research by design

Interdisciplinary Research by Design

MAIS 796

Paul M. Rogers PhD

George Mason University

You can’t fix through analysis

what is flawed by design.

You can’t fix through analysis

what is flawed by design.

Professional contextsKind of problems

Options in research

Contexts• What counts as

a professional context? What elements make up “the context”

Problems• What kinds of

problems warrant systematic research?

Questions• What do we

need to understand?

What is context?

Situated Global

Industries, Sectors, Clusters, Organizations

Four Major Industries

• Natural Resources – Farming, mining, fishing, logging etc …

• Manufacturing – Processing materials from natural resources

• In-person services – Restaurants, styling salon, janitorial, landscaping, construction, teachers?

• Knowledge work – Scientists, creatives, engineers, architects, writers

Industries, Sectors, Clusters, Organizations

The Citizen Sector

Clusters

Clusters are geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, service providers, and associated institutions in a particular field that are present in a nation or region. Clusters arise because they increase the productivity with which companies can compete.

Professional contextsKind of problems

Options in research

Contexts• What counts as

a professional context? What elements make up “the context”

Problems• What kinds of

problems warrant systematic research?

Questions• What do we

need to understand?

Concrete problems lead to clear questions

From contexts to problems to questions

Professional contextsKind of problems

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From contexts to problems to questions

Professional contextsKind of problems

Options in research

Quantitative Research

otherwise known as

Statistics

random assignment random sample

population mean

median mode

sample external validity

internal validity variable

discrete variable continuous variable

measurement data independent variable

dependent variable frequency distribution

histogram boxplot

measures of central tendency degrees of freedom

standard deviation null hypothesis

hypothesis testing statistical significance

Three types of statistical research

• Descriptive

– Describes the way things are; not why.

• Relational

– Relationships between factors: correlation not causation

• Experimental

– Establish causality through experimentation.

Experimental Studies

• Random selection of subjects

• Use of control groups

• Random assignments to control and experimental groups

• Random assignments of groups to control and experimental conditions

– Greater internal validity, causal claims can be checked

– Less external validity, not very practical

(RAD)

The beauty of experimental studies

comes for the clear inferences you can

draw from the research

Quasi-experimental Studies

• Have control groups, but without random assignment and selection

– Greater external validity

– Easier to carry out

– Less control

– Harder to make causal claims

Qualitative – Quantitative

Multiple variable, synthetic-single variable analytic

Interpretive and impressionistic-numerical

Low control – high control of the research context

Hypothesis generating-hypothesis testing

3 Things to Remember

• Explore many design options before adopting a plan, especially a weak one

• Pay attention to detail

• Conduct yourself respectfully at all times

The importance of research questions

• Well crafted questions guide the systematic planning of research

– Who or what do you want to study?

– How should you collect and filter data?

– What time frame is appropriate for your research?

• influence the choice of research methods

• identify your target population from which you draw your sample

• determine your unit of analysis

• clarify terms

• identify predictors

• determine the type of study you will design

• help you account for different background characteristics

• raise challenges related to data collection

• Influence the number of people, texts, tools, or processes you will study

Research questions …

Influence and possibly determine every facet of your research design

P.S. make sure at the end of the day your project answers your questions

Research questions …

Exercises

• Goal: Articulate a set of research questions

1. Identify, before you begin, the industries, sectors, organizations, people, texts, processes, and/or tools you are most interested in.

2. What practical problems interest you? Why?

3. Make a list of questions that would need to be answered to help inform solutions to the problem? Rank your list in order of importance?