Motivation
Research aims to advance understanding of reality before providing advice on how to change it.
This course is designed to teach you th e fundamentals of information systems (IS) research through a combination of teaching sessions and independent study. The course is also designed to help you make significant progress on your master’s thesis, in particular in understanding the role of theory and finding a suitable method.
Contents
Research is the process of describing phenomena we perceive in the world, articulating theories to account for these phenomena, and testing how well the theories explain the observed phenomena (Weber, 2003).
This course teaches you basic things you need to do your own research project (e.g., as part of your master’s thesis), particularly regarding:
- Theory of science and knowledge acquisition
- Basic principles of research (in IS)
- The research process
- The role and nature of theory
- Research design with a focus on the basics of quantitative and qualitative research methods as well as design science research
Learning outcomes
You will advance your knowledge and skills in following areas.
- Understanding the fundamentals of doing sound research and the need for focus (especially the alignment of research question, theory, and methods)
- Understanding the need for theory-guided explanations of real-world phenomenon and approaches and the nature and role of theory in IS research
- Ability to chose adequate research methods depending on the research objective (incl. related data acquisition and data analysis techniques)
- Crafting own theoretical contributions and evaluating those of others, while maintaining academic integrity and uphold the standards of good academic work
Learning set-up
This course combines five days of distributed teaching with afternoon workshops, peer feedback, coaching, and self-learning components.
- The self-learning components are necessary to prepare and reflect the teaching sessions and to pass the assignment. They include reading the lecture notes.
- The teaching sessions (mornings) give you the input on IS research fundamentals. The linked workshops (afternoons) apply that input directly to your group’s research question and deliverables.
- Peer feedback in November is individual and pseudonymous: you give structured feedback on one other group’s theory video; the receiving group grades the feedback.
- Coaching slots in late November and early December give each group 15 minutes of direct feedback before the poster deadline.
The learning progress is reflected in multiple assignments.
Effort
You will gain 5 ECTS for this course. This equals min. 130 hours workload for an average student required to pass the course.
- Teaching sessions including preparation and follow-up: approx. 35 hours
- Assignment (video, reflections, poster, conference): approx. 95 hours
Please prepare your schedule accordingly.
Schedule
The five teaching days are concentrated in October. The “bootcamp” covers lectures and workshops that feed directly into your group’s deliverables.
The peer-feedback window, coaching slots, and ‘research conference’ follow in November and December.
| Date | Topic | Lecturer | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, 08.10. | From phenomena to questions (Introduction & process) | tbd | Innovation Space |
| Thu, 08.10., eod | Deadline: Group formation | — | Moodle |
| Thu, 15.10. | Theory as a lens (Theory) | tbd | Innovation Space |
| Fri, 15.10. | Deadline: Theory selection | — | Moodle |
| Fri, 16.10. | Designing for evidence (Research design & quantitative methods) | tbd | Innovation Space |
| Thu, 22.10. | Designing for understanding (Qualitative methods) | tbd | Innovation Space |
| Fri, 23.10. | Alignment and artifact (DSR plus alignment & poster principles) | tbd | Innovation Space |
| Fri, 20.11. | Deadline: Theory video & individual reflections | — | Moodle |
| Fri, 27.11. | Deadline: Peer-feedback submission | — | Moodle |
| Thu, 03.12. | Poster coachings (15 minutes per group; online) | tbd | Zoom |
| Wed, 09.12. | Deadline: Poster final | — | Moodle |
| Fri, 11.12. | Research conference: poster pitches + Q&A | All | tbd |