ComputerMediated Communication

1
Computer-Mediated Communication

• Defining and Justifying Problems

2
Just to Recap

• Symbols versus Emblems, Signs

3
Our Focus Today

• What makes a good research problem?
• Research Questions for Theoretical Development
• Research Questions for Practical Application

4
How Research is Supposed to Work
How Research Really Works
Problem
Method
Data Collection
Support or Reject Hypotheses
5
Elements of Inquiry
Knowledge Claims Strategies of
Inquiry Methods
Approaches to Research
Design Process
Questions Data collection Data analysis
Qualitative Quantitative Mixed Methods
Adapted from (Creswell 2003)
6
Knowledge Claims

• Assumptions about how and what we intend to
  learn during a study. (i.e., empirical science,
  advocacy, constructivism, pragmatic)

7
What is the Purpose of Research?
8
Increasing Knowledge Within a Discipline or Area
of Study

• For Theory Development
• Practical Application
• Developing Research Tools

9
Increase Knowledge as a Consumer of Research

• Understanding the methods used by researchers in
  your field of interest
• Checking the results of interesting or
  controversial studies

10
Defining Problems

• What is an example research problem?
• an interrogative sentence or statement that
  asks What relation exists between two or more
  concepts?
• What is an example design problem?
• an interrogative sentence or statement that
  asks What elements of a given system affect (or
  might affect) the behavior(s) of users, and in
  what specific ways?

11
Characteristics of good problems

• Should state the concepts to be related clearly
  and unambiguously
• Should be testable (or constructible) even if
  you dont test it or build it!

12
Specific Criteria for a Problem

• What are we going to learn as the result of the
  proposed project that we do not know now?
• Why is it worth knowing?
• How will we know that the conclusions are valid?

13
The Research Question Common Mistakes

• Very broad area of interest
• Too narrow
• Cannot be measured
• Problem is trivial or already understood

14
Problem Too Broad

• I want to understand how trust develops on IRC
  or IM chat programs
• What factors influence the use of an interface?

15
Problem Too Narrow

• Do new students use Facebook more than older
  students?

16
Problem Cannot be Measured

• Do Wikis make the world a better place?

17
Problem Trivial or Previously Answered Research
Questions

• WHY we actually use literature even in applied,
  business, or exploratory research.