Research methods in information

Fully updated for today's research environments, the long-awaited second edition of Alison Jane Pickard's best-selling handbookincludes brand new coverage of online research methods and techniques, mixed methodology and qualitative analysis. The first primer to focus entirely on the needs of the information and communications community, it guides would-be researchers through the variety of possibilities open to them under the heading "research" and provides students with the confidence to embark on their dissertations. While Pickard summarizes the philosophy and theory of research to provide context, she focuses squarely on a practical exploration of the research process, offering examples and exercises tried and tested over a whole teaching career. This book takes readers through each aspect of the research process, including

The major research paradigms Reviewing the literature Defining the research The research proposal Sampling Research ethics Methods, including case studies, surveys, experimental research, ethnography, Delphi study, action research, historical research and grounded theory Research data management, examined in a new chapter contributed by Professor Julie McLeod, Sue Childs and Elizabeth Loma, which applies evidence from the recent JISC-funded "DATUM" project Collection techniques, including interviews, questionnaires, observation, diaries, focus groups, usability testing, qualitative and quantitative data analysis Software for analysis Virtual research Presenting the research

• Preface to the second edition p. xi
• Acknowledgements p. xiii
• Introduction p. xv
• Setting the context p. xvii
• The research hierarchy p. xvii
• Overview of contents p. xx
• Part 1 Starting the research process p. 1
• 1 Major research paradigms p. 5
• Introduction p. 5
• Positivist research p. 6
• Postpositivism and mixed methods research (MMR) p. 9
• Interpretivist research p. 11
• Qualitative or quantitative methodology? p. 13
• Qualitative research design p. 14
• Quantitative research design p. 18
• Mixed methods research p. 18
• Criteria for judging research p. 20
• Establishing trustworthiness in qualitative research p. 21
• Establishing rigour in quantitative research p. 22
• Summary p. 23
• Practical exercise p. 23
• Suggested further reading p. 24
• 2 Reviewing literature p. 25
• Introduction p. 25
• Information searching and retrieval p. 27
• Evaluation p. 28
• Critical analysis p. 29
• Synthesizing the research: developing a theoretical framework p. 33
• Summary p. 36
• Practical exercise p. 36
• Suggested further reading p. 37
• 3 Defining the research p. 39
• Introduction p. 39
• Designing a conceptual framework p. 40
• The research hypothesis p. 41
• Research aims and objectives p. 44
• Summary p. 47
• Practical exercise p. 47
• Suggested further reading p. 48
• 4 The research proposal p. 49
• Why write a proposal? p. 49
• Structure of a research proposal p. 50
• The proposal as a research framework p. 56
• Summary p. 56
• Practical exercise p. 57
• Suggested further reading p. 58
• 5 Sampling p. 59
• Why sample? p. 59
• Population and sample p. 60
• Probability sampling p. 61
• Purposive sampling p. 64
• Summary p. 66
• Practical exercise p. 87
• Suggested further reading p. 69
• 6 Research Data Management p. 71
• Julie McLeod, Sue Childs and Elizabeth Lomas Introduction - research data and its management challenges p. 71
• Why is research data management important? p. 74
• The research process, data lifecycles and research data management p. 78
• How do I manage my research data? p. 81
• Summary p. 84
• Practical exercise p. 84
• Websites referred to in this chapter p. 85
• Suggested further reading p. 86
• 7 Ethics in research p. 87
• Introduction p. 87
• Gaining access to the field p. 88
• Informed consent p. 89
• Anonymity or confidentiality? p. 92
• Protecting participants p. 93
• Ethics online p. 94
• Summary p. 95
• Practical exercise p. 96
• Suggested further reading p. 96
• Part 2 Research methods p. 07
• 8 Case studies p. 101
• Introduction p. 101
• Phases in case study research p. 103
• Summary p. 108
• Practical exercise p. 110
• Suggested further reading p. 110
• 9 Surveys p. 111
• Introduction p. 111
• Descriptive surveys p. 112
• Explanatory surveys p. 112
• The survey process p. 114
• Summary p. 116
• Practical exercise p. 117
• Suggested further reading p. 117
