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The following slides will give you a short introduction to Research in Business Informatics. Research Methods in Business Informatics
Very Large Business Applications Lab Matthias Splieth Center for Very Large Business Applications
Faculty of Computer Science [email protected] Department of Technical and Business Information Systems http://mrcc.ovgu.de
University of Magdeburg 3
Outline
1. Goals & Motivation
2. Problems
3. Goal of Business Informatics
4. Mission and Goals in Business Informatics
5. Spectrum of Methods in Business Informatics
6. Methods Portfolio
7. Conclusion 4
Goals & Motivation
„Research is the systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions“ (The Oxford Dictionary) . Goal of research process: produce knowledge
. Knowledge and usage of research methods is essential for the publication of relevant research findings
. Business Informatics as scientific discipline influenced by many adjacent disciplines (real, formal and engineering sciences)
. Basically two tendencies recognizable: o Constructivistically orientation (“Design Science Research”, german Wirtschaftsinformatik) o Behavioral orientation (anglo-american Information Systems Research) 5
Problems: Classification
Owen, C.: Design Research: Building the Knowledge Base. Journal of the Japanese Society for the Science of Design 5, 36–45 (1997) 6
Problems: Knowledge
. Sources of knowledge o Experiences o Mind
. How to gain knowledge? o Inductive (closing of individual cases to general cases) o Deductive (deriving a statement from other statements by virtue of logical inference rules)
. Basic positions: o Ontological position: real world is objective / not objective. o Epistemological position: objective realization is possible / not possible. o Linguistic position: Speech, language artifacts, inter-subjective understanding 7
Goals of Business Informatics
“The aim of scientific research in computer science is (..) the production of theories, methods, tools and inter subjectively verifiable knowledge about / for information and communication systems. (...) The economic structure of a computer science uses the scientific approach in description of information and communication systems, explanation of these, prediction of system behavior and design of new systems.” Decision of WKWI, 06.10.1993 8
Mission and Goals in Business Informatics
basic position+
research goal
determines
research method
Becker, J., Holton, R., Knackstedt, R., Niehaves, B.: Forschungsmethodische Positionierung in der Wirtschaftsinformatik. epistemologische, ontologische und linguistische Leitfragen (2003) 9
Spectrum of Methods in Business Informatics
Wilde, T., Hess, T.: Methodenspektrum der Wirtschaftsinformatik: Überblick und Portfoliobildung (2006) . Most used methods in german WI literature: o Argumentative-deductive (35%) o Case study (16%) o Prototyping (13%) o Qualitative-empirical (10%) o Conceptual-deductive (10%) 10
Methods Portfolio
Wilde, T., Hess, T.: Methodenspektrum der Wirtschaftsinformatik: Überblick und Portfoliobildung (2006) 11
Methods Portfolio
Wilde, T., Hess, T.: Methodenspektrum der Wirtschaftsinformatik: Überblick und Portfoliobildung (2006) 12
Conclusion
. Methods are important for research
. Lot of methods in Business Informatics that can be used to produce knowledge
. Research method determined by base position and research goal
Design Science Research in Business Informatics
Very Large Business Applications Lab Sascha Bosse Center for Very Large Business Applications
Faculty of Computer Science [email protected] Department of Technical and Business Information Systems http://mrcc.ovgu.de
University of Magdeburg 14
Outline
1. Introduction
2. Behavioral Science and Design Science
3. Information System Research Framework
4. Seven Guidelines for Design Science in Information System Research
5. Conclusion
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Introduction
. Information Systems (IS) to improve effectiveness and efficiency of an organization
. To remain competitive, IS need to be evolved constantly Research
. „Research is the systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions“ (The Oxford Dictionary)
. Research in Business Informatics (BI) to gather knowledge o Supporting the productive application of IT to human organizations o Concerning management and use of IT for organizational purpose 16
Behavioral and Design Science
. Presentation bases upon A. Hevner et al. „Design Science in Information Systems Reseach“, MIS Quaterly Vol. 28, No. 1, 2004, pp. 75-105
. Two basic approaches of research in BI o Behavioral Science o Design Science
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/School_of_Pterocaesio_chrysozona_in_Papua_New_Guinea_1.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Vitra_Design_Museum.JPG 17
Behavioral Science in context of BI
. Roots in natural science research
. Develop and justify theories that explain human or organizational behavior
. Goal is truth
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Galileo.arp.300pix.jpg 18
Design Science Research in context of BI
. Roots in engineering
. Problem-solving, result is an artifact
. Create innovations which increases the effectivity and efficiency of information systems
. Goal is utility
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/A-line1913.jpg 19
Relation between Behavioral and Design Science
. Are distinct, but complementary approaches
. Form a Research Cycle
. Behavioral Science develops new theories for the use of artifacts
. Design Science uses theories to reach a utility
. Example: Technology Acceptance Model 20
Information System Research Framework 21
Seven Guidelines for Design Science Research in BI
. Design as an Artifact
. Problem Relevance
. Design Evaluation
. Research Contributions
. Research Rigor
. Design as a Search Process
. Communication of Research 22
Design as an Artifact
