framing the research: the dark art of asking interesting questions

Córais Faisnéise Bainistíochta

Scoil Ghnó Lochlann Uí Chuinn

An Coláiste Ollscoile, BÁC 4

Éire

Management Information Systems

Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School

University College Dublin

Ireland © UCD 2015

IS Research SeminarFraming the research: the dark art of asking interesting questions

Dr Niamh O Riordan

Lecturer in Information Systems and Organisation

UCD College of Business,

University College Dublin.

© Niamh O Riordan 2015

Agenda and format

1. Introduction: Framing. Interesting. Questions.

2. The beginner’s guide

3. A dark art?

4. Some key points

5. A more formal view

6. Strategies and tactics

7. The proof of the pudding


1. INTRODUCTION


Framing. Interesting. Questions.

The way you frame the problem shapes everything that follows

Beach, 1997



Interesting

means unexpected— “interesting research piques your curiosity, it induces a pause for contemplation, and most importantly, it contradicts how you think about the world” – Cachon (2012)



Question

a sentence worded or expressed so as to elicit information

“To ask the 'right' question is far more important than to receive the

answer. The solution of a problem lies in the understanding of the

problem; the answer is not outside the problem, it is in the problem.”

― Jiddu Krishnamurti, The Flight of the Eagle

“Judge a man (sic) by his questions rather than by his answers.” - Voltaire


What’s interesting to you?


2. THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE


A high-quality manuscript is akin to a well-told story about a

phenomenon of interest, why it is important, what compelling gap

exists about the phenomenon that requires research to be conducted,

and why conducting the research will make a meaningful contribution

to existing scholarship.

The elements associated with a solid storyline include a comprehensive

review of the literature to establish the “legal case” for the study, a

theoretical and/or conceptual underpinning that provides a foundation

for the study, a detailed design section that provides the complete

“recipe” regarding the design of the study, the sample, the data

collections approaches, the analysis approaches, and a clear and logical

presentation of the study’s findings.

Equally important is a discussion situated within the existing literature

that helps readers to better understand and assess the study’s

contributions. Finally, a high-quality manuscript will address limitations

and offer implications for practice, theory, and future research

(Ellinger et al., 2013)

The acid tests

We’ll know it when we see it


A research question guides and centers your research. It should be clear and focused, as well as synthesize multiple sources to present your unique argument

1. Is the research question something I/others care about? Is it arguable?

1. Is the research question a new spin on an old idea, or does it solve a problem?

1. Is it too broad or too narrow?

2. Is the research question researchable within the given time frame and location?

3. What information is needed?

Source: http://twp.duke.edu/uploads/media_items/research-questions.original.pdf

The acid tests


The acid tests


A word of warning

Source: Davis (1971)


3. A DARK ART?Framing. Interesting. Questions


Framing the research

Using rhetorical devices

Rhetoric (pronounced /ˈrɛtərɪk/) aims to improve the capability

of writers or speakers to inform, persuade, or motivate

particular audiences in specific situations

“Interesting papers do not just happen, they are crafted so that it is

clear to the reader why they are interesting” – Cachon (2012)



To engage a particular audience



About a particular discourse

Discourse

System of thoughts composed of ideas, attitudes, courses of

action, beliefs and practices that systematically constructs the

subjects and the worlds of which it speaks - Iara Lessa


4. SOME KEY POINTSFraming. Interesting. Questions



Some key points

1. The research question is a matter of design



Some key points

2. The research question is tied to the topic



Some key points

3. The research question is tied to method

“May it be a light to you in dark places, when all

other lights go out.”



Some key points

4. The research question is tied to theory

Source: Gregor (2006)


Source: Gregor (2006)



Some key points

5. Answering the question must matter

Authors should argue research implications explicitly and persuasively

(Kilduff, 2007)

What kind of contribution do you hope to make?

• Definitions

• Descriptions

• Roadmaps

• Models

• Theories

(Source: Davis, 1971)


5. A MORE FORMAL VIEWFraming. Interesting. Questions


A more formal view

Cachon (2012)

Interesting means unexpected — interesting research piques your

curiosity, it induces a pause for contemplation, and most importantly, it

contradicts how you think about the world. Interesting research reveals

a new perspective on the familiar. It poses a question that has not

been asked before, or it follows an accepted question with a new

answer, an answer that is orthogonal to those that preceded it.

Confirming what is expected to be true is simply not interesting.

Interesting research raises more questions than it answers. It is

controversial. It invokes responses like “that can’t be true” or “this is

obviously incomplete.” Interesting research should initially leave the

reader a little discontent, unnerved, or motivated to prove it wrong or

at least incomplete. This is why it can be hard to publish interesting

research, and really interesting research is rarely accepted

immediately.


A more formal view

Cachon (2012)

It has been my experience that the main idea of an interesting paper

can be described with the following template: “What was thought to be

X is really Y”. Uninteresting papers are unable to offer a short, simple,

and precise version of the above template.

