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Monday, October 24, 2016
Monday, October 17, 2016
Post-theme 6 : Qualitative and case study research
Lecture + Seminar
My vision upon this theme has changed, in a different way, how I perceive the case study aspect. I think now that a case study is something we do study not because it is related to the matter on hand but because this has something different, a different approach. We want to go deeper into the reflection of this particular case. Will come from this study not general knowledge about the researched field because this is a specific case but it will be more general information that will be contribute knowledge.
Case study is not only about the method you use. This is an help for you to help you get a good research question by looking at what's happening, you find the research opportunity, the right one.
This is more about narrowing the definition of what you look at, but because this is something we understand. And not make it a generalisation, not about that. A case study doesn't have to be constructed by a researcher.
Then, there is several things that needs to be cleared out in a case study or qualitative. The interviews for example. There is a social disability involved making the process of the research blurry and less clear. Meaning that if we come for the wrong reason, as my paper I had, talking about cyberbullying rewarded 20 dollars for the time spent, then people would just come without taking the research seriously, and would answer what they feel like they would need to make the research better from their point of view and not what they really think...
In the presentation of the research "One year free without a car" the subjects had no possible way to misinterpret the study. They were the heart of the thing. So it made the research very mistake proof in that sense.
As opposed to quantitative methods, qualitative method doesn't need a lot of test subjects. Most of the time the number of test subjects is very low. It is even possible to have one possible subject for the study. doesn't mean this is impossible to have a qualitative research with a very high number of test subjects but I think it would take more time to research it... The basic exemple of one subject for a study would be in the medical field with someone that has a specific decease, the only one in the entire world. Therefore the study would be focused on him and would still make for a qualitative study.
My vision upon this theme has changed, in a different way, how I perceive the case study aspect. I think now that a case study is something we do study not because it is related to the matter on hand but because this has something different, a different approach. We want to go deeper into the reflection of this particular case. Will come from this study not general knowledge about the researched field because this is a specific case but it will be more general information that will be contribute knowledge.
Case study is not only about the method you use. This is an help for you to help you get a good research question by looking at what's happening, you find the research opportunity, the right one.
This is more about narrowing the definition of what you look at, but because this is something we understand. And not make it a generalisation, not about that. A case study doesn't have to be constructed by a researcher.
Then, there is several things that needs to be cleared out in a case study or qualitative. The interviews for example. There is a social disability involved making the process of the research blurry and less clear. Meaning that if we come for the wrong reason, as my paper I had, talking about cyberbullying rewarded 20 dollars for the time spent, then people would just come without taking the research seriously, and would answer what they feel like they would need to make the research better from their point of view and not what they really think...
In the presentation of the research "One year free without a car" the subjects had no possible way to misinterpret the study. They were the heart of the thing. So it made the research very mistake proof in that sense.
As opposed to quantitative methods, qualitative method doesn't need a lot of test subjects. Most of the time the number of test subjects is very low. It is even possible to have one possible subject for the study. doesn't mean this is impossible to have a qualitative research with a very high number of test subjects but I think it would take more time to research it... The basic exemple of one subject for a study would be in the medical field with someone that has a specific decease, the only one in the entire world. Therefore the study would be focused on him and would still make for a qualitative study.
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Monday, October 10, 2016
Friday, October 7, 2016
Pre-theme 6 : Qualitative and case study research
Text read :
Maybe you don't want to face it, a perspective on cyberbullying. Impact factor 2.69.
The researchers used a qualitative method in order to acquire data and information about how this subject is percieved in the student community. They mostly used qualitative because a lot of studies has been done using and based only on quantitative method. The benefice being a deeper understanding without any distraction in their way of thinking.
The paper offered a new vision on how the qualitative method needs a better understanding of the definition we are trying to research on. In this case, cyberbullying. If student cannot grasp the idea behind it, what it really represents (And not just the weird dude on the internet) then the research can be cleared from confusion and we can move forward with the research. Because this is kind of a prevention programme and if the risks aren't known or understood, then the prevention doesn't work, useless.
