Research Methodology

Part I
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CHAPTER 4 – RESEARCH METHODS

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 References of Key Material Used
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1. Michael D. Myers. Qualitative Research in Information Systems. MIS
Quarterly. 2009. http://www.qual.auckland.ac.nz/
2. Quantitative Methods.
http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/qmss/samples_and_sampling/introduction.h
tml
3. Graham Birley and Neil Moreland.: A Practical Guide to Academic Research.
Biddles Ltd 1998. ISBN 0749422777
4. Sallant, P., Dillman D. A.: How to Conduct your own Survey. John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. New York. (1994) ISBN 0471012734
5. Salkind. Exploring Research. Pearson International. 2009
6. Wieringa, R.: Design Science Research Methodology: Principles and Practice.
Tutorial/Masterclass on Design Science methodology, School for Information
and Knowledge Systems (SIKS), Netherlands (2010)
7. Brinkkemper, S.: Method Engineering -- Engineering of Information Systems
Development Methods and Tools. Information and Software Technology. 38,
275-–280 (1996)
 Outline of chapter 4
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1. Research Method vs. Research Methodology

2. Research Methods
3. Conducting Research Survey: Determining Your
Desired Confidence Interval, Acceptable Sampling
Error, Required Sample Size, and Suitable Sampling
Method
4. Data Collection Methods and Techniques
5. Data Collection Exercise – mandatory participation
 Research Methodology vs. Research Method
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 The variety (and complexity) of research situations and

issues requires researchers to be familiar with a fairly
wide range of research methodologies and methods.
 Research Methodology
 Coherent collection of theories, concepts, or ideas as they relate to a
particular discipline or field of inquiry (Wikipedia’s definition).
 Methodology includes the (research) methods used, and the
justification for and assumptions underpinning in a particular study.
 Research method, a strategy of inquiry which moves from the
underlying assumptions to research design/plan and data
collection.
 So what exactly am I expected to do under
research methodology section? (1)
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 Describe how you will achieve the research objectives

that you defined in section 1 of your proposal.
 If it is a report that you are writing then describe what you did to
achieve the objectives that you aimed at addressing.
 Research Methodology discusses the following:
 Research methods used (or to be used)
 Data collection methods, techniques, tools
 Data processing/analysis methods, techniques, tools
 Testing and validation methods or techniques used
 So what exactly am I expected to do under
research methodology section? (2)
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# Objectives How to achieve objective/ how

objective was achieved
1 My first objective Method or technique or tool used

2 My second Method or technique or tool used

objective
3 My third Method or technique or tool used
objective
4 My fourth Method or technique or tool used
objective
 Research Methods (1)
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 Methods used in research differ from discipline to

discipline, but can be generally categorized into:
1. Qualitative methods
2. Quantitative methods
• Triangulation (or integrated) approach uses both qualitative
& quantitative research methods.
 Qualitative methods
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▪ Qualitative methods are used to manage qualitative data
for understanding and explaining social phenomena. e.g.
data from interviews, documents, and participant
observation data.
 Qualitative methods include:
 Case study,
 Action research,
 Ethnography, and
 Grounded theory.
 Quantitative methods
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 Quantitative methods are used to study natural phenomena.

• Quantitative methods include:
 Survey methods,
 Laboratory experiments,
 Numerical methods (e.g. mathematical
modeling), &
 Formal methods (e.g. econometrics)
 Brief definitions of the methods (1)

 Case study: typically applied in socially related research. It

involves an in-depth study of a single individual, group, incident,
or community.
 The researcher gives the research product to others to use it
in the field to achieve some goals.
 Action research: A reflective process of progressive problem
solving led individuals working with others in teams, or as part of
a community of practice to improve the ways they address issues
and solve problems.
 The researcher uses the research product in the field to
achieve some goals.
 Brief definitions of the methods (2)

 Ethnography: A study of culture and cultural processes that uses

multiple ways to research, observe, and document objects such as
people, events, or artifacts. Ethnography is systematic and often
uses fieldwork.
 Fieldwork is the collection of information outside of a laboratory, library
or workplace setting. The approaches and methods used in field research
varies across disciplines.
 In basic terms ethnography is the practice of
anthropological research based on direct observation of and
reportage on people's way of life.
For the ethnographer there are two stages,
 Fieldwork, which is the process of observing and recording data.
 Production of a written description and analysis of the subject under study.
 Brief definitions of the methods (3)
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An ethnographer spends a significant amount of time in the


field with his/her subjects – he immerses himself in the lives
of the people he/she is studying.
 Grounded theory: a systematic research method in social
sciences emphasizing generation of theory from data gathered in
the process of conducting research.
 Grounded theory is a practice of developing other theories
that emerge from observing a group.
 Theories are grounded in the group’s observable experiences,
but researchers add their own insight into why those
experiences exist.

