copyright, 1995-2002 1 invitation to research recapitulation roger clarke, xamax consultancy,...
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Copyright,1995-2002
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Invitation to Research
RECAPITULATION
Roger Clarke, Xamax Consultancy, CanberraVisiting Professor, CSIS, Uni of Hong Kong
Visiting Fellow, Australian National University
http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/......Res /90-Recap.ppt
ebs, 16-20 January 2003
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Invitation to ResearchObjectives
• Provide candidates with:• Meta-Theory and Theory re the Process of
Research• An Overview of Research Techniques• Practical Guidance re Research Process and
Product• Motivation
• Establish a Common Intellectual Platform to support individual candidates, Professors and Institutes
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Invitation to ResearchSyllabus
• Introduction (1 hr)• Key Insights from the
Philosophy of Science (c. 7 hrs)• Research Techniques (c. 8 hrs)• The Research Process (c. 3 hrs)• Case Study: eBusiness (1 hr)• The Research Product (c. 2 hrs)• Recapitulation (1 hr)
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Invitation to ResearchWhat You Won’t Get From This
Seminar
• Information Specific to Your Particular Discipline
• Details on Specific Research Techniques• Statistical Analysis Techniques• Descriptions of Specific Theories• ...• How to Conduct Your Research Project
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The Conventional Ontological and Epistemological Positions
• Things around me exist• Knowledge that a person has of a thing is not the
thing itself, but rather an internal model of the thing
• That is not inconsistent with the empirical view:we learn about things by sensing or measuring them
• It is also not inconsistent with the apriori view:each person’s perceptual and cognitive apparatus (eyes and ears, optic and auditory nerves, sensory nervous system, brain, etc.) mediate their experience of the external things
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• Data
• Information (Codified)
• Knowledge (Tacit)
• Wisdom
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Communication• Data and Information are not simply
transferrable from one person to another, but are subject to constraints of:
• the sender, e.g. effectors, motivations• the medium, e.g. capacity, noise• the receiver, e.g. perceptive and cognitive
apparatus• Data and Information are expressed in a
Language, often a specialised Dialect, which is subject to lingual and cultural ambiguity
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Recapitulation of the Conventional Assumptions
• There is a reality, outside the human mind• Humans cannot directly capture those things• Humans:
• sense and measure those things• construct an internalised model of them
• The acts of sensing and measurement are enabled by, and constrained by, the human perceptual apparatus (anatomy and physiology) and mental processes
• Knowledge exists at two levels:• within individual humans• captured, expressed, and stored for recovery
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Theory• Formal Theory:
• A coherent group of general propositions that enable a systematic description of Phenomena within a particular Domain (and possibly explanation and even prediction)
• As distinct from Ad Hoc Theory:• A conjectural, as-yet-untested description
• Nets to catch what we call ‘the world’, to rationalise, to explain, and to master it (Popper)
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The Process of Science
• Theory has an ideal form (Axioms, Logic, Inferences, Inferences Operationally Defined)
• A Scientific Theory enables propositions to be generated which are in principle 'Refutable' by comparison against observations of the real world
• A Paradigm (a body of language, shared precepts, theory and methods) enables ‘normal science’, and a ‘program’ develops around it. Anomalies gradually accumulate, and Paradigm Shift occurs
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• Systems• Models• Cybernetics• Complexity of:
• System• Model• Behaviour
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Categories of Models
• Deterministic Models – Automata• Computable by Analytical Methods• Too Complex to Compute, hence
Requiring Numerical Methods• Probabilistic Models• Non-Deterministic / Stochastic
Models• Entities exercising
Self-Determination / Free Wille.g. Humans and Organisations
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The Conventional Scientific Research Process - 6 of 6
Abstract World
Real World
Hypotheses
ResearchDesign
Axioms
DeductiveLogic
Inferences
THEORYThe Research Results
provide feedback to the Theory
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Conventional, Scientific Research Key Features
• Investigates Research Questions within a Domain