So the main methodological problems was to clear student's head from false idea or bad understanding, then through small group, six groups (from 6 to 10 students) the researchers gathered data on how it was percieved. The importance here was the anonymity that the research provided so the participants were open to discussion and reflection. There were a total of 54 participants, mostly women found through the board at school or information places at the school. Thery were compensated with 25$ for their time. The compensation here may be a methodological problem. In fact, I think it is. Because if we tried to clear the ideas, the definition is for the participant to be pure in their reflection. Telling them they will be compensated with 25$ may altere this idea and students would join the study just for the 25$ and may not give honest answer after all...
Briefly explain to a first year university student what a case study is !
I would go for a definition that shows the difference with the actual researchs. A case study aims to prove a hypothesis based on a specific case. You don't start with a developped hypothesis, just enough to get you started. From that, you find an organisation, company, person that will help you use as a basic to your case study. During this study, you collect data, information, etc from this specific case and you analyse them. They are intimatly related. The ultimate goal is to understand the case in all it's complexity.
Use the "Process of Building Theory from Case Study Research" (Eisenhardt, summarized in Table 1) to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your selected paper.
The researchers used a very well explained definition of their study allowing the participants to have a clear mind and match what they were expecting to do. Therefore, the result shows a wider perspective on the subject studied. Eisenhardt suggested that it is important in order to not confuse the researchers with wrong answers that will blurr the orignal aim. (e.g. GPS in Anders's study) They also gathered information through different channel. This is a very nice thing to do since it doesn't stop the researcher from only point of views. On the other hand, they based their study on only 3 cases. Eiseinhardt recommended that a it should be between 4 to 10 case studies in order to get a better understanding of the situation.
Maybe you don't want to face it, a perspective on cyberbullying. Impact factor 2.69.
- Which qualitative method or methods are used in the paper? Which are the benefits and limitations of using these methods?
- What did you learn about qualitative methods from reading the paper?
- Which are the main methodological problems of the study? How could the use of the qualitative method or methods have been improved?
The researchers used a qualitative method in order to acquire data and information about how this subject is percieved in the student community. They mostly used qualitative because a lot of studies has been done using and based only on quantitative method. The benefice being a deeper understanding without any distraction in their way of thinking.
The paper offered a new vision on how the qualitative method needs a better understanding of the definition we are trying to research on. In this case, cyberbullying. If student cannot grasp the idea behind it, what it really represents (And not just the weird dude on the internet) then the research can be cleared from confusion and we can move forward with the research. Because this is kind of a prevention programme and if the risks aren't known or understood, then the prevention doesn't work, useless.
So the main methodological problems was to clear student's head from false idea or bad understanding, then through small group, six groups (from 6 to 10 students) the researchers gathered data on how it was percieved. The importance here was the anonymity that the research provided so the participants were open to discussion and reflection. There were a total of 54 participants, mostly women found through the board at school or information places at the school. Thery were compensated with 25$ for their time. The compensation here may be a methodological problem. In fact, I think it is. Because if we tried to clear the ideas, the definition is for the participant to be pure in their reflection. Telling them they will be compensated with 25$ may altere this idea and students would join the study just for the 25$ and may not give honest answer after all...
Briefly explain to a first year university student what a case study is !
I would go for a definition that shows the difference with the actual researchs. A case study aims to prove a hypothesis based on a specific case. You don't start with a developped hypothesis, just enough to get you started. From that, you find an organisation, company, person that will help you use as a basic to your case study. During this study, you collect data, information, etc from this specific case and you analyse them. They are intimatly related. The ultimate goal is to understand the case in all it's complexity.
Use the "Process of Building Theory from Case Study Research" (Eisenhardt, summarized in Table 1) to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your selected paper.
The researchers used a very well explained definition of their study allowing the participants to have a clear mind and match what they were expecting to do. Therefore, the result shows a wider perspective on the subject studied. Eisenhardt suggested that it is important in order to not confuse the researchers with wrong answers that will blurr the orignal aim. (e.g. GPS in Anders's study) They also gathered information through different channel. This is a very nice thing to do since it doesn't stop the researcher from only point of views. On the other hand, they based their study on only 3 cases. Eiseinhardt recommended that a it should be between 4 to 10 case studies in order to get a better understanding of the situation.