• 10 Experimental research p. 119
• Introduction p. 119
• The nature of causality p. 120
• The true experiment p. 121
• Quasi-experimental design: the 'effects study' p. 123
• Summary p. 125
• Practical exercise p. 125
• Suggested further reading p. 125
• 11 Usability testing p. 127
• Introduction p. 127
• Quasi-experimental usability studies p. 127
• Cognitive walkthroughs p. 129
• Heuristic evaluation p. 131
• Summary p. 133
• Practical exercise p. 134
• Suggested further reading p. 134
• 12 Ethnography p. 135
• Introduction p. 135
• Components of ethnographic study p. 137
• Virtual ethnography - 'netnography' p. 143
• Ethics in ethnography p. 145
• Summary p. 146
• Practical exercise p. 146
• Suggested further reading p. 147
• 13 Delphi study p. 149
• Introduction p. 149
• The Delphi process p. 150
• Rules of a Delphi study p. 152
• Modifying a Delphi study p. 153
• Delphi studies and new technologies p. 153
• Summary p. 154
• Practical exercise p. 155
• Suggested further reading p. 155
• 14 Action research p. 157
• Introduction p. 157
• The action research cycle p. 158
• Trustworthiness in action research p. 163
• Action research as reflective practice p. 164
• Summary p. 165
• Practical exercise p. 165
• Suggested further reading p. 166
• 15 Historical research p. 167
• Introduction p. 167
• The research process p. 169
• Summary p. 176
• Practical exercise p. 176
• Suggested further reading p. 177
• 16 Grounded theory: method or analysis? p. 179
• Introduction p. 179
• Defining grounded theory p. 180
• Summary p. 186
• Practical exercise p. 187
• Suggested further reading p. 187
• Part 3 Data collection technique p. 189
• 17 Interviews p. 195
• Introduction p. 195
• What is the purpose of an interview? p. 196
• The seven stages of the interview process p. 196
• Online interviewing p. 203
• Summary p. 205
• Practical exercise p. 205
• Suggested further reading p. 206
• 18 Questionnaires p. 207
• Introduction p. 207
• Designing questionnaires p. 208
• Developing questions p. 210
• Scale items p. 211
• Forms of questionnaire p. 222
• Summary p. 223
• Practical exercise p. 224
• Suggested further reading p. 224
• 19 Observation p. 225
• Introduction p. 225
• The role of the observer p. 226
• Recording what you see; going in with signposts p. 231
• Summary p. 232
• Practical exercise p. 232
• Suggested further reading p. 233
• 20 Diaries p. 235
• Introduction p. 235
• The purpose of diaries in research p. 236
• Participant diaries p. 236
• The researcher's log p. 238
• Structure and recording p. 239
• Summary p. 240
• Practical exercise p. 241
• Suggested further reading p. 241
• 21 Focus groups p. 243
• Introduction p. 243
• Purpose of a focus group p. 243
• Organizing a focus group p. 245
• Online focus groups p. 246
• Summary p. 248
• Practical exercise p. 248
• Suggested further reading p. 249
• 22 Analysis of existing, externally created material p. 251 Andrew K. Shenton
• Introduction p. 251
• The different supporting roles of documents p. 251
• LIS research principally based on documents p. 253
• Citation analysis p. 254
• Logs associated with computer software and the use of ICT p. 266
• Summary p. 269
• Practical exercise p. 260
• Suggested further reading p. 260
• Part 4 Data analysis and research presentation p. 263
• 23 Qualitative analysis p. 267
• Introduction p. 267
• Phenomenological strategies p. 268
• Ethnographic methods p. 268
• Narrative and discourse analysis p. 269
• Constant comparative analysis p. 269
• Memo writing p. 274
• Presenting qualitative findings p. 274
• Software for qualitative analysis p. 278
• Summary p. 280
• Practical exercise p. 280
• Suggested further reading p. 281
• 24 Quantitative analysis p. 283
• Introduction p. 283
• Levels of measurement p. 284
• Frequency distribution p. 286
• Cross-tabulation p. 287
• Measures of central tendency p. 288
• Measures of dispersion p. 291
• Correlation p. 293
• Displaying data p. 293
• Testing for statistical significance p. 299
• Software for quantitative analysis p. 303
• Summary p. 306
• Practical exercise p. 306
• Suggested further reading p. 310
• 25 Presenting the research p. 311
• Introduction p. 311
• Planning the final report p. 312
• Form and structure p. 312
• Summary p. 316
• Suggested further reading p. 316
• Part 5 Glossary and references p. 317
• Glossary of research terms p. 319
• References p. 329
• Index p. 347