• Is driven by theories that:• are founded on axioms• comprise trees of deductive inference• generate refutable Hypotheses
• Is designed to test the Hypotheses• Exercises control over confounding variables• Leads to theory extension or refinement
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Conventional Scientific Research
Meta-Physical Assumptions
• There is a Real World• The phenomena in that Real World are stable• Data gathered by observing the Real World are
factual, truthful and unambiguous• The domain of study is not affected by either
the research, or the researcher• The language in which Theory is expressed is
unambiguous, and contains no value judgements
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Interpretivist ResearchMeta-Physical Assumptions
• The Observer's Perspective is a Factor:• in the selection and formulation of
Theory• in the formulation of Hypotheses• in choices made in the Research Design
process• in the selectiveness of observation • in the process of observation
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Conventional Scientific Research
Data Assumptions
• Data must be Objective• Objective means relatively proximate to Truth• Subjective means relatively distant from
Truth• The notion of Objectivity presumes:
• the existence of Truth• its accessibility by humans
• Objective Data is Quantified Data,i.e. expressed in terms that place it on a scale
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Interpretivist ResearchData Assumptions
• Objectivity, in the sense in which it is used in Scientific Research, is meaningless, because:
• it presumes the existence of a unitary Truth• it presumes that Truth to be accessible by humans• it overlooks the fact that entities within the domain
think they can exercise free will• An Alternative Interpretation:
• Try to identify Researcher Biases• Try to avoid or allow for Researcher Biases• Enable evaluators to assess Researcher Biasses
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‘Critical Theory’-Informed Research
• A More Extreme Reaction against Positivism• Examines Phenomena within Context,
rather than artificially isolating them• Study of Social Life with the intentions of:
• demystifying technological imperatives• challenging managerial rationalism• revealing hidden agendas, the exercise
of power, and manipulation• Attempts Disciplined Reflection
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‘Engineering’ Research
• Make ArtefactsTo enable effective interventions to be undertaken in a particular domain
• Break ArtefactsTo identify the limits of their applicability, effectiveness or usefulness
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Alternative Motivations for Research
• ‘Pure Research’“because it’s there”contribute to abstract, theoretical understanding
• ‘Applied Research’“I have a hammer, so go and find me a nail”
• ‘Instrumentalist Research’“I have a problem, so go and find me a solution”
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The Nature of Research Outcomes
Exploratory• The first depiction of
something newDescriptive• The depiction of a
behaviour or a domainExplanatory• Systemic explanation of
how past behaviours arose
• Ascription of causes to prior occurrences
‘Predictive’• Statement of what
occurrences will arise• Systemic explanation of how
behaviours will arise• Statement and explanation
of the effect particular interventions will have
Normative• Statement of interventions
necessary to achieve desired outcomes
• Statement of desired outcomes
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The Nature of Data(Measurement Scales)
• Quantitative• Ratio a natural zero• Cardinal / Interval no natural zero• Ranked Ordinal sequence (numbers)
• Qualitative• Category Ordinal sequence (text)• Nominal differentiation• Dichotomous it is or it isn’t
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Unit of Analysis
• A Person• An Event• An Object• A Body of Individuals
Group, Organisational Unit, Organisation• A Relationship, e.g. a Dyad• An Aggregate
Census District, Industry Segment or Sector
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AdvertisingBudget
Fashion,WeatherSalesModerating or
Interacting Variables
Cause, orIndependent
Variable
Effect, orDependent
Variable
Competitor’sAd CampaignExtraneous or Confounding
Variables
AdvertisingCampaignIntervening
Variable
Causality ?
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Non-Empirical Research TechniquesA Taxonomy (8)
• Review of Existing Literature• ‘Scholarship’• Conceptual Research
(Contemplative, ‘Armchair’)
• Futurism, especially Delphi Rounds• Scenario-Building• Game-Playing or Role-Playing• Analytical and Simulation Modelling
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Scientific Research Techniques A Taxonomy (3+5)
• Laboratory Experimentation• Field Experimentation and
Quasi-Experimental Designs• Forecasting• ...