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Post-theme 5 : Design research
Lecture + seminar
The seminar and the lecture had different purpose or approach on the matter of Design research. The seminar was mostly focus on the empirical data, how to obtain it, what the differences. We came up with my group to the end that there were different type of data, therefore different of empirical data. Most likely the researcher is gonna drives the car by himself so he feels it. It is based on experience upon data we gathered. Those observations and measuring make the empirical data.
One sentence that stayed in my mind is that Collecting empirical data isn't the meaning of doing research. You have to use those data to do research about it.
The seminar and the lecture had different purpose or approach on the matter of Design research. The seminar was mostly focus on the empirical data, how to obtain it, what the differences. We came up with my group to the end that there were different type of data, therefore different of empirical data. Most likely the researcher is gonna drives the car by himself so he feels it. It is based on experience upon data we gathered. Those observations and measuring make the empirical data.
One sentence that stayed in my mind is that Collecting empirical data isn't the meaning of doing research. You have to use those data to do research about it.
Then we went on the Replicability subject. In a lot of cases this is not necessary to replicate, because after few years you cannot replicate in the exact same way. The aim isn't to get the same result but to have more specific group of human, more research. It is not only to understand what one did, but to follow his steps. So you can follow his reasoning. Lots of experiences and research have been made in world war II and they have been really influenced by that time. Knowing that, we can framework their research understand it, replicate it in a very close way in order to understand their reasoning, their train of thought. As I mentioned in the seminar, in that case, the journey is more important than the destination.
When you use design in the process, this is a part of the research.
As a researcher you can choose to add empirical data. In a research you can do a pre study that results as knowledge but this knowledge will be used for the actual research. This is a step by step process. That you have to use research in order to come up with a result, once you have it, it allows you and open the door to a new research that comes up with a new result that you are gonna be able to use for another research, etc. The last research being what you aimed for at the beginning. And this is what the lecturer confessed in writing your research is that you can't come up with all the steps of the ladder you needed to do, but only with the result of your last and actual research. The aim being to be as clear as possible.
As a researcher you can choose to add empirical data. In a research you can do a pre study that results as knowledge but this knowledge will be used for the actual research. This is a step by step process. That you have to use research in order to come up with a result, once you have it, it allows you and open the door to a new research that comes up with a new result that you are gonna be able to use for another research, etc. The last research being what you aimed for at the beginning. And this is what the lecturer confessed in writing your research is that you can't come up with all the steps of the ladder you needed to do, but only with the result of your last and actual research. The aim being to be as clear as possible.
In design research, researchers have to take care about what they use, how they use it and therefore and the test subject will use them (The turn to practice, not the way we thing it would be). For example in Anders's research,The gps would blur the original question. There are some part of the research that have to be removed in order to keep the original question. For example for the gps, it would become the main attention. It needs that the design process doesn't alternate anything or doesn't become to point of attention.
Monday, October 3, 2016
Post-theme 4 : Research
Lecture + seminar
For this theme, we didn't have the seminar to let us reflect more on the matter, but the lecture should have covered the different paths we could be lead to. Basically, the lecture reflected on the research made by Ilias and his co-workers on Drumming in immersive virtual reality. We used his research as a base to explain the concept of researching, how to proceed, what to use and what not.
On the first thing research depends are numerical measurements. They need to have some background, some raw data in order to proceed and understand the principle. As Theory needed it, researches are nothing without them. They are this raw data. In order to acquire them, you can have multiple source of information, such as asking the participants directly using questionnaires with questions pretty simple so they understand and answer the most accurately possible. Measuring through electronic equipment, it allows to have some real and concrete and precise data that we will be able to use to understand the process we are looking for. And finally we can observe the subjects product or the heart of the research under controlled conditions. Allowing us to adjust the conditions according to what we really need or what needs to be change.
Once we have our result, its time to interpret them. Because even if you use a constructed experiments, that you follow all the rules this is not the data that are talking, it doesn't make sense to have those data by themselves. This is still the researchers talking, the ones who built theories based on what they see from the tests.
