1 IS8004 – Seminar 4 Proposal Initiation Issues in the Field and Anthropology.

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IS8004 – Seminar 4

Proposal Initiation

Issues in the Field and Anthropology

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Syllabus Requirement

Proposal Development (30%): Each student is required to develop a research proposal founded on a qualitative research methodology, demonstrating their ability to solve research problems.

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The Time to Think is Now

Developing a good proposal takes time You need time to reflect, to think, to create, to

imagine What kind of research question, which method,

what data? What are the hoped-for outcomes? Please start to do this now. In week 8, you will need to make a 10-minute

presentation of your initial proposal ideas

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Learning Objectives Today

To explore issues associated with doing field research

This is primarily for qualitative research, though it applies to quantitative as well

To try and ensure that things don’t go wrong!

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Origins

Field research has a long history in cultural anthropology– Where the researcher goes to live with a culturally

interesting group of people and learn their way of life

– Two ‘nice’ human examples: Philippe Descola’s account of life in the Ecuadorean jungle

with the Achuar from 1976-78 Robert Klitzman’s account of kuru, cannibalism and mad

cow disease in Papua New Guinea in 1972

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Alternatively

Jane Goodall’s research into Chimpanzee behaviour in Gombe forest, Tanzania

Birute Galdikas’ research into Orang-Utan behaviour in Indonesia

Similar work with elephants, macaques, baboons, bonobos, etc.

This is zoology, not anthropology – but it is still field research

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In Information Systems

Anthropology is also an accepted research method – and most field research in IS involves some aspect of anthropological technique

Avison and Myers (1995) Klein and Myers (2000)

– A Set of Principles for Conducting and Evaluating Interpretive Field Studies in Information Systems, MISQ.

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Issues in Field Research

Contacting Organisations Respecting and Working with Organisations Studying and Observing Organisations Reporting and Publishing Findings Legal and Ethical Issues

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Contacting Organisations 1

You have your research question, you think you know which method (but you might change your mind later), you know (perhaps) what kind of data you want

Now you have to find an organisation where you can try out your ideas, collect the data, see if your plans are doing to work

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Where do you start?– This is a huge problem!

Most PhD students don’t have very good contacts in organisations– Or at least they think they don’t

But there are some routes to explore… which leverage your (or your family’s) guanxi.

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Who do you know?– Friends, classmates?– Family connections?– Supervisor connections

Be careful. The supervisor will not want to trouble his connections with ‘nonsense’ so you must plan carefully

Who could you know?– Who could be available and how could you get to

meet them?

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EMBA, MBA and DBA students can be a good source of contacts

Find out who is teaching these people and ask if you can take 10 minutes of their class time to talk to them

You have 10 minutes to sell your ideas – and yourself.

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Sell??? These people are busy and have short term thinking They might be interested – can you persuade them? What would motivate them to be interested? Think of what value you can create for them So, it is not just that you want to study something, but

you also want to contribute something to them This means that when they work with you, then they

get something out of you as well.

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If none of these work, then you can try cold calling – by phone, letter, email

You still have to sell yourself and your ideas You need to tell them enough so that they think it is

worthwhile to spend 30 mins of their time in a face-to-face meeting with you

If they like your ideas, the 30 mins can be extended. If not, it will be 5 minutes and polite ‘no thank you’.

Cold calling has low success rates.– When I did my PhD, I sent 100 letters to get one +ve reply– Perhaps I did not sell myself very well?

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Respecting and Working With Organisations 1

Once you are in, you don’t want to be asked to leave! So, you must follow their rules, procedures and

expectations If a meeting is scheduled at 0900, plan to be there at

0845. If a meeting is cancelled, don’t complain – just set up

another time. Remember, they are the busy business people. You

are not.

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You need to set up protocols for how you will work with the organisation

You need to have a contact person – ideally a senior person

There has to be an agreement (NDA) between both parties about how to work.

This agreement may be formal or informal, signed or not.

The agreement should cover issues like access to people, data, meetings, documents – and also how you can report these things

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It is probably better to keep a low profile, to be unobtrusive, not to get in the way, not to obstruct

You are there to learn, to observe, to collect data – but not to criticise or offer too many opinions – unless they ask you explicitly

You will get better quality data if people forget that you are a researcher – and behave normally.

So don’t draw too much attention to yourself. Blend in, become invisible as an outsider.