1. What Was Thought to Be Exogenous Is Really Endogenous

2. What Was Thought to Be Complex Is Really Simple

3. What Was Thought to Be Simple Is Really Complex

4. What Was Expected to Be a Small Effect Is Really a Large Effect

5. What Was Thought to Be a Large Effect Is Really a Small Effect

6. What Was Thought to Be a Large Effect Is Really Much Larger

7. What Was Thought to Be Easy Is Really Hard

8. What Was Assumed to Not Be a Problem Is Really a Problem

9. What Should Improve Performance Really Harms Performance


A more formal view

Cachon (2012)

Interesting x Important = Impact

Although interesting is desirable, and surely necessary, I contend that

it is not sufficient. We want research to also be “important”—important

research is useful, either for the creation of more research or, better

still, for the utility of society. To be useful, research generally must be

broadly applicable, or at least applicable in a domain of significance. Is

that it? We only want interesting and important research? What about

being correct? Shouldn’t a result also be “true”? Strictly speaking,

interesting does not need to be true.


A more formal view

Davis (1971)

• A theorist is considered great, not because his theories are true, but

because they are interesting… Interesting theories are those which

deny certain assumptions of their audience, while noninteresting

theories are those which affirm certain assumptions of their

audience…

• A new theory will be noticed only when it denies an old truth: The

interesting is something which affects the attention. If the defining

characteristic of anything which some audience considers interesting

is that it stands out in their attention in contrast to the routinized

taken-for-granted world of their everyday life, then the defining

characteristic of a theory which some audience considers interesting

is that it stands out in their attention in contrast to the web of

routinely taken-for-granted propositions which make up the

theoretical structure of the everyday life.


A more formal view

Davis (1971)

• All interesting theories constitute an attack on the taken-for-granted

world of their audience. If it does not challenge but merely confirms

one of their taken-for-granted beliefs, they will… declare that the

proposition need not be stated:… “of course”. “That’s obvious”. “It

goes without saying”.

• All of the interesting propositions I examined were found to involve

the radical distinction between seeming and being, between the

subject of phenomenology and the subject of ontology… All of the

interesting propositions I examined were easily translatable into the

form: “What seems to be X is in reality non-X”, or “What is accepted

as X is actually non-X” (Davis, 1971)


A more formal view

Davis (1971)


6. STRATEGIES AND TACTICSFor framing interesting questions



Strategies and tactics

Challenge assumptions

“Assumptions are dangerous things to make, and like all dangerous things

to make -- bombs, for instance, or strawberry shortcake -- if you make

even the tiniest mistake you can find yourself in terrible trouble. Making

assumptions simply means believing things are a certain way with little or

no evidence that shows you are correct, and you can see at once how this

can lead to terrible trouble. For instance, one morning you might wake up

and make the assumption that your bed was in the same place that it

always was, even though you would have no real evidence that this was

so. But when you got out of your bed, you might discover that it had

floated out to sea, and now you would be in terrible trouble all because of

the incorrect assumption that you'd made. You can see that it is better

not to make too many assumptions, particularly in the morning.”

― Lemony Snicket, The Austere Academy




Source: Alevson and Sandberg (2011)




Know thy journal, know thy journal editor

Kilduff (2007):

• We are interested in theory papers

• We don't publish papers targeted at practitioners

• AMR does not publish empirical research

• AMR is not an outlet for synopses of the work of great thinkers

• We want AMR to be the first-choice journal for your very best

conceptual papers. Writing theory is hard work - it is necessary to

offer important and original ideas that are well-structured and that

have been subjected to careful criticism by colleagues to sharpen

clarity, logic, vividness, precision, succinctness, and surprise




Ask and ye shall receive

– What questions have already been asked? Special issues

– What questions have already been answered? Reverse engineering




Seek and ye shall find




“If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough”

I use A5 paper, powerpoint presentations and structured abstracts


References

• Alvesson, M., & Sandberg, J. (2011). Generating research questions through problematization.

Academy of Management Review, 36(2), 247-271.

• Alvesson, M., & Sandberg, J. (2013). Has management studies lost its way? Ideas for more

imaginative and innovative research. Journal of Management Studies, 50(1), 128-152.

• Beach, L. R. (1990). Image theory: Decision making in personal and organizational contexts (p.

254). Chichester: Wiley.

• Cachon, G. P. (2012). What Is Interesting in Operations Management?. Manufacturing &

Service Operations Management, 14(2), 166-169.

• Carr, N. G. (2003). IT doesn't matter. Harvard Business Review Review, 38, 24-38.

• Ciborra, C. U. (1997). De profundis? Deconstructing the concept of strategic alignment.

Scandinavian journal of information systems, 9(1), 2.

• Davis, M. S. (1971). That’s interesting. Philosophy of the social sciences, 1(2), 309.

• Gregor, S. (2006). The nature of theory in information systems. MIS Quarterly, 611-642.

• King, A. A., & Baatartogtokh, B. (2015). How Useful is the Theory of Disruptive Innovation?.

MIT Sloan Management Review, 57(1), 77.

• Sandberg, J., & Alvesson, M. (2011). Ways of constructing research questions: gap-spotting or

problematization?. Organization, 18(1), 23-44.

framing the research: the dark art of asking interesting questions

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