Final post

This final blog post is my reflection to whole course or Theory and Method for Media Technology. I tried to summarize key points of the course and make the conclusion about importance of that course in my study program.

The first theme of the course revealed the concept of knowledge and process of getting knowledge. It was based on Plato’s Theaetetus and Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. I think the most important conclusion is that pure knowledge doesn’t exist, we perceive the world through our senses and form knowledge about it. In other words, the world is always our world, we cannot get knowledge about it as about independent unit. In my opinion, the first theme is very important in context of research methods as methods of getting knowledge, since this theme helped to understand nature of knowledge.

The second theme was very interesting for me especially revolutionary potential of arts and its role in soviet communism, national-socialism in Germany, and American consumerism. Modern media technology as tools of art reproduction and distribution plays great role in forming public opinion and sharing stereotypes that is commonly used for political purposes nowadays as well it was in Hitler’s Germany or Soviet Union.  Enlightenment, in its term, aims to uncover the real world, escape from myths, and put the human on place of master of nature instead of God. Nominalism is opposite, it’s a way of escaping of reality and define certain truth, for example, in Nazi Germany, Germans is title nation. Media is also plays great role in enlightenment process. Of course, the question about objectivity of knowledge and knowledge perception arises. But enlightenment or nominalism concepts don’t give an answer for that question.

The next topics were about theory and research methods. The crucial things that I’ve learnt are process of building theory and relation between hypothesis and theory. So hypothesis is basically certain statement that should be tested, and a theory is built based on that test or experiment. A theory is framework of rules that explains how and why the phenomena work, exist or appear. Research methods aim to test the hypothesis. Research methods have certain limitations and not always allow to get unambiguous answer or find “the truth”. There is a flashback again to the first theme about objectivity of knowledge. The example that illustrates relativeness of truth is that modern technologies allow to repeat the experiment after a while, but the results can be completely different because the idea of subject of investigation is changed, researchers can operate new data and new knowledge or estimate getting result from another angle based on new knowledge. This is relativism concept: any theory holding that criteria of judgment are relative, varying with individuals and their environment [American Heritage Dictionary]. "Relativism about truth, or alethic relativism, at its simplest, is the claim that what is true for one individual or social group may not be true for another" [Baghramian, Maria and Carter, Adam, "Relativism", "The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2015 Edition)", Edward N. Zalta (ed.),]. Thus, all theories basically reflect just human’s current idea of the world.

We consider quantitative, qualitative research methods, design research and case study within the course. I was familiar with quantitative research methods as I used them in my Bachelor thesis. Other research methods were quite new for me. Choosing qualitative or quantitative methods depends on subject of research and goal of the research. Quantitative methods allow operating big data, get general and wildly applicable results. Mathematical formalism is not applicable for every subject of research, therefore qualitative methods are mostly used in sociological or anthropological studies. Qualitative methods allow to investigate subject in-depth, but results have just subjective interpretation and don’t have empirical supports that quantitative methods give. We were learning these methods by examples of articles of our choice. I selected following articles:

·         “The Rise of Twitter in the Political Campaign: Searching for Intermedia Agenda-Setting Effects in the Presidential Primary” by Bethany A. Conway, Kate Kenski and Di Wang published in Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication

·         “When Online Dating Partners Meet Offline: The Effect of Modality Switching on Relational Communication Between Online Daters” by Artemio Ramirez, Erin M. (Bryant) Sumner, Christina Fleuriet and Megan Colepublished in Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.

·         “Don’t be dumb—that’s the rule I try to live by”: A closer look at older teens’ online privacy and safety attitudes” by Denise E Agosto and June Abbas published in New Media and Society.

The authors mostly used both qualitative and quantitative methods as, on the one hand, subjects of studies cannot be described just by mathematical formalism, on the other hand, certain statistic results and discovering data correlation is necessary for summarizing results. Just in the last research about online privacy and safety only qualitative methods were used. Another common thing for all selected research studies is that authors used several qualitative methods such as questionnaire, interview, and qualitative content analysis method.

Case study research has a special place among research methods. The point is that both qualitative and quantitative methods can be used in case study, but as opposed to other research case study doesn’t have any hypothesis, otherwise case study allow to build the theory and formulate the hypothesis. The object of case study is to collect data about phenomena to understand the phenomena instead of explain it.