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 How do you do Grounded Theory? Cont….
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The methodological stages are:
1. Identify your substantive area - your area of interest.
2. Collect data pertaining to the substantive area. A Grounded Theory
may use qualitative data, quantitative data or a mixture of the two.
Thus data types include but are not restricted to
3. Collect observations of the substantive area and activities occurring
within the substantive area;
4. Access public or private record irrespective of form (e.g.
photograph, painting, sculpture, survey, government or
organizational document, etc.)
5. Interact with individuals or a group of individuals, face-to-face or
remotely.

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 How do you do Grounded Theory? Cont….
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1. Open code your data as you collect it. Open coding and data
collection are integrated activities thus the data collection stage and
open coding stage occur simultaneously and continue until the core
category is recognized/ selected.
2. Write memos throughout the entire process;
3. Conduct selective coding and theoretical sampling.
4. Sort your memos and find the Theoretical Code(s) which best
organizes your substantive codes
5. Read related literature and integrate it with your theory through
selective coding.
6. Write up your theory.

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 Brief definitions of the methods (4)

 Survey methods: research method in which

questionnaires or interview guides are used to gather
data about people and their thoughts and behaviors.
 Brief definitions of the methods (3)

 Experiments: typical research method used in natural sciences. It

may involve definition of theoretical hypothesis, selection of
sample, allocation of sample, control on other variables.
 Lab demo: Researcher uses product on realistic example in
artificial environment
 Field demo: designer or researcher uses prototype/product in
the field
 Lab experiment: Others use product in artificial, controlled
conditions to achieve goals set by researcher
 Field experiment: Researcher gives the research product to
others to use it under controlled conditions, to achieve goals set
by researcher.
 Method vs Technique vs Tool
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 A method is an approach to perform a systems

development project, based on a specific way of
thinking, consisting of directions and rules,
structured in a systematic way in development
activities with corresponding development products.
 A technique is a procedure, possibly with a
prescribed notation, to perform a development
activity.
 A tool is a possibly automated means to support a
part of a development process.

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 Types of Data
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1. Primary Data
▪Refers to raw data that is collected about phenomena
of interest from the specimen of interest.
▪ Primary data is collected using various research
methods
2. Secondary Data (or information)
▪ Refers to information (or processed data) that is
reported in scholarly materials
▪ Secondary data is collected through literature review
or archival research method
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 Data Collection techniques and tools
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 Library search/literature review/archiving: requires you to

have a review/reading plan.
 Interviews: conducted using an interview guide and/or audio
recording and video recording
 Questionnaire survey: conducted using questionnaires.
 Observation: best conducted using an observation guide and/or
audio recording and video recording
 Focus group discussions: These require you to have a detailed
agenda of what the group will do. You can use various tools
such as flip charts, audio recording and video recording, etc
 Class (Reading) Task 4(a)
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 How do I design a good interview guide? [Hint: Read

about characteristics of a good interview guide.]
 How do I design a good questionnaire? [Hint: Read
about characteristics of a good questionnaire.]
 How do I prepare a good observation guide or
checklist? [Hint: Read about characteristics of a good
observation guide.]
 What are the advantages and disadvantages of
each of the listed data collection techniques?
 Summary on research methodology
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 Research methodology is usually the title of the third section

of your proposal, or of the third chapter of your report.
 It shows how research objectives will be (or were) achieved:
 how data collection was done (which methods were used to
collect data and why?),
 how systems analysis and design was done (which tools and
techniques were used to analyze and design the desired
system)
 How was system implementation done (which technologies
were used to implement the desired system?)
 How was testing and validation done? (which methods or
techniques were used to test and validate the system?)
 Class Task 4(b)
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 Which research method, or data collection technique

and tool are appropriate for use so as to solve the
problem argued in your group proposal?
 Draw a summary table showing how your
objectives will be achieved. In other words
describe the research methods, techniques, and
tools that you will use to achieve the objectives.
Remember to justify your choices.

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