain and compare different qualitative methodologies including case studies, action research, and ethnography
explain and compare different methods used in qualitative empirical research in informatics including interviews and observations
explain and illustrate the relationships between research questions, paradigms, methodologies and methods
position and discuss your own and others’ research with respect to the
qualitative research paradigms
make qualified and well-motivated choices of research methodology for your own research and assess others’ choices of methodology
perform interviews and observations and analyze the resulting empirical data

5. You’ll learn about different types of research How to do it yourself (assignments are central for learning), and how to analyze and write up your findings.
The course has course book (Crang and Cook (2007) & additional Myers (2013)
In addition we will work with a number of articles, both discussing methodological issues and as exemplars of these different types of studies.
See course page for literature (syllabus) + detailed teaching plan for readings and assignments.

6. Group work (Seminar Jan 29 to introduce this)
Ideally 4 members in each group.
Discussions in groups,
oral presentation in class
written assignments
one feedback to another group
– must be accepted in order to take the exam.
You’ll receive feedback on your assignments by TA (Johanne Oskarsen and Rebekka Soma). It’s not mandatory to receive feedback, but it is a great opportunity to learn and discuss.
You’re also free to contact Johanne, Rebekka (or Johan) for feedback and questions, but the feedback sessions in the schedule have at least been blocked for this.

7. Assignments summed up:
Read and present a paper
Ask questions to another paper
Assignment 1: observation w/notes
Assignment 2: interview
Assignment 3: observation wo/notes
Paper discussion (format TBA)
Assignment Research Proposal
RP1 submit (+ feedback)
RP2 submit (+ feedback)
RP3 submit and presentation

8. Exam information Graded marks A-F (master students)
Passed/non passed on B+A level (PhD students)
The grades will be based on individual oral exam

11. Qualitative research
“Qualitative research methods are designed to help researchers understand people and the social and cultural contexts within which they live. [..] the goal of understanding a phenomenon from the point of view of the participants and its particular social and institutional context is largely lost when textual data are quantified” (Myers living version).
Qualitative research involves working with qualitative data
Interviews,
documents,
participant observation data,
photos,
to understand and explain social phenomena.
We study use, design and development of technology as social phenomena.

12. QUALITATIVE -‐ QUANTITATIVE
Observation
Interview
Texts/documents Audio / video
Small numbers (focused)
In-depth
How, what, how come
Questionnaires
Experiments
Statistics
Large numbers (broad)
Broad rather than in-depth
How many? Why (causality)?
What is best?
No research approach (quantitative or qualitative) is better than any other.
In choosing a method, everything depends upon what we are trying to find out. Thus, it depends on your research question (Silverman 2005).

13. Underlying assumptions
All research is based on some (explicit or implicit) underlying philosophical assumptions about what constitutes valid research and which research methods are appropriate.
These assumptions are called paradigms.

14. PHILOSPHICAL ASSUMPTIONS
All research can be classified into three categories: positivist, interpretive, and critical
Qualitative research can adopt any one of these perspectives
For example, case study research can be positivist, interpretive, or critical
These have different epistemologies: what is (considered to be) knowledge? Ontology - How do I know the world?

15. Qualitative research
positivist
critical
interpretive
Influences / guides
Underlying philosophical assumptions

16. Assumptions of positivist research
Social reality is objective, testable and independent of theoretical explanation
The researcher should be objective and unbiased
The researcher should be a detached value-free spectator, only an observer of the objects of study
Theories and hypotheses can be tested independently of an understanding of meanings and intentions
Lawlike relations can be discovered in organizations, and the purpose of research is to increase our predictive understanding of phenomena
Scientific research should have formal propositions, quantifiable measures of variables, and hypothesis testing - cases are of interest only as representative of populations

17. Freedom fighter? Terrorist? Ruler? Legend?

19. Assumptions of interpretive research
Social reality is socially constructed - The aim is to understand phenomena through the meanings people assign to them. Access to meaning is through social constructions, such as talking.
Focuses on the full complexity of human sense-making as a situation emerges. Not predefined dependent and independent variables.
Interpretive methods of research in IS are "aimed at producing an understanding of the context of the information system, and the process whereby the information system influences and is influenced by the context" (Walsham 1993, p.4-5).
The hermeneutic circle – the ‘logic’ of interpretation is irreducibly circular: parts cannot be understood without the whole, data and concepts cannot be understood without theory and context etc

