1. Coye Cheshire & Andrew Fiore June 28, 2015 // Computer-Mediated Communication Defining and Justifying Problems

2. 6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore1 Just to Recap… Symbols versus Emblems, Signs

3. 6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore2 Our Focus Today: What makes a good research problem? Research Questions for Theoretical Development Research Questions for Practical Application

4. 6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore3 How Research is Supposed to Work ProblemMethod Data Collection Support or Reject Hypotheses How Research Really Works…

5. 6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore4 Knowledge Claims Strategies of Inquiry Methods Qualitative Quantitative Mixed Methods Questions Data collection Data analysis Elements of Inquiry Approaches to Research Design Process Adapted from (Creswell 2003)

6. 6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore5 Knowledge Claims Assumptions about how and what we intend to learn during a study. (i.e., empirical science, advocacy, constructivism, pragmatic)

7. 6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore6 What is the Purpose of Research?

8. 6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore7 Increasing Knowledge Within a Discipline or Area of Study For Theory Development Practical Application Developing Research Tools

9. 6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore8 Increase Knowledge as a Consumer of Research Understanding the methods used by researchers in your field of interest Checking the results of interesting or controversial studies

10. 6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore9 Defining Problems  What is an example research problem? “an interrogative sentence or statement that asks: What relation exists between two or more concepts?”  What is an example design problem? “an interrogative sentence or statement that asks: What elements of a given system affect (or might affect) the behavior(s) of users, and in what specific ways?”

11. 6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore10 Characteristics of good problems 1)Should state the concepts to be related clearly and unambiguously 2)Should be testable (or constructible)– even if you don’t test it or build it!

12. 6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore11 Specific Criteria for a Problem  What are we going to learn as the result of the proposed project that we do not know now?  Why is it worth knowing?  How will we know that the conclusions are valid?

13. 6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore12 The Research Question: Common Mistakes  Very broad area of interest  Too narrow  Cannot be measured  Problem is trivial or already understood

14. 6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore13 Problem: Too Broad “I want to understand how trust develops on IRC or IM chat programs” “What factors influence the use of an interface?”

15. 6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore14 Problem: Too Narrow “Do new students use Facebook more than older students?”

16. 6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore15 Problem: Cannot be Measured “Do Wiki’s make the world a better place?”

17. 6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore16 Problem: Trivial or Previously Answered Research Questions WHY we actually use literature– even in applied, business, or exploratory research.