Research automation as technomethodological pixie dust
Source:
interactions, ACM, Volume 16, Issue 5, p.40-43 (2009)
Abstract:
In this article, I address the ways in which 'discount' qualitative methods can fail to deliver results. I advocate for well-conducted, carefully designed research with qualitative and quantitative data collection. I argue that there is no hard and fast distinction between qualitative and quantitative methods, but there are different ‘ways of looking’ that are appropriate for different projects and different questions. Carefully designed and executed research that delivers both academic and business value inevitably involves numbers, descriptions, stories and qualitative judgment-calls on the part of analysts.
Download:
ACM COPYRIGHT NOTICE. Copyright © 2009 by the Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers, or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from Publications Dept., ACM, Inc., fax +1 (212) 869-0481, or
permissions@acm.org.
