Copyright, 1995-2002 1 Invitation to Research RECAPITULATION Roger Clarke, Xamax Consultancy, Canberra Visiting 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
42
Embed
Copyright, 1995-2002 1 Invitation to Research RECAPITULATION Roger Clarke, Xamax Consultancy, Canberra Visiting Professor, CSIS, Uni of Hong Kong Visiting.
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Copyright,1995-2002
1
Invitation to Research
RECAPITULATION
Roger Clarke, Xamax Consultancy, CanberraVisiting Professor, CSIS, Uni of Hong Kong
• 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
Copyright,1995-2002
3
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)
Copyright,1995-2002
4
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
Copyright,1995-2002
5
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
Copyright,1995-2002
6
• Data
• Information (Codified)
• Knowledge (Tacit)
• Wisdom
Copyright,1995-2002
7
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
Copyright,1995-2002
8
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
Copyright,1995-2002
9
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)
Copyright,1995-2002
10
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
Copyright,1995-2002
11
• Systems• Models• Cybernetics• Complexity of:
• System• Model• Behaviour
Copyright,1995-2002
12
Categories of Models
• Deterministic Models – Automata• Computable by Analytical Methods• Too Complex to Compute, hence
Self-Determination / Free Wille.g. Humans and Organisations
Copyright,1995-2002
13
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
Copyright,1995-2002
14
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
Copyright,1995-2002
15
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
Copyright,1995-2002
16
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
Copyright,1995-2002
17
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
Copyright,1995-2002
18
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
Copyright,1995-2002
19
‘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:
• 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
Copyright,1995-2002
35
The 3-Year ModelYear 1Year 2Year 3
Copyright,1995-2002
36
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)
Copyright,1995-2002
37
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
Copyright,1995-2002
38
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
Copyright,1995-2002
39
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
Copyright,1995-2002
40
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
Copyright,1995-2002
41
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
Copyright,1995-2002
42
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