Introduction

Some basics of research you should know

Andy Weeger

Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences

August 19, 2023

What do you see?

Art?
Galaxy?
Andromeda?

It is a galaxy. Exactly it is the Andromeda Galaxy.

• Who has told me that?
• What makes up a galaxy for me?
• How is a galaxy composed?
• What is the power that drives the star around the center?

These questions and the answers origin in research.

Research provided the concept „galaxy“, which is very abstract. Outside of our experience.

It is common to research to detect phenomena (e.g., we are not yet aware of) and provide answers what happens. To educate people. E.g., to make them aware that they can interpret the picture.

Another example more related to our field are core competences. - What are core competences? - What drives core competences? - What do they cause?

In short: we use many terms and concepts in our everyday language that origin in research (as a knowledge generation device).

Research means that you don’t know, but are willing to find out. Charles F. Kettering, American engineer

The pursuit of research is to detect new phenomena and provide answers to what happens. Researchers, thus, create knowledge on things we are not yet well aware of, describe these and provide reasonable explanations for what is happening—each building on the current state of knowledge.

Science

Origins

The history of humankind (Harari 2015):

willingness to admit ignorance + centrality of observation = acquisition of new capabilities

Harari (2015) account of the origins of science and our ability to conquer the world:

1. The willingness to admit ignorance. Science assumes that we don’t know everything. Even more critically, it accepts that the things that we think we know could be proven wrong as we gain more knowledge. No concept, idea or theory is sacred and beyond challenge.
2. The centrality of observation. Having admitted ignorance, science aims to obtain new knowledge. It does so by gathering observations and then using formal tools such as logic or mathematics to connect these observations into comprehensive theories.
3. The acquisition of new capabilities. Science is not content with creating theories. It uses these theories in order to acquire new powers, and in particular to develop new technologies.

Definition

Science is the attempt to derive knowledge from facts through certain methods in a systematic and organized way. Recker (2021, 17)

Two types of science can be distinguished:

Two types: - Natural sciences concern the study of naturally occurring phenomena. The phenomena are real and tangible (such as bodies, plants, or matters), though sometimes difficult to observe (e.g., subatomic particles) - Social sciences concern the study of people or collections of people. These sciences are composed of psychology, sociology, organizational science, and economics

Types of sciences

Natural sciences
and social sciences

What is the difference?

The distinction between natural and social is very important to understand because the inquiries or research processes for the two are very different.

The natural sciences are referred to as the “exact sciences” : these inquiries rely on precise and accurate measurements of phenomena or their properties. Examples of such work are readily found in any high school chemistry or physics department. In the natural science of physics, for example, properties such as the speed of light or gravity have been calculated and will remain invariant.

The social sciences are even further away from precision. In the social sciences, phenomena as well as measurements are often vague, imprecise, non-deterministic, and ambiguous. Think about a study that examines whether happy people sleep more or less than unhappy people. Problems abound when we try to understand let alone precisely measure what happiness means, or when we try to isolate the true cause of variation in sleep length. We all know that for any two given days people will not likely sleep for the same amount of time, and there are plenty of reasons for this variation: there could be noise in the bedroom, light shining through the window, more or less wind breezing through the room, the person could have eaten differently in turn affecting their sleep patterns, the person could have had a good dream or a nightmare, and so forth. Many reasons may contribute to different durations of sleep – and but one of them may be related to some form or other of happiness!

One of the many manifestations of this issue is the challenge of measurement error. Measurement error is invariably present in the social sciences. This issue recognizes that because of the complexity, vagueness, and ambiguity of many of the phenomena under study, many of which we cannot faithfully define or isolate precisely, there will always be imprecision in the way we study our phenomena of interest, and the findings we in turn obtain.

Knowledge

Knowledge and truth

We can only know things from our own perspective Plato

What can we know, what do we believe?

Reality is a subjective experience because we are limited and confined to our own human way of seeing things. Like a person that has never left a cave and can therefore never know any other reality, so too are people. They see things from the perspective of their own “cave”.

Greeks classified knowledge into

• Doxa (believed to be true)
• Episteme (known to be true)

Is episteme ever possible? Probably only for mathematics where information does not need to be interpreted.

Current views on knowledge:

• Accepted knowledge claims are those that stand the ‘force of the better argument’ (cf. Habermas)
• It is an agreed best understanding that has been produced at a particular point in time (cf. Popper)

Perspectives

Ontology & epistemology

Ontology is concerned with assumptions about existence and definitions of reality.

