5:2 Reflection Design research

In my previous post on the theme of Design research, I specify empirical data vaguely and in a generic way. In the workshop about Design research by Ylva Fernaeus I learned that the empirical data in the particular paper we studied before the theme consists of human interaction; observation of the kids. The process is also a great part of the empirical data in Design research. Further, we also learned that the results section is where you put the empirical data. It was useful with a practical example that further clarified the concept of empirical data; what it is and where to find it.

Putting theory into practice was also an important part of this specific paper where kids were programming by using physical devices (smart phones and/or puzzle pieces). It was not very surprising that the analysis is crucial in Design research, because "data is just data". Seems logical that an interpretation needs to be done to explain why the data matter.

A question I found hard to understand prior to the lecture and workshop was the concept of design intentions. I now understand that Design intentions are used in the planning process, whereas design in general is used throughout a Design research project.

An interesting takeaway from the workshop we had with Anders Lundström was that a researcher needs to keep data for 10 years and be able to show it on request. Although some is easier to store (digital) this could be problematic in some cases where big equipment is used as part of the research. 

Something specific for Design research compared to other research methods that we learned, was that you change and adjust in process to a much greater extent in Design research, whereas in other research you plan a hypothesis, test to get the result and analyse it. 

Anders also brought up what in my opinion was a decent attempt to define knowledge; "When attention is brought to something previously unknown". It raises important questions to a researcher but is also applicable in other contexts in life. If you think about it within the framework of a practical example, it becomes clear that it can be extended to "When attention is brought by a messenger to something previously unknown by the recipient". In context of media, communication becomes central in the concept of knowledge, because without communication there is no knowledge.

If an infedility could be seen as knowledge, it only becomes knowledge when the partner that was cheated on finds out (and have not previously agreed to it). And perhaps the knowledge is by one person only seen as knowledge if they have had tangible interaction. Meaning that they would not believe a chat message explaining the infidelity, but they would believe it if they would witness it in real life. This became a bit of a spinoff, but hopefully I managed to illustrate the point I wanted to make with communication as central in the concept of knowledge.

To get back to Design research, it has been useful to learn more about this way of researching a topic by using different tools than you may be used to. I will finish this post with an inspirational out of the box example of research done by Christien Meindertsma.

6:1 Qualitative and case study research

1. Briefly explain to a first year university student what a case study is.

A case study is a form of research strategy wherein you may combine quantitative and qualitative research methods.

Typically, case studies combine data collection methods such as interviews, observations and archival sources, and focuses on a specific target group and setting. Case studies have no hypothesis (initially), uses the research question to focus. Multiple investigators may be involved.

An overlap with quantitative research is the encouragement for observer to in their field notes note react rather than highlight and the “Thinking aloud” process described as important tool to pilot test questionnaires (source: Olof Bälter).

There is sometimes confusion between case studies and qualitative studies. A distinction is that case studies can include qualitative or quantitative data collection, or both. Benefits of combining these is that qualitative data can explain theory or relationships revealed in quantitative data research. Alternatively, build theory from qualitative research supported by quantitative methods.

Finally, case studies can change in process; a case study can begin without hypothesis, but build theory in the study in case unexpected findings justifyies it.

2. Select a media technology research paper that is using the case study research method. Use the "Process of Building Theory from Case Study Research" (Eisenhardt, summarized in Table 1) to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your selected paper.

“Understanding tourist behavior using large-scale mobile sensing approach: A case study of mobile phone users in Japan” makes its focus clear in early process; the target group and environment are specific yet without hypothesis with broad outcome. This retains theoretical flexibility and a strong foundation for the study. Prior evidence is showcased well, which ties into population mobility, predictability and how this case study can contribute due to tourists being less predictable, supporting theoretical sample selection.

Multiple data collections were made to analyze travel distance, identify work/home- and touristic or non touristic locations. Parallel analyses linked locations to tourist behavior, inflow and outflow to specific cities and attractions, length of trips and more, broadening the study. However, despite the method of solely analysing user data being valid, other methods included could have been beneficial.“As trips became longer, more time was spent in a car, but less time was spent walking” could have used follow up questions to understand why car usage increased. Nevertheless, the extensive data analysies is a main strength of the study.

Field notes from different observers were not contributing. Nevertheless, data collection sets were opportunistic and in some cases very specific and tailored to what can be useful to, for example, urban planners. It could also be argued that avoiding hypothesis formation is beneficial.

A weakness of the study was that only one mobile phone provider in Japan was used. You could criticise that the sample could have been better had they used two different companies as sources. Another weakness was that sample exclusion due to GPS tracking being active less than 350 days in a year. No argument was given as to why this amount of days was required. Frequent international travellers were excluded from the sample and it could be argued that this group could add validity. Furthermore, is it abnormal for a Japanese person to travel 15 days in one year internationally? Could this not have been resolved by using wifi?

The researchers themselves identified additional important weaknesses; missing out bus and cycling means of transportation and trips where mobile phones were not brought being excluded. However, they could have done a better job in connecting conclusions with existing theory and whether it strengthens or weakens what is already known.

3. Select a media technology research paper that is using qualitative methods. Which qualitative method or methods are used in the paper? Which are the benefits and limitations of using these methods? What did you learn about qualitative methods from reading the paper? Which are the main methodological problems of the study? How could the use of the qualitative method or methods have been improved?

Overall, many qualitative studies include sensitive topics such as sexuality, security, privacy, health or finances - sometimes in combination. “Flexible working, work–family conflict, and maternal gatekeeping: The daily experiences of dual-earner couples” was selected on background of reading “Work’s intimacy” by Melissa Gregg where the flexible work space is discussed.

The selected study used interviews and diaries to explore effects of the flexible workplace on dual earners in the UK. To interview a couple individually and together allows for access to sensitive information that may be hard to capture otherwise. At the same time, writing diaries might not be a form of expression that suits everyone. An alternative could be offering respondents to self-record, blog or vlog.

Another con is costly and time-consuming 30-90 minute interviews in participant homes. An option could be Skype interviews, alternatively a combination.

Main problems with the study identified were individuals, heteronormative focus and cultural background influencing results. A bigger sample size with respondents on a global rather than national level could add relevance to flexible workers worldwide (taking legal differences into consideration). LGBTQ couples should be included for better representation.