CCT 333: Imagining the Audience in a Wired World Class 6: Qualitative Research Methods.
-
Upload
belinda-alice-mitchell -
Category
Documents
-
view
219 -
download
2
Transcript of CCT 333: Imagining the Audience in a Wired World Class 6: Qualitative Research Methods.
Research
• What it is - and what it is not
• Qualitative vs. Quantitative - general differences?
• No “right” answer - triangulation to help verify information
Four personal examples
• IPS - analysis of 1) how school adapted to computers in the classroom and 2) how students could inform design of educational software tools
• FSAE - analysis of how racecar team engaged organizational learning successfully despite 1) having limited resources and 2) turnover 40-66% annually
Four examples cont.
• Global Seminar - online class analyzed through content analysis
• Portsmouth Tavern - analysis of student/townie relations in a local pub
Qualitative Research
• Inquiries for general vs. specific information
• Information in human/social context• Builds and tells a narrative• With respect to design - narrative
structured around informing design (some information minimized)
Methods
• Secondary source research / Content Analysis
• Interviews/Focus Groups
• Case Studies/Grounded Theory
• Ethnography/Observation
• Contextual Inquiry/Action Research
Secondary Source Analysis
• Secondary source - learning from what’s already out there
• Critical reading - what was learned when from whom via what methods - and consequently, what was not learned
• Challenges? Costs?
Content Analysis
• Narrative created through analysis of existing or generated artefacts
• Attempt to find common patterns or occurences
• Structured - either computer-based (e.g., nVivo/NUDIST) or manually (e.g., index cards, whiteboards)
• Challenges? Costs?
Interviews
• Semi-structured discussions with individuals to discover their perspective or opinion
• Should be recorded and analyzed at later date via content analysis
• Challenges? Costs?
Focus Groups
• Collective interview - allows to gain more opinion in same time
• Also generates information via dialogue and debate - especially in homogeneous groups
• Challenges? Costs?
Case Study
• Focusing strongly on one instance - “thick description”
• Goal is not generalizability but transferability - case is unique but can still highlight trends in similar cases
• Can build towards grounded (or intuitive) theory - particularly if other cases confirm
• Challenges? Costs?
Ethnography & Observation
• Learning through observing people and their activities in context
• Ethnography - a more detailed, holistic investigation of people and their social contexts
• Requires empathy but also some degree of neutrality (or else you “go native”)
• Challenges? Costs?
Contextual Inquiry and Action Research
• Often in design, the point is not simply to understand but to influence change
• Contextual inquiry - elements of observation but also elements of changing that which is observed
• Requires buy-in of those in context
• Challenges? Costs?
Flow
• Analysis of flow of information (and its potential breakdown)
• Individuals, roles and groups - and their relations in handling information
Things to consider…
• All potential links, big and small
• Actual actions vs. theoretical (e.g., the org chart problem)
• Automatic actions - things that people do without thinking
• Look for breakdowns
Sequence Models
• Work task representation - flow for tasks
• Intent - what sequence is supposed to do
• Trigger - what sets the sequence in motion
• Steps - how this is done• Breakdowns - problems in procedure
Things to consider…
• Steps that impact performance locally (influence from far away sources)
• Actions or intents that don’t fit the “right” model - breakdowns
• Branches of action - flowchart and decision making
Artefact Model
• The tools and artefacts of process
• Content
• Structure
• Presentation
• Annotation and use over time
Things to consider…
• Artefacts as “captures” of flow and sequence
• Some are less useful or functional than others - but still used - why?
• Change in artefact form, presentation might cause immediate concern or revolt from users?
Cultural Model
• Context and its collective culture
• Influencers - leaders (formal and informal) whose actions carry weight (and those who don’t)
• Extent and direction of influence