Chapter One

1. Over view of Research

Brain Storming Session
 What do people think about Facebook?
 How do families and relatives deal with people who have
Alzheimer’s disease?
 How many of the residents in Addis Ababa are interested in
loan schemes for Education
 What are the critical factors to make elearning effective?
 What is wrong with the young people of today?
 What is student’s experience of learning mathematics
 Are Condominium residents satisfied?
 What is the life expectancy rate for women?
 How can we use technology to reduce maternal mortality in
developing countries
Introductory Questions
 What is Research?
 Why do you want to conduct research?
 What is the motivation for research?
 Do we have to be gifted to conduct research?
 Howwould you formulate the questions that
would be addressed in your research?
 Howdo you decide the best method to find
answers for your questions?
 How do you contact the subjects of your
research?
Meaning of Research
 Research may be defined as

 The systematic investigation and study of materials

and sources in order to establish facts and reach new
conclusions

a scientific, and systematic search for pertinent

information on a specific topic (A systematized
effort to gain new knowledge)

 Research is an Organized and Systematic way of

Finding answers to Questions
Meaning of Research … (cont’d)
 Systematic:
 because there is a definite set of procedures and steps
which you will follow.
 There are certain things in the research process which
are always done in order to get the most accurate
results.

 Organized :
 because there is a structure or method in going about
doing research.
 Itis a planned procedure, not a spontaneous one. It is
focused and limited to a specific scope.
Meaning of Research … (cont’d)
 Finding Answers :
 the end of all research. Whether it is the answer to a
hypothesis or even a simple question,
 Research is successful when we find answers.
Sometimes the answer is no, but it is still an answer.

 Questions :
 central to research. If there is no question, then the
answer is of no use.
 Research is focused on relevant, useful, and important
questions.
 Without a question, research has no focus, drive, or
purpose.
Meaning of Research … (cont’d)
Research is an academic activity
Search for knowledge
An art of scientific investigation

Research comprises
defining and redefining problems.
collecting, organizing and evaluating data
making deductions and reaching conclusions
Carefully testing the conclusions to determine
whether they fit the formulated hypothesis
Objectives of Research
 To discover answers to questions through the
application of scientific procedures.
 To find out the truth which has not been
discovered as yet.
 To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to
achieve new insights into it;
 To portray accurately the characteristics of a
particular individual, situation or a group;
Motivation in Research
 What makes people undertake research?
 Desireto get a research degree along with its
consequential benefits.
 Desireto solve a challenge in solving the unsolved
problems.
 Desireto contribute to the existing stock of
knowledge.
 Desire to get intellectual joy of doing some creative
work
 Curiosity about new things, etc....
 IS Discipline Balance
Organizations SE Code

IS CS

 Balance in scope of focus

 CS researchers are much closer to actual working code.
 SE researchers deal with software at production and
operational levels and they do have to face some
organizational issues.
 IS researchers are closer to deployment of information
technology in an organization. Hence besides working
code, they face management and organizational
challenges as well.
Types of Research (Assignment 1)
 Action research
 Ethnographic research
 Case study research
 Experimental research
 Design Research

……………………….
 Laboratory research
 Applied Research
 Arm chair research
 Fundamental research
Selecting type of research
 The purpose of the research
 The time required to accomplish the
research
 The environment in which the research is
conducted.

 Youmay consider one or more of types of

research in a specific research topic.
2. The Research Process
The Research Process involves the following:
1. Selecting a topic
2. Formulation of the research problem
3. Literature review
4. Deciding on Methodology / Design
5. Execution: Data collection, analysis and
interpretation
6. Reporting
1. Selecting a topic
 All writing begins with a topic.
 Look for a subject
 that interests you and will maintain your interest
throughout the various stages of research
 that will help you to obtain the maximum self-
development from the research project. It should be
related with your career.
 Some preliminary reading will help to determine
the extent of your interest.
 Keep in mind the time allotted to you and the
expected length of the research paper.
2. Formulate the Research problem
In a series of short paragraphs
• Justify its importance by reviewing studies that have
examined the issue
• Create distinction between past studies and
proposed ones
• Show gaps, deficiencies in past literature
• Show areas which were over looked
• Show how the proposed study remedies these
deficiencies
2. Formulating the research problem
3. Literature Survey
The researcher should also examine all available
literature to get himself acquainted with the
selected
problem.
• What others have done in the area?
• How did they do it?
• What were the variables studied?
• How were the variables measured?
• What were the challenges?
• What are the findings
• How does it relate to our research work?

