A NOVEL METHODOLOGY FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH

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A NOVEL METHODOLOGY FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND
TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH

• SEMINAR PRESENTATION
• AT
• LONDON METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY
• BY
• DR. REGINA GYAMPOH-VIDOGAH
• November 2005

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Problem Statement

• Fundamental difficulties associated with IS/IT
  research
• How to combine traditional research with system
  analysis and design approaches

• How to formulate robust IS/IT research projects,
  where systems implementation and management are
  the main research goals (Markus Lee, 2000)

• IS/IT research requires combination of research
  and development where integration, EDMS/
  Knowledge Management are being considered.

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• Aim of Seminar

• Enable IT/IS researchers to
• Choose justify appropriate method(s) and
  strategies for the research aimed at implementing
  IS/IT systems
• Select and justify data collection
• Merge qualitative and quantitative research
  techniques with methods for software systems
  analysis and design methodologies

• Illustrate this approach towards
• Electronic document management systems research
  
• for collaborative construction organisations
  working environment

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Topics to discuss

• Research Methodology and IS/IT research

• Rationale research strategy

• Selection and choice of samples

• Strategy for data collection

• Strategy for system analysis and design

• Strategy for system development

• Strategy for system testing

• Strategy for system validation

• Summary

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Research Methodology - IS/IT Research
Research Methods are not new. Qualitative and
quantitative research methods both have distinct
and complementary strengths - Markus Lee 2000.

• Qualitative
• Focuses on exploring research problems in as much
  detail as possible aiming to achieve depth
  rather than breath(Delament,1992 Silverman
  1998).
• Concerned with collecting and analysing
  information in many forms, chiefly non-numeric
• Social or Management phenomena investigated
  with minimal a priori expectations in order to
  develop explanations of these phenomena ( Lincoln
  and Guba ,1985 Padgett,1998)

• Quantitative
• Concentrates on the collection and analysis of
  data in a numeric form thereby
• Emphasising large scale and representative sets
  of data
• The rationale Information collected by asking a
  set of pre-formulated questions
• Predetermined sequence and structured
  questionnaire formats are used
• Sample sectors drawn are representative of a
  defined population

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Diagram illustrating the Steps
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Rationale and research strategy

• Review Literature, consult the experts and
  potential users
• Give details of the methodology
• Gather data on current system for the purpose of
  designing an appropriate system suitable for the
  industry
• Translate and analyse the data gathered
• Evaluate options between qualitative and
  quantitative including advantages and
  disadvantages
• Identify and select appropriate methods or
  combination of methods
• Identify and select sampling method to satisfy
  the needs of the research

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Selection and choice of samples

• Sampling choosing members of a population for
  research to achieve representative sample of that
  population (Kendall Kendall, 2000)

• Types of Sampling

• Convenience - are unrestricted, non-probability
  samples

• Simple random - Numbering the population to
  ensure that each member of the population has an
  equal chance of being selected

• Purposive - Groups of individuals who appear
  knowledgeable and interested in a new system
  (eg. construction organisations)

• Stratified - data collected from different
  subgroups of the industry (eg. contractors,
  consultants and suppliers)

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Main Groups of the industry- Example
Construction Industry
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Strategy for data collection

• Who to Interview - Based on stratified sampling
  method

• Roles of IS in supporting business operation,
  managerial strategic decision making.

• Establishing interview objectives -Problems
  facing the organisations

• Background material- Study company reports

• Interviews with Participants -Obtain views of
  Heads of departments
• including other managers and junior staff.

• Questionnaires - Used in the form of proforma on
  cost, software used, document network
  infrastructure (Kendall Kendall, 2000)

• Observation - Build a picture of the organisation
  and its information
• needs ie working condition document processing
  and sharing etc.

• Gather Sample Documents - Obtain sample documents
  for the purpose of current information flow of
  the organisation

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The Funnel Model Adapted from Yeates, et al
(1994)

• Breakdown of the facts
• expended on each aspect of time and cost
  estimates
• document creation retrieval, transfer/monitoring
  archiving
• allow a full cost/benefit system to be
  undertaken.

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Strategy for analysis specification

• Various approaches exist for analysis
  specification design
• The traditional approach uses knowledge of
  business and the technical environment to propose
  a system
• The structured approach uses data structures by
  examining data and user requirements to propose
  systems using well-defined graphical and textual
  representations
• Traditional approach is widely used in the
  construction industry
• Structured was preferred - generates
  documentation understood by many developers
• Well known methods were outlined Modeling
  construction processes using SSADM for software
  development by Gyampoh-Vidogah R. Moreton
  (2004)

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Strategy for System Development

• Involved interpretation of specification into a
  workable system by coding and revisiting the
  analysis specification stages
• Strategy
• SSADM was used to build screen-based prototypes
• number of user interface prototypes
• enable validation of the requirements modelled
  during the feasibility and analysis stages
• Software development process
• compared and select programming languages
• determine the general guidelines, coding and
  testing of modules
• Revisit case studies, analysis and specification
  stages
• develop the system using combination of RAD tools
  (eg.)

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Strategy for System Testing
Test Plan - Compare testing techniques

• Beta Testing - Research project that are
  tested in stages by external
• organisations

• Auditing
• Auditing refers to having an internal or external
  expert as well as other researchers' involved in
  setting up the system and examine the
  information in order to ascertain its reliability
  and robustness (Yeates et al, 1994)

• Fishbone Testing
• This is a cycle in which software quality is
  tested using different views, individual
  experiences and organisational knowledge creation
  (Tervonan and Kerola, 1998)

• Black Box and White Box Testing
• Black box testing are used to demonstrate that
  software functions are operational and that input
  is properly accepted and output is correctly
  produced (Kendall Kendall 2002)

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Strategy for System Validation

• White box focused on code and the structure of
  the code
• This enabled the validation and correctness of
  the system with respect to the requirements
  specification
• Validation testing
• was used to check the validity of the system
• verify that the software functionally and
  performance goals were achieved
• Test the GUI, by entering test data and cases to
  ensure that the module or unit of the prototype
  operated as expected
• These techniques enabled the validation and
  correctness of the system module with respect to
  the requirements specification

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Validation contd.

• Approach through the study involved
• Cumulative study supported by various findings
• Communicative through additional findings on
  collection of data
• Argumentative ability to present the finding in a
  way that conclusions can be followed and tested
• Ecological the use of appropriate method

• Other tactics
• triangulation not only with methods but with
  other researchers or experts feedback from
  informants by pointing out their opinions

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Summary

• An approach that provides strong emphasis on how
  research should be conducted
• Consideration
• The rationale and research strategy
• Selection and choice of samples
• Strategy for investigation and data collection
• Strategy for analysis and design
• Strategy for implementation, evaluation and
  testing
• IS/IT research requires combination of research
  and development where integration, EDM/Knowledge
  management systems are being considered.
• Rethink Research Methodology

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• Thanks for your time