20. Assumptions of critical research
Similar to interpretive research except that in addition:
A focus on critique – critique of the prevailing social conditions and system of constraints
Consider the complex relationships between human interests, knowledge, power and forms of social control.
Challenge prevailing communities of assumptions
Challenge established social practices
Have an ethically based stance
Some types of critical theory suggest individual emancipation and/or improvements in society

21. METHODOLOGIES
While paradigms are philosophical assumptions about the world, methodologies are strategies of inquiry. Could be positivist, interpretive or critical
Methodologies discussed in this course:
Describing the world Changing the world
Case study
Ethnography
Grounded theory
Action Research
Design research

22. event within its real-life context
Case Study
A case study is an empirical inquiry that:
investigates a contemporary instance or
event within its real-life context
can be positivist, interpretive, or critical
In IS research:
the study of information systems in
organisations (not just technical issues)
Basic methods:
interview, observation, document analysis

23. Ethnography Social and cultural anthropology
Explicit interest in understanding social practices and interactions in diverse communities as they unfold in everyday life.
It seeks descriptions of what people do rather than what they say they do
Ethnographers immerse themselves in the world / lives of the people they study
Understanding the informants’ point of view
Basic methods: participant observation,
interview
Field notes are essential in ethnography

24. Grounded Theory
”Grounded theory is a methodology that seeks to construct theory about issues of importance in peoples’ lives” (Mills et al. 2006: 26).
Building theory from data.
Enter the field with as few pre-determined ideas about what to find there as possible
Avoid hypotheses
Sensitivity to the data, but not tabula rasa
Techniques of grounded theory:
Special emphasis on continuous interplay between data collection and analysis
Asking questions aimed at exploring properties, connections, similarities and dissimilarities.
Developing gradually more abstract ideas from the data

25. Action Research
Collaboration with a group of people experiencing a problem
Researchers help to find what the problem is and implement possible solutions
An iterative cycle:
diagnosing a problem, action planning, action taking, implementing, and evaluating outcomes.
Evaluation may lead to a new diagnosis, cycle is repeated.
Contribution to practical concerns in parallell
with theory building
Vision: researchers have a vision on how the reality should be – not value free
Action research can be both positivist, interpretive, and critical
(Myers living version)
Susman 1983 in Baskerville et al. 2002

26. Design Research User centered design Participatory design
Research through design
Methods:
Design workshops, user experiments, ..

27. METHODS
While paradigms are philosophical assumptions about the world and methodologies are strategies for gaining knowledge about it, methods are techniques for generating data.
Observation: passive and participant (naturally occurring settings)
Document analysis: e.g., screen dumps, newspapers, letters, agreements, brochures
Interviews: structured, semi-structured , open- ended (not naturally occurring settings)
Video and audio-tapes can be studied over and over and be transcribed
Note taking: Describe what you observe/encounter/hear/smell/engage in. Remember: date, time, place, persons present (roles, occupation, affiliation).
Design workshops.
(Crang & Cook 2007, Blomberg et al. 1993, Silverman 2005)

29. Researcher’s reflexivity
Do we see the same regardless of who we are and where we come from?
Positivist paradigm: We will see the same if we use proper methods for data collection and analysis.
Interpretive and critical paradigms: Knowledge about how people make sense of and experience the world can only be accessed through representations (e.g., language).
Your previous experiences will influence
how you interpret what you encounter.
How you appear to the informants will influence how they relate to you as a researcher.

30. Conducting field work + analyzing field material
What are people doing? What are they trying to accomplish?
How, exactly, do they do this? What specific means and/or strategies do they use?
How do members talk about, characterize, and understand what is going on?
Which assumptions are they making?
What do I see going on here? What did I learn from these notes?
(Emerson et al. 1995:146)

31. How it connects paradigms methodologies methods
Researchers have different philosophical assumptions (paradigms) about the world: how we are to understand it, and how we are to study it. This has lead to different strategies of inquiry (methodologies) and to different ways of approaching how we gather empirical material and analyze it (methods).
paradigms methodologies methods
Philosophical assumptions
Methodology
Method
data
Analysis/design
Research questions

32. Group discussion Identify and describe the three paradigms
Get to know each others’ academic background:
Do you have a special affiliation with one of the paradigms?
Are you particularly familiar, or interested in, one of them?