1. Intro to Computing Research

2. Research Onion Research Philosophy Research Approach Strategies Time
Horizons
Data Collection

3. Research Philosophy
Your research philosophy depends on the way that you think about knowledge is developed or created, how we gain understanding of things (“epistemology”).
Your way of thinking will affect the way you go about doing research.
Generally, there are two key research philosophies, the positivism and phenomenology.

4. Positivism
Research
Philosophy
Research Approach
Strategies
Time
Horizons
Data Collection
Phenomenology

5. Philosophy - Positivism
You are working with an observable reality. Research can produce laws. Results can be generalised, similar to those produced by natural scientists.
You are working objectively, with little or no personal interpretation of the data.
You need a structured methodology to gain quantitative data which is replicable and can be analysed using stats.

6. Philosophy - Phenomenology
You are researching human behaviour. This may be too complex to follow a definite law in the same way as the natural sciences.
Generalisability is not of crucial importance, since we are focussing on a particular problem or situation
Phenomenology highlights the details of the situation to understand a reality working behind them.

7. Positivism
Research
Philosophy
Research Approach
Strategies
Time
Horizons
Data Collection
Phenomenology

8. The Research Approach Deductive approach: testing theory
Hypotheses
Data
Confirmation
Patterns
Tentative Hypotheses
Deductive
Inductive
Deductive approach:
testing theory
Inductive approach: building theory

9. Deductive vs. Inductive
Deductive Approach
Inductive Approach
Scientific principles
Moving from theory to data
The need to explain causal relationships between variables
The collection of quantitative data
The application of controls to ensure data validity
A highly structured approach
Researcher independence of what is being researched
The necessity to select samples of sufficient size in order to generalise conclusions
Gaining an understanding of the meaning humans attach to events
A close understanding of the research context
The collection of qualitative data
A more flexible structure to permit changes of research emphasis as the research progresses
A realisation that the researcher is part of the research process
Less concern with the need to generalise

10. Positivism
Research
Philosophy
Research Approach
Strategies
Time
Horizons
Data Collection
Deductive
Inductive
Phenomenology

11. Research Strategies

12. Survey Method
The survey method is usually associated with the deductive approach – surveys are “experiments”.
It allows the collection of a large amount of data from a sizeable population in a highly economical way.
It is often conducted on questionnaire to answer those ‘What’ and ‘How’ questions. Its data are standardised and so allow easy comparison.
It gives you more control over the research process, however, it takes time to design and pilot a good questionnaire.

13. Experimental Method
The Experimental Method is a classical form of research that comes from the natural science. The process usually involves:
The definition of a theoretical hypothesis.
Select a sample of a population.
Allocate samples to different experimental conditions.
Introduce planned change on one variable (the “independent” variable).
Measure the change of an associated “dependent” variable.
Control of other variables.

14. Positivism
Research
Philosophy
Research Approach
Strategies
Time
Horizons
Data Collection
Deductive
Experiment
Survey
Grounded Research
Focus Group
Case Study
Ethnography
Inductive
Phenomenology

15. Time Horizons
Consider the amount of time you have, do you want your research to be a ‘snapshot’ or a ‘diary’?
The snapshot reflects the cross-sectional studies.
The diary reflects the longitudinal studies

16. Positivism
Research
Philosophy
Research Approach
Strategies
Time
Horizons
Data Collection
Deductive
Experiment
Cross Sectional
Survey
Grounded Research
Focus Group
Longitudinal
Case Study
Ethnography
Inductive
Phenomenology

17. Types of Data
Quantitative
Qualitative

18. Positivism
Research
Philosophy
Research Approach
Strategies
Time
Horizons
Data Collection
Deductive
Experiment
Cross Sectional
Survey
Quantitative
Grounded Research
Qualitative
Focus Group
Longitudinal
Case Study
Ethnography
Inductive
Phenomenology

19. Stages in a Research Project
Wish to do
Research
Topic,
Questions
Literature
Review
Design
Approaches
Data
Collection
Negotiate
Access
Analysis
Report
Writing
Submitting

20. What is a Computing Independent Study?
Artefact – based
construction of an artefact
primary research on the artefact
Research – based
secondary research via the literature.