An important thing to remember in a research is that we can't create our own questionnaires, they need to be approved by a greater instance. if you start a research you will most likely use standards ones, which have been tried and tested in order to be the most accurate possible on the results they wanna show. This allows you to have the right answer and the right kind of data you are looking for. For example there is a difference to be made between independent and dependent variables, the distinction is low. For instance : The time you use to study will affect your grade test. But your grade test will never affect your study time (Maybe for the next exam because you are angry since you got a bad grade after studying a lot, but this is not the point...) So the study time is the Independent variable and the grade test is the dependent variable. Because it doesn't make sense the other way around.
Then the question that comes up to mind is why is a way more used that the other ? I had a friend who built an app for an helping tool in the daily life and he didn't know which type of button to choose between a swiping one, an touch one or an holding one. The three of them had the same actions, but when conducting a research you would want to know, what is the true liked one. So as a researcher you would need to test each buttons, see which one has the more uses. Then understand and ask yourself, why did this one was significantly more used ? Would he have been that used if this were for an other action ? Does the way of interacting in a app depends on the button you are using for a specific action ? Those kind of questions. I find it interesting to understand and really comprehend the WHY.
The research makes a way as a very thorough method that aims to understand why and how to some very specific questions. The more informations we have on what we are looking for, the more understanding we will have of it. And the more understanding of its, the more understanding of all, general knowledge. This is through those research that we understand the world and the humans, how we interact with each other and where we are going.
For this theme, we didn't have the seminar to let us reflect more on the matter, but the lecture should have covered the different paths we could be lead to. Basically, the lecture reflected on the research made by Ilias and his co-workers on Drumming in immersive virtual reality. We used his research as a base to explain the concept of researching, how to proceed, what to use and what not.
On the first thing research depends are numerical measurements. They need to have some background, some raw data in order to proceed and understand the principle. As Theory needed it, researches are nothing without them. They are this raw data. In order to acquire them, you can have multiple source of information, such as asking the participants directly using questionnaires with questions pretty simple so they understand and answer the most accurately possible. Measuring through electronic equipment, it allows to have some real and concrete and precise data that we will be able to use to understand the process we are looking for. And finally we can observe the subjects product or the heart of the research under controlled conditions. Allowing us to adjust the conditions according to what we really need or what needs to be change.
Once we have our result, its time to interpret them. Because even if you use a constructed experiments, that you follow all the rules this is not the data that are talking, it doesn't make sense to have those data by themselves. This is still the researchers talking, the ones who built theories based on what they see from the tests.
An important thing to remember in a research is that we can't create our own questionnaires, they need to be approved by a greater instance. if you start a research you will most likely use standards ones, which have been tried and tested in order to be the most accurate possible on the results they wanna show. This allows you to have the right answer and the right kind of data you are looking for. For example there is a difference to be made between independent and dependent variables, the distinction is low. For instance : The time you use to study will affect your grade test. But your grade test will never affect your study time (Maybe for the next exam because you are angry since you got a bad grade after studying a lot, but this is not the point...) So the study time is the Independent variable and the grade test is the dependent variable. Because it doesn't make sense the other way around.
Then the question that comes up to mind is why is a way more used that the other ? I had a friend who built an app for an helping tool in the daily life and he didn't know which type of button to choose between a swiping one, an touch one or an holding one. The three of them had the same actions, but when conducting a research you would want to know, what is the true liked one. So as a researcher you would need to test each buttons, see which one has the more uses. Then understand and ask yourself, why did this one was significantly more used ? Would he have been that used if this were for an other action ? Does the way of interacting in a app depends on the button you are using for a specific action ? Those kind of questions. I find it interesting to understand and really comprehend the WHY.
The research makes a way as a very thorough method that aims to understand why and how to some very specific questions. The more informations we have on what we are looking for, the more understanding we will have of it. And the more understanding of its, the more understanding of all, general knowledge. This is through those research that we understand the world and the humans, how we interact with each other and where we are going.
And when doing qualitative or quantitative research, never forget to test your questionnaires.
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