. Possible Results of Design Science o Constructs – language for problems and solutions o Models – representation of real world o Methods – processes to solve problems o Instantiation – implementation to real systems
. Does not include people or (parts of) organizations 23
Problem Relevance
. Research should provide solutions to unsolved and important business problems
. Problem: Difference between current and desired state of a system
. Goals and constraints
. Addressed to a constituent community 24
Design Evaluation
. Demonstration of the utility and qualtity of the artifact via well-executed evaluation methods
. Defining measurable success criteria, maybe also gathering and analysis of data
. Provides feedback to designed products and design process
. Examples: Case Study, Analysis, Experiments, Tests 25
Research Contributions
. Research has a significant value to the community o Enables a solution o Extends the knowledge base o Uses existing knowledge in a new way
. Contribution depends on the novelty, generality and significance of the artifact
. Forms o Artifact o Foundations o Methodologies 26
Research Rigor
. Using rigorous methods in construction and evaluation
. Derived from the effective use of the knowledge base
. With respect to applicability and generalizability of the artifact
. Overemphasis can lead to less relevant results 27
Design as a Search Process
. Iterative process - Generate/Test-Cycle
. Set of possible solutions o Available means o Desired ends o Laws to be considered
. Too complex to find the optimal solution
. Search the solution space with heuristics
. Problem simplification and decomposition 28
Communication of Research
. Presentation to technology- and management-orientated audiences
. Technical: Present detail to enable the implementation of the artifact and for further development
. Managerial: Present information if the artifact can be utilized in a specific organization context
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Conclusion
. Design Science and Behavioral Science are both important o Truth and utility complement each other
. Information System Research Framework helps to understand, exectute and evaluate IS Research
. Difference between design and Design Research
. Guidelines as a base to understand requirements for effective Design Science Research o Must be adapted to specific context Conducting a Literature Review
Very Large Business Applications Lab Bastian Kurbjuhn Center for Very Large Business Applications
Faculty of Computer Science [email protected] Department of Technical and Business Information Systems http://mrcc.ovgu.de
University of Magdeburg 31
Outline
1. Definition 2. Purpose 3. Content Analysis 4. Types of Content Analysis 5. Qualitative and Quantitative Content Analysis 6. Structured Content Analysis 7. Literature Review Structure (Process Steps) 8. Software Tools 32
Definition “A literature review is a systematic, explicit, and reproducible design for identifying, evaluating, and interpreting the existing body of recorded documents.” Fink (1998) 33
Purpose o Idea generation for research (starting point for a new topic)
And o Identification of patterns, topics and problems in existing literature (idea organisation, topic structuring) 34
Lit. Review as a Content Analysis o Structuring field of research/interest o Identification of conceptual content o Theory development through a content analysis 35
Types of Content Analysis
quantitative qualitative structured
content analysis
result evaluation
Ref. to Brewerton and Millward (2001), p. 151 36
Qualitative and quantitative CA
. Not contradictory, but interdependent
. Example: text analysis • Generation of categories (qualitative) • Assignment of articles (quantitative) • Interpretation of the assignments (qualitat.)
. “From quality to quantity and back to quality.” Mayring (2003), p. 19 37
Structured Content Analysis
. Also considers the development of relationship between elements
. Based on a previous qualitative and quantitative investigation
. Reflects formal and content-related aspects
. Driven by preliminary considerations
. Explicit process for conclusions 38
Process: Structured Content Analysis formal part 1st material collection
4th 2nd material descriptive evaluation analysis
3rd category selection Content-related part Ref. Mayring (2003), p. 54 39
First step: Material Evaluation
. Driven by preliminary considerations: definitions, key words
. Material types/sources: books, journal articles, databases
. Time period
. Exclusion criteria, resp. rules 40
Second: Descriptive Analysis
. Key figures • Publications/year • Types of scientific compositions
. Creates the background for the following material analysis 41
Second: Descriptive Analysis (2) 42
Process Structured Content Analysis formal part 1st material collection
4th 2nd material descriptive evaluation analysis
3rd category selection Content-related part
Ref. Mayring (2003), p. 54 43
Detail view: content-related part
Selection of dimensions and categories
Determinition of definitions for each category
Material analysis: denotation Revision of relevant place of finding
Material analysis: extraction
Preparation of results
Ref. Mayring (2002), p. 120 44
Third: Category Selection
. Creation of dimensions
. Characteristics of dimensions have to be captured in categories
. Definition of categories
. structures the research field and forms main topics for the analysis 45
Fourth: Material Evaluation
. Sort papers into categories
. Identify relevant and common place of findings
. Identify relevant problems
. Interpret the results 46
4th: Material Evaluation
Tables: Goal Relations between Economic and Sustainability Objectives 47
Revision
. Classification deductive or inductive • Deductive: before material evaluation • Inductive: during the analysis in terms of generalisation/abstraction
. Recommendation: multiple researchers • Minimisation of risk • Critical examination with created categories 48
Software Tools
. Bibliography applications
. Mind mapping