CCT 333: Imagining the Audience in a Wired WorldClass 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?

CI Models

• Flow

• Sequence

• Artefact

• Cultural

• Physical

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

Physical Model

• Place and proximity can infleunce flow and sequence

• Physical layout

• Workflow movement diagrams

• Industrial design issues