Finally, we studied design research method that differ from other by presence of prototype. Prototype allows to explore the limitation and probably discover the new function of suggested model. I like the explanation of prototype by Tiago Barros and Paulo Melo in the article “Prototyping as a powerful tool in a user centered innovation process”. “Prototyping is important to bring abstract ideas to a more concrete level […] While prototyping, developers face several limitations that could not be identified while they were discussing abstract concepts only. Apart from that, prototypes bring light to new aspects and opportunities that have not been considered.” In my opinion prototype and case study have similar goals and approaches, for instance, both of the aim to get additional data, both of them can be sources of new knowledge and base of new theory, but prototype is testing the theory initially when case study is just a base for building theory.

To sum up, after taking course of Theory and Method for Media Technology I got know about different research methods, how they are used in the research studies related to media technology, and its role in building theory. Moreover, idea of impossibility to get “pure knowledge” and “absolute truth” allows to look at process of building theory under another angle. This course is very important and helpful for conducting research for Master thesis. Also I familiarized with different research study and possible research methods related to my specialty – Media Management.

Sources:

1.     American Heritage Dictionary

2.      "Relativism about truth, or alethic relativism, at its simplest, is the claim that what is true for one individual or social group may not be true for another" [Baghramian, Maria and Carter, Adam, "Relativism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2015 Edition)

3.     Tiago Barros and Paulo Melo “Prototyping as a powerful tool in a user centered innovation process”

Comments Summary

Theme #1

1. Hi! You've made very interesting points about deductive and inductive reasoning. I didn't know about that. After seminar I also brought up a question is it possible to get objective knowledge? I thing that obtaining objective knowledge is impossible since that thing is not just a thing, it is the world where is this thing exist or emerges. So the knowledge about the world cannot be apart from us and consequently cannot be objective, can it?

http://paullinderoth.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-1-theory-of-knowledge-and-theory_14.html?showComment=1442350796839

2. Hej! Interesting post. I liked your mentions about primary and secondary qualities. We didn't discuss them on seminar. I agree with your arguments that we cannot perceive the world in the same way as we don't have the same color perception or feel of cold, for example. I think that is Socrates point "not see and hear "with" the eyes and the ears, but "through" the eyes and the ears". http://oscarlimback.blogspot.se/2015/09/after-thelecture-and-seminary-last-week.html?showComment=1442349836555

3. Hej! Example with playground is great! After seminars Kants' ideas became more less clear especially categories that form our perception of world. I think that using faculty of knowledge Kant wanted to find the answer to question "How is our knowledge about the world is structured?" http://meglia.blogspot.se/2015/09/post-theme-1.html?showComment=1442348837113#c7610290554563386459

4. Hej! Very interesting post. I specially like your point about categories that categories are sort of structured characteristics. Now I understand the following Kants' statement better: "we perceive everything in terms of space and time and table of categories". After seminar I also made a conclusion that knowledge cannot exist independent of previous knowledge. http://tamfmtol.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-1-post-theory-of-knowledge-and.html?showComment=1442347823620#c3453985143497294007

5. Hi! I really like your reflections especially "God's point of view" point. We didn't pay attention on this at our seminar. But how do you think if we get the knowledge from when we are using our senses and previous experience, is it possible to obtain objective knowledge? http://denise-theoryandmethod.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-1-theory-of-knowledge-and-theory_12.html?showComment=1442351546381#c731016183029461644

6. Hi! Very nice post. At the seminar I actually didn't get the statement "perception without conception is blind and conception without perception is empty", now it's clear for me. I agree with your point that it's impossible to understand what we see or, in other words, to obtain knowledge without putting it into context. For me understanding of 12 categories as a priori judgement of knowledge is still tricky since it seems like knowledge that we already have, but don't know or don't realize it. http://thetheoryabouteverything.blogspot.se/2015/09/post-theme-1-reflection.html?showComment=1442353288314

7. Hi Corinna,
Nice reflection! I agree with your point that it's impossible to get pure knowledge since knowledge cannot exists apart from us. But as far as I understood very simple categories as space and and time that according to Kant is considered as a priori knowledge can be examples of pure knowledge, how do you think? http://mediatechnologybycorinna.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-1-theory-of-knowledge-and-theory_13.html?showComment=1442824657568#c587461280393148663

8. Hi! Very interesting reflection. I like your example of color of the wall. During the discussion in group we brought up the example with blue sky: it cannot be proved or disproved independently that the sky is actually blue as perception of the color is individual. Consequently, the pure knowledge doesn't exist. http://aris-totall-loss.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-1-in-retrospect.html?showComment=1442825974726#c7941988908164390014

