Research Methods in Information

PART 1: STARTING THE RESEARCH PROCESS1. Major research paradigms

• Introduction
• Positivist research
• Postpositivism and mixed methods research (MMR)
• Interpretivist research
• Qualitative or quantitative methodology?
• Qualitative research design
• Quantitative research design
• Mixed methods research
• Criteria for judging research
• Establishing trustworthiness in qualitative research
• Establishing rigour in quantitative research
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

2. Reviewing literature

• Introduction
• Information searching and retrieval
• Evaluation
• Critical analysis
• Synthesizing the research: developing a theoretical framework
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

3. Defining the research

• Introduction
• Designing a conceptual framework
• The research hypothesis
• Research aims and objectives
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

4. The research proposal

• Why write a proposal?
• Structure of a research proposal
• The proposal as a research framework
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

5. Sampling

• Why sample?
• Population and sample
• Probability sampling
• Purposive sampling
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

6. Research Data Management - Julie McLeod, Sue Childs and Elizabeth Lomas

• Introduction - research data and its management challenges
• Why is research data management important?
• The research process, data lifecycles and research data management
• How do I manage my research data?
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Websites referred to in this chapter
• Suggested further reading

7. Ethics in research

• Introduction
• Gaining access to the field
• Informed consent
• Anonymity or confidentiality?
• Protecting participants
• Ethics online
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

8. Case studies

• Introduction
• Phases in case study research
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

9. Surveys

• Introduction
• Descriptive surveys
• Explanatory surveys
• The survey process
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

10. Experimental research

• Introduction
• The nature of causality
• The true experiment
• Quasi-experimental design: the 'effects study'
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

11. Usability testing

• Introduction
• Quasi-experimental usability studies
• Cognitive walkthroughs
• Heuristic evaluation
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

12. Ethnography

• Introduction
• Components of ethnographic study
• Virtual ethnography - 'netnography'
• Ethics in ethnography
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

13. Delphi study

• Introduction
• The Delphi process
• Rules of a Delphi study
• Modifying a Delphi study
• Delphi studies and new technologies
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

14. Action research

• Introduction
• The action research cycle
• Trustworthiness in action research
• Action research as reflective practice
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

15. Historical research

• Introduction
• The research process
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

16. Grounded theory: method or analysis?

• Introduction
• Defining grounded theory
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

PART 3: DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES
17. Interviews

• Introduction
• What is the purpose of an interview?
• The seven stages of the interview process
• Online interviewing
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

18. Questionnaires

• Introduction
• Designing questionnaires
• Developing questions
• Scale items
• Forms of questionnaire
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

19. Observation

• Introduction
• The role of the observer
• Recording what you see; going in with signposts
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

20. Diaries

• Introduction
• The purpose of diaries in research
• Participant diaries
• The researcher's log
• Structure and recording
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

21. Focus groups

• Introduction
• Purpose of a focus group
• Organizing a focus group
• Online focus groups
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

22. Analysis of existing, externally created material - Andrew K. Shenton

• Introduction
• The different supporting roles of documents
• LIS research principally based on documents
• Citation analysis
• Logs associated with computer software and the use of ICT
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

PART 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH PRESENTATION23. Qualitative analysis

• Introduction
• Phenomenological strategies
• Ethnographic methods
• Narrative and discourse analysis
• Constant comparative analysis
• Memo writing
• Presenting qualitative findings
• Software for qualitative analysis
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

24. Quantitative analysis

• Introduction
• Levels of measurement
• Frequency distribution
• Cross-tabulation
• Measures of central tendency
• Measures of dispersion
• Correlation
• Displaying data
• Testing for statistical significance
• Software for quantitative analysis
• Summary
• Practical exercise
• Suggested further reading

25. Presenting the research

• Introduction
• Planning the final report
• Form and structure
• Summary
• Suggested further reading

PART 5: GLOSSARY AND REFERENCES

• Glossary of research terms
• References