• Objectivism is the belief in an external reality whose existence is independent of knowledge of it; the world exists as an independent object waiting to be discovered (Trivedi 2021).
• Subjectivism is a belief that you cannot know an external or objective reality apart from your subjective awareness of it. Social reality only exists when we experience it and give it meaning (Trivedi 2021).

Epistemology is the theory of knowledge, concerned with how we know and what knowledge is.

• Positivism is the belief that truth or knowledge can be discovered through valid conceptualization and reliable measurement, which allows the testing of knowledge against the objective world (Trivedi 2021).
• Interpretivism is the belief that all knowledge is relative to the knower and can only be understood from the point of view of individuals who are directly involved; truth is socially constructed via multiple interpreations by the subjects of knowledge (Trivedi 2021).

Exercise

A rain dance ceremony performed by all participants with a pure heart will cause rain the next day.

Why is this (not) scientific knowledge?

Proposing this theory is not a scientific undertaking because this theory is not falsifiable: If you perform the ceremony and it rains, the theory is confirmed. If you perform the ceremony and it doesn’t rain, it would suggest that one of the participants was not pure of heart, and again the theory is confirmed.

Unfortunately, being pure of heart is not a property that we can precisely, reliably, and independently measure and therefore we cannot possibly create a scenario in which we could disprove our Rain Dance Ceremony theory.

Exercise

What is scientific knowledge then?

Scientific knowlege

To gain scientific knowledge, sciences need to follow the principles of

replicability,
independence,
precision &
falsification

To gain scientific knowledge, sciences need to follow the principles of replicability, independence, precision, and falsification (Recker 2021).

Replicability

The extent to which research procedures are repeatable such that the procedures by which research outputs are created are conducted and documented in a manner that allows others outside the research team to independently repeat the procedures and obtain similar results.

Independence

The extent to which the research conduct is impartial and freed from any subjective judgement or other bias stemming from the researcher(s)

Precision

The concepts, constructs, and measurements should be defined as carefully and precisely as possible so that others can build on the research

Falsification Theories are sets of suggested explanations that are assumed to be true because the evidence collected to date does not state otherwise ¹

Research

Definition

Research includes in-depth investigation or testing, especially critical and exhaustive investigation or experimentation, aimed at the discovery of new facts and their correct interpretation, the verification of accepted conclusions, theories, or laws in light of newly discovered facts, or the practical application of such conclusions, theories, or laws (Recker 2021).

What research is about:
With rigor acquired relevant knowledge

In a nutshell:

• If there is no rigorous, critical, and exhaustive investigation, there is no research.
• If there is no discovery, there is no research.
• If there is no interpretation of the data, there is no research.
• If there is no formation, revision, or application of theories, there is no research

Rigor & relevance

Rigor

The degree to which research methods are methodically and accurately carried out, to identify important influences occurring in the process of conducting the research. It is a set of standards investigators use to evaluate the quality, trustworthiness, and value of research.

Relevance

The degree to which findings of the research are relevant to and can be applied to a real life situation.

Types of research

Basic research
& applied research

Basic research is intended to enhance basic knowledge about the physical, biological, psychological, or social world or enlighten historical, cultural, or aesthetic phenomena. It is not goal directed.

Applied research is intended to address issues that are immediately relevant to current practices, procedures, and polices and to improve human decision making. It aims to intervene/alter a phenomenon and is, thus, goal directed.

Research is important to management practice if knowledge obtained from sound research is transformed into management practice. Best case, this leads to evidence-based and informed decisions (Recker 2021).

What is not (necessarily) research?

Information gathering or transmission of facts, or something to get attention

Science is facts; just as houses are made of stones, so is science made of facts; but a pile of stones is not a house and a collection of facts is not necessarily science. French mathematician & physicist (1854 - 1912)

Science is not - copy and paste – mere information gathering - communication – mere transportation of facts

Research requires to analyze data, derive knowledge and communicate it.

Research is also not catchword used to get attention (“I am doing research”)

IS research

Exercise

What is Information Systems research about?

Give some examples of IS research that you know of.

Definition

Development, use, and impact of digital tech

The information systems research discipline is concerned with examining the development, use, and impact of digital information and communication technology (Recker 2021).

• The focus on digital technologies makes IS research dynamic and fast-moving as these artefacts change all the time
• The broad study of development, use, and impacts makes IS research diverse and challenging as different theories and methods are needed

Type

IS research is an applied science and part of the social sciences (Recker 2021).