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Hermeneutics
• The study of the interpretation of texts
• ‘Text’ is to be understood generically
• Four Approaches:• Conservative• Critical• Dialogical• Radical
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Interpretivist Research Techniques A Taxonomy (5+5)
• Descriptive/Interpretive• Focus Group• Action Research• Ethnographic Research• Grounded Theory• ...
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Research Techniques at the Boundary ofScientific and Interpretivist Research
A Taxonomy (5)
• Field Study• Questionnaire-Based
Survey• Interview-Based Survey• Case Study• Secondary Research
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Questionnaire-Based SurveyThe Traditional, Positivist Model
ResearcherRespondentA carefully standardisedphysical stimulus(e.g. a question)
A responseexpressed in a
standardised formatprovided by the Researcher
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Questionnaire-Based SurveyThe Symbolic Interactionist
ViewEncodes a stimulus,
for a perceived purpose,using presumptions
about respondents, andperceptions of the
respondents’ knowledge
Decodes the stimulus, using presumptions
about the researcher, and perceptions of theresearcher’s purpose
and knowledge
Encodes the response, using presumptions
about the researcher, and perceptions of theresearcher’s purpose
and knowledge
Decodes the response, using presumptions
about respondents, and perceptions of the
respondent’s purpose and knowledge
ResearcherRespondent
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Case Study – Alternative Perspectives
Positivist Orientation
• Theory-Driven• Variables Pre-
Defined• Purposeful
Collection• Quantitative Data• Causality• Replicability
Interpretivist Orientation
• Theory-Driven or Not
• Variables Emerge• A Moderate Focus• Qualitative Data• Understanding• Likely Ambiguity
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Engineering Research Techniques A Taxonomy (5)
• Construction of an Artefact• Conception (based on a body of theory)• Design / Creation / Prototyping /
Demonstration / ‘Proof of Concept’• Metrication of Artefact Usage
• Destruction of an Artefact• Testing• Application
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The 3-Year ModelYear 1Year 2Year 3
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The Importance of Careful and Comprehensive Literature
Review• Stand on the shoulders of others• Participate in ‘normal science’ –
Fix the world later, not in your PhD• Contribute to the cumulative tradition• Avoid accidental re-invention
(although conscious replication is tenable)• If you steal from one author, it’s plagiarism;
if you steal from many, it’s researchAttrib. Wilson Mizner (1876-1933)
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The Proposal – Structure
• Title Page• Introduction• Literature Research
• Annotated Bibliography
• Literature Review• The Research
Question(s)
• The Research Method
• Anticipated Outcomes
• Their Significance• Project Plan• Reference List• Bibliography
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A Warning:Rationality of Product, but not of
Process
In seeking a path to the top of the mountain, I took what seemed like a sensible path. But it turned out to be tortuous and exhausting, with many dead ends.I eventually emerged at the top, tired and hungry, and scratched from head to toe. I then saw ‘a right royal road’ from the valley to the summit of the mountain.I avoided telling my colleagues how I did the climb, instead helping them to find that ‘right, royal road’.
After Poincaré
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Ethical Issues Involving Research Subjects
• Researcher power over subjects• Researcher duplicity regarding
the purposes of the research• Subject de-briefing
• Subject Safety, including against stress• Subject loss of control over personal
space, including their behaviour and their data
• Impact of the results
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Ethical Issues Involving The Researcher
• Conference paper from incomplete research
• Glossed research method• Anticipated outcomes• Citation and authorship• More details required for method,
outcomes• An eerily familiar block of text• Incomplete references
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Research in e-Business Concluding Observations
• A Research Domain, not a Discipline• In need of the insights of multiple disciplines• Ill-served by existing bodies of theory• Breadth and depth are both needed, but
holism and integration are very challenging• A Research Method generally requires several
complementary Research Techniques• Relevance as Objective; Rigour as Constraint• ‘Technology’, Apps, Implications and Policy
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The Concept ‘Dissertation’
• An original, rigorous work of research• Carried out by the candidate
with substantial independence• Developing from a base of knowledge
in the research domain• Applying appropriate techniques
in an appropriate manner• Advancing knowledge in the domain• Presented in a logical fashion