9. Hi! Thank you for sharing your thought. I like your comparison of Kant with Confucius. The parallel between "perception" and "learning", and "conception" and "thinking" allows to understand Kant's concept of "Copernicus revolution" and idea of getting knowledge. I agree with you point that we are not able to know for sure the true about reality and all of us are living in our "own reality", since the pure knowledge doesn't exist, except, probably knowledge of space and time. http://cliodile.blogspot.se/2015/09/after-theme-1-theory-of-knowledge-and.html?showComment=1442827083099

10. Hi! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Especially I liked that you point out Plato's statement about perception the world "through" our senses instead of "with" them. I think that this idea links with Kant's point that it's impossible to get pure knowledge. Knowledge is always conditioned by our individual perception. http://vadfinnsegentligen.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-1-reflection.html?showComment=1442827641951#c2070130021660542143

Theme #2

1. Hi! Thanks for sharing your thoughts! You gave very detailed explanations and feedback for seminar. Especially I like your points about substructure and superstructure. I think that emergence of superstructure is logical result of society development. Media technology can be considered as way of liberation and distribution art, I definitely agree that it has influence on superstructure eventually. http://oscarlimback.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-2-critical-media-studies-after.html?showComment=1443279922757

2. Hi! This is really interesting reading. I enjoy your detailed reflection. I also like that you point the connection between mass media and enlightenment. i think that mass media can be defined as tool of enlightenment and has positive as well as negative influence on society, for instance, as you mentioned "young female secretary" stereotype. http://tamfmtol.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-2-post-critical-media-studies.html?showComment=1443280368906#c1382797219061037931

3. Hi Malina! Thank you for detailed reflection and interesting example of Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death and Huxley's Brave New World. I've also read Brave New World, but never think about it in this context. I agree that there is an analogue with "soma" and mass media. Unfortunately, in most cases mass media just support degradation of society instead of initial enlightenment goals. http://theoryandmethodmediatechnology.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-2-critical-media-studies-after.html?showComment=1443281866927#c2813505212177825059

4. Hi! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. At my seminar we didn't discuss the role of mass media by particular example of Albert Speer and Leni Riefenstein, but I think it's very interesting topic. Media technology played big role in that time, it was tool of propaganda, formed public opinion and stereotypes. Actually nowadays it is the same. http://securepathofscience.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-2-critical-media-studies.html?showComment=1443282810003#c8097246977580183286

5. Hi!
This is very detailed and well-structured reflection. I like that you brought up your own examples. Example with rockstar hat allows to understand what aura is and how it is connected with mass media. Now the concept of "aura" is more clear for me, thank you. Also I like the statement that "mass media is using nominalism to stabilize the world." I think this statement define the relation between nominalism and mass media very precisely. I'm totally agree with that point. http://thewind-egg.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-2-reflection-for-this-week-we.html?showComment=1443283343147#c4009106782036259310

6. Hi! I really enjoy reading your reflection. I agree with your comments. Especially I like your comparison of fascism and consumerism. In fact they have certain similarities, for instance, using mass media as "tool of enlightenment" to form public opinion, stereotypes and limit or even eliminate alternative point of view. As you said engineering became the way of enlightenment, but also a way of influence on society. It's connected with another point of seminar that media technology impact on superstructure. http://paullinderoth.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-2-critical-media-studies-after.html?showComment=1443427419842

7. Hi! Thank you for detailed analysis. You gave great example with color definition to explain "nominalism". Also I like your point that Benjamin sees everyone as of a culture reproduction, and it gives everybody a chance to develop. I did think about it. http://lard-have-mercy.blogspot.se/2015/09/post-theme-2-critical-media-studies.html?showComment=1443428275741#c8107277811271246906

8. Hi! Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Your explanations helped me to understand the connection and relation between nominalism, enlightenment and platonic realism. The example of homosexual relationship showing in media is great! That supports the idea that media has revolutionary potential and influence on superstructure. It can have both positive and negative results, as your example with legislation of same-gender marriage, or example of negative effect is power of media regarding politics and propaganda. http://reb2572.blogspot.se/2015/09/post-theme-2-critical-media-studies.html?showComment=1443429254703#c8616678738762727609

9. Hi Marion! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I agree with your comments. I think that Benjamin's point that art has massive social revolutionary potential, can be also supported by example of role cinema as form of art in Soviet Union. The most famous statement of Russian revolutionary and founder of Soviet Union V. Lenin "You must bear in mind that of all the arts for us movie is the most important." Cinema is precise example of connection between art and technology. So, art and new tools of its distribution played and still playing great role in political regimes. http://meglia.blogspot.se/2015/09/post-theme-2.html?showComment=1443430974788#c3840845734415818919