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Studying and Observing Organisations 1

You need to keep your research questions in mind all the time– And collect data that is going to help you to answer

those questions You need to restrict yourself to what you

agreed to with the organisation– If you want to do something different, you need

permission

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You need to respect the privacy of individual employees– Yes, feel free to write down what they say, but try to

disguise their identities– If they give you private or confidential data, use it

carefully– You will have to be sure that you do not violate the

organisation’s or individual’s confidentiality

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You need to build up a body of evidence that will answer your research questions

This may take some time – so don’t give up Be alert to unexpected findings

– That challenge existing theory– That challenge your preconceived ideas– That do not fit what you thought you would find

Try to keep an open mind at all times– Don’t jump to conclusions

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Keep very careful notes of what you do It is very easy to forget a conversation

– and then it is lost Every day, write up notes in detail You may need to go back to someone to ask a

question to clarify a situation– Your notes will help you to do that – if you have

them

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Reflect on theory as you go Does what you are observing

– Fit, violate, extend the theory? Is there a need for a new theory

– Yes, even though this is not your intended contribution, you may identify the opportunity to develop a new theory

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Serendipity!– Be aware of the possibilities offered by unexpected,

unsought findings You may have planned 1-2 papers, but there

could be more– We will discuss this more in a later class

Remember, imagination is the limit of possibility

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7 Principles for Interpretive (Hermeneutic) IS Research

The fundamental principle of the hermeneutic circle

The principle of contextualisation The principle of interaction between the

researcher and subjects The principle of abstraction and generalisation The principle of dialogical reasoning The principle of multiple interpretations The principle of suspicion

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The Fundamental Principle of the Hermeneutic Circle

All human understanding comes from iterating between the independent meaning of the parts, and the whole.

Each data item has meaning independently, yet each data item also contributes to the whole picture.

We must iterate continually until we have a well developed and justified understanding

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The Principle of Contextualisation

It is necessary to engage in a critical reflection on the social and historical background of the research context

The audience must be able to see how the current situation has evolved over time

Which old ideas are still influencing today’s practices? Or are still embedded in work routines?

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The Principle of Interaction between the Researcher and Subjects

Critical reflection on the way in which the research materials (data, interviews, etc.) were socially constructed through the interaction between the researcher and the subjects

By questioning your assumptions, by recognising your biases, so you may achieve a better understanding of the world in which the subjects live

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The Principle of Abstraction and Generalisation

It is necessary to relate the idiographic details obtained through the data collection and interpretation to theoretical and general concepts that explain human behaviour

It is conventional to relate to existing theory, but in the case of grounded theory, a new theory may be developed.

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The Principle of Dialogical Reasoning

It is necessary to be sensitive to any discrepancies that may arise between the theoretical preconceptions guiding the research design and the actual findings (data).

Thus, the researcher must engage in a dialogue between the theory and the data

If discrepancies arise, then the theory may have to change or be reinformed

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The Principle of Multiple Interpretations

There may be differences of interpretation about events between multiple data subjects / participants

This may happen even when the participants are describing the same event as they may see it differently

For instance, different employees may have different expectations for a project

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The Principle of Suspicion

It is necessary to be sensitive to the biases and even systematic distortions introduced by participants in their narratives

All participants are likely to be biased However, some may deliberately introduce

facetious, outlandish or sarcastic remarks that may be fruitful for metaphorical analysis, but should not be taken literally.

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Reporting and Publishing Findings 1

When you first talk to an organisation, you have to make it clear that as an academic, you need to publish your findings

However, you can anonymise the company (change the name) if they prefer that– Some companies like to be identified since the project may

gain them positive publicity You need to represent your findings carefully

– So that you tell the truth about what you found– You do not distort the facts to suit your needs– This is why you must document your notes and thoughts

carefully and continually

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Reporting and Publishing Findings 2

The organisation might object to what you wrote – and might ask for it to be changed

Well, that could be reasonable. Now you need to negotiate.– Can you aggregate more?– Can you anonymise more?– Can you modify a bit – but not too much?

But you can avoid this situation by ensuring that the organisation knows what is going on all the time

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Legal and Ethical Issues 1

Privacy– Data subjects have the right to privacy

CityU code of research conduct + HK data privacy laws Always get explicit approval from the people described in the data

– before you collect / analyse it

Confidentiality– The organisation has a legitimate right to protect its

information and knowledge assets– So, you can publish, but you must clear content with the

organisation first

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Legal and Ethical Issues 2

NDA – Non Disclosure Agreements are common – and legally binding– They can sue you for breach of contract if you

knowingly violate the agreement You should keep all data secure

– Restricted access to project members– Do not give to unauthorised others– Destroy when no longer needed

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References

Avison, D.E. and Myers, M.D. (1995) Information Systems and Anthropology: An Anthropological Perspective on IT and Organizational Culture, IT & People, 8, 3, 43-56.

Descola, P. (1996) The Spears of Twilight (originally in French as Les Lances du Crépuscule).

Galdikas, B.M.F. (1994) Reflections of Eden Goodall, J. (1971) In the Shadow of Man Klitzman, R. (2001) The Trembling Mountain: Kuru, Cannibalism

and Mad Cow Disease. Klein, H.K. and Myers, M.D. (2000) A Set of Principles for

Conducting and Evaluating Interpretive Field Research in Information Systems, MIS Quarterly, 23, 1, 67-94

1 IS8004 – Seminar 4 Proposal Initiation Issues in the Field and Anthropology.

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