• Involves people, and the relationships between them and other things (in particular IT artefacts)
• Studies IT in use: individuals, groups, organizations, networks, communities, societies
• Invariably includes measurement error (phenomena as well as measurements are often vague, imprecise, non-deterministic, and ambiguous)
• Is open to methodological and paradigmatic pluralism (e.g., positivist and interpretive; qualitative and quantitative; descriptive, explanatory, predictive, and prescriptive)

Pluralism among IS researchers

The diversity of the field becomes clear when one looks at the different areas in which IS scientists work.

• Scholars in information technology, software engineering, and computer science study the technical and computational attributes of digital technology as such.
• Scholars in behavioral, cognitive, and psychological sciences study individuals’ exposure, use, appropriation, and general behaviours [within digital technology domains].
• Scholars in organisational science, management, and business study how corporate environments shape, and are shaped by, digital technology.
• Economists study the large-scale effects of digital technology diffusion and innovation on organisations, markets, and societies.

Variety of IS research

Developing theory, evaluating theory & designing artefacts.

Or in more technical terms: conceptual research, formal research, technological research, experimental research, and empirical research

Conceptual research

Is concerned with an analysis of a problem at hand without a commitment to any (technologically-driven) solutions

Formal research

Is concerned with describing concepts in mathematical terms (so as to remove any potential ambiguity with respect to their interpretation) and presenting theorems with corresponding proofs to provide more insight into these concepts

Technological research

Is concerned with the development of sophisticated software artifacts to prove that certain ideas can indeed be realized and to reason about the comparative strengths and weaknesses of various architectural approaches (e.g., Process Mining)

Experimental research

Typically addresses a limited set of properties of a phenomenon (e.g., a property of a technology or person, or a method), and examine these properties in controlled settings (e.g., experiments in medicine or physics)

Empirical research

Sets off to study phenomena in real-life practice, and to build or confirm theories about how the phenomena came to be about. It can be based on case studies, surveys, action research, grounded theory, or other methods (e.g., technology acceptance)

Body of knowledge

Definition

The body of scientific knowledge in a domain—that is, the outcome of all research to date—is always the current accumulation of suggested theories, evidence, and measurement methods in that domain (Recker 2021, 20).

Progress in scientific research (i.e., progress in general human knowledge) can be studied by comparing how well we are improving the body of knowledge (i.e., the current accumulation of theories, evidence, and measurements in a given area).

Contributions

The body of knowledge (Recker 2021, 21)

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 1: The body of knowledge (Recker 2021, 21)

Researchers can contribute to the body of knowledge in three ways or combinations thereof:

• Improve our explanation of a particular phenomenon—creating new or extending existing explanations about a real-world phenomenon (e.g., Darwin’s theory of evolution)
• Improve our collections of scientific evidence—adding evidence to make statement about theoretical explanations (e.g., Darwin’s collection of previously unknown species)
• Improve our methods for collecting observations in relation to theory—proposing methods of collecting evidence (e.g., Galileo’s improvements of telescopes)

Conclusion

Research aims at improving scientific knowledge of a particular phenomena.

All scientific knowledge is by definition a set of suggested explanations of particular phenomena.

Exercise

What are phenomena in IS that require improvements of our explanations, our evidence, and/or our methods?

Have a look at recent research available via the AIS eLibrary and discuss potential phenomena in small groups.

Homework

Read Podsakoff, MacKenzie, and Podsakoff (2016) and make notes on following questions (takes you at least 1 hour):

• What is a concept?
• Why are clear conceptual definitions essential for scientific progress?
• How can such conceptual definitions be created?

Q&A

References

Harari, Y. N. 2015. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. HarperCollins.

Podsakoff, Philip M, Scott B MacKenzie, and Nathan P Podsakoff. 2016. “Recommendations for Creating Better Concept Definitions in the Organizational, Behavioral, and Social Sciences.” Organizational Research Methods 19 (2): 159–203.

Popper, Karl. 2005. The Logic of Scientific Discovery. Routledge.

Recker, Jan. 2021. “The Research Process.” Scientific Research in Information Systems: A Beginner’s Guide.

Trivedi, Chitvan. 2021. “Ontology and Epistemology: An Explainer.” Concepts Hacked. https://conceptshacked.com/epistemology-and-ontology/.

Footnotes

1. Falsification is probably the most important principle in scientific research. It originates from the thinking of philosopher Popper (2005), who argued that it is logically impossible to prove theories in scientific research. Instead, he argued that scientific theories can only be disproven or falsified.