Journals, published or unpublished bibliographies Conference

proceedings, Government Reports are the 1st places to go

One Source leads to another

4. Develop Objectives
• Based on your research problem and
research questions.
• Use action verbs describe : To ….
• Assess understand come up with
• develop identify examine
• explore /discover

• Be neutral
• Exploring experiences of individuals
instead of
• Exploring successful experiences of individuals
5. Decide on Methodology/ Design
Design of Research refers to aarranging
conditions for collection and analysis of data in a
manner that will address the objectives of the
research
 It provides for the collection of relevant data with
minimum effort, time and money.
Ittells what observations to make/what variables to
measure, how to make them/measure them, and how to
analyze the data;
It suggests how many observations to make and the
type of statistical analysis to use;
6. Execution
• A very important step in the research process.

• If the execution of the project proceeds on correct

lines, the data to be collected would be adequate and
dependable.
• Data collection may involve
• Field survey / experiments , Laboratory
experiments, Observation
• Document review, Interview, etc.
• Data Analysis
• Quantitative data – quantitative figures
• Qualitative data – analytical thinking
• Evaluation
• Generalizations and Interpretation
6. Reporting
 Finally, the researcher has to prepare the report of
what has been done by him/her, in writing the report,

 Communicating to others
Peers;
Policymakers;
Developers;
Extension workers;
General public;

 The style and content varies depending on to whom

the researcher is writing
Summary of the Research Process
 Select the Research topic

as g
 Formulate the research problem

Ph nin
e
 Review Literature

an
Pl
 Design the Research
 Formulate the plan

 Review Literature

as n
Ph utio
 Collect the data or information

e
ec
 Analyse and interpret the data
 Evaluate Ex
 Present the findings
Research in IS
 The purpose of research in Information Systems
(IS) is
 to advance knowledge in the use of
information technology
 to improve quality of work life and
organizational performance.
 Information systems research is concerned with
the study of the organizational use of
Information Technology.
 Information systems research is more part of the
Design Science research
3. Research in Information Systems,
 IS is a unique discipline concerned with how IT
intersects with organizations and how it is managed
 covers many areas
 Information Systems development
 User centered Software Design
 IT and organizational culture
 Information Technology strategy
 Information Technology management
 Information Systems security
 Knowledge Management
 IT project management
 E-commerce, Egovernment, eHealth, Elearning, etc.
4. Research Vs. Project
Research
 Research is a systematic
investigation, a deep study
of a particular topic,
whereas
 Research’, is concerned with
the repetition of search (re-
search) in various directions
to address the questions.
 Research is not time-
bounded
 Research is done on an
already known subject/topic
to establish facts & provide
new conclusions.
Project
 Project is a process of
achieving a particular
result
 The project has set of
relevant & logical
activities to accomplish
defined outcomes & goals
 Project is assigned a
particular time frame.
 Project usually has a
predefined start and end
point(conclusion)
5. Research Questions
Research Questions …
A research question
 what a research aims to answer
a problem or statement in need of a solution or
answer
 helps you to identify the things you need to find
out;
 helps you to know what you want to pay attention
to
 is a methodological point of departure of scholarly
research in both natural sciences and humanities
Research Questions … cont’d
 General research questions
 Guide our thinking
 Are of great value in organizing the research project
 Are not specific enough to be answered

 Specific questions
 Are the questions actually answered in the research
 Direct empirical procedures
 Guide the type of data we need to collect

 Itis useful to identify and separate the general

and the specific questions.
 Research Questions … cont’d
 General research question
What is the level of Internet use among the youth in Addis
Ababa?
 Specific research questions (Eg.)
Which of the social media tools are they aware of?
Where do they mostly use Internet?
How much on the average to they spend on Internet
Are they satisfied of the Internet connectivity speed?
Which email provider is mostly used
How much are they familiar with search engine, etc.
Research Questions … cont’d
 Developing research questions
 Knowing the knowledge gap is crucial
 What are we trying to find out? Why?
 Questions must be in principle answerable;
 Question development stage is pre-empirical - Not
yet focusing on methods
 Questions are refined gradually to make them
specific and answerable

NOTE: There are benefits doing this work with others

 Research Questions … cont’d
The Role of Research Questions
1. Organize the research project and give it
direction and coherence
2. Delimit the research project – show the
boundaries
3. Keep the researcher focused
4. Indicate the data that will be needed
5. Provide a framework for writing up the project
 Research Questions … cont’d
Good research questions are:
 Clear

 Specific

 Answerable

 Interconnected

 Substantively relevant