10. Hi! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. You made interesting point about media mirroring the reality. I think it's analogue with Plato's allegory of cave: people see just reflection of the reality, in order to see the real world people should escape from their cave. I agree with your comments that media as tool of enlightenment broke its promises, but, on the other hand, media can distribute significant questions, make people think (or otherwise degrade) and consequently has revolutionary potential. http://mediatechmishmash.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-2-afterthoughts.html?showComment=1443431755710#c8259228033785523609

Theme #3

1. Hi! You mentioned interesting point that hypothesis is not always part of theory. I thought that hypothesis is inherent part of theory. Basically there were 1 or more hypothesis in all research papers that I came across. Now the definition of hypothesis and its relation to theory is clear for me. Thank you for that. http://ixxzw.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-3-after-seminar.html?showComment=1443951200079#c2493252877604318145

2. Hi! Your essay helped me to understand "truth" and "paradigm" concepts. I didn't pay too much attention on this question during the lecture. I like your statement that scientific research is is a systematic way of gathering data. I think it's very clear and comprehensive definition. I also had a look on research paper that you've selected. The topic of survey is very interesting and actual. For me results of survey is quite predictable. Did the author make any hypothesis or the survey is based on analyzing data gathering from experiment with students? http://literaturestuffm.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-3-reflections-after-lecture-and.html?showComment=1443951886670#c5535494716522704431

3. Hi! I like you mention that hypothesis is the first puzzle piece for building theory. Also I've read on one student's blog that theory is always based on data analyses and not necessary relies on hypothesis. In our seminar we also discuss scientific and philosophic theories. We agreed that scientific theories based on empirical data while philosophical theories based on ideas. I like the research paper that you've selected. I was thinking about it also. Nowadays modern society is overwhelmed by information especially in social networks, definitely users tend to perceive information better from certain sources or opinion leaders. I find this survey very interesting and actual. http://theoryandmethodmediatechnology.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-3-research-and-theory-after.html?showComment=1443953330556#c6079432034046172379

4. Hi Hannah! I also agree that choosing journal and research paper was the most interesting part of this theme. I selected the research from the same journal. The article that you choosed is interesting. Especially I use social media as source of news more often than news portals or newspaper as well. In social media subjective judgments just replace independent review of event/emergency/etc. I think that definition of theory fro research paper in terms of suggested categories of theory helps us to understand better nature and structure of theory. http://u1ifqcuc.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-3-research-and-theory-after.html?showComment=1443954732103#c8871517301681436870

5. Hi! I really like your reflection! It's good structured and you you explain a lot of crucial moments from the lecture. Thank you for that. I also like your statement “nothing is so practical as a good theory”. By the way in our seminar when we discuss topic what is the theory, the teacher proposed following definition "theory is what practice is not". So basically we cannot consider theory and practice separately since theory explain practical things. Consequently, theory cannot exists as idea or something abstract. I think that theory is structured explanation of observed and analyzed practical things. http://theorymethodmediatech.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme3-research-and-theory-after.html?showComment=1443957082482#c6844561753827504392

6. Hi! I like your reflection and explanation of relation between theory and hypothesis, especially the statement that hypothesis refers to a prediction which should be testable. You gave very good example of Earth theory, it was considered as absolute truth until proven otherwise. I think it can be related to all theories. Truth is a relative term and there is "new" truth at every stage of human development. http://thewind-egg.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-3-reflection.html?showComment=1443981409239#c2967124285422658219

7. Hi!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Especially I liked the example of scientific and philosophic theories that you provided. Also I like the article that you selected. The research is quite similar to one from article that I've chosen, but it reveals more global question - influence of social media to democracy process. In research that I selected the authors investigated more narrow topic - agenda-building potential of Twitter and influence on electorate in U.S. presidential election 2012. The author also analyzed twitter campaign of Barac Obama to compare it with "traditional" campaign in newspapers and magazine. http://oscarlimback.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-3-research-and-theory-after.html?showComment=1443982623719

8. Hi! Thank you for this reflection.I enjoy reading your essay. It's very interesting information about different types of research and their relation to theories. We also discussed the difference between theory and hypothesis and made a conclusion that hypothesis is related to narrow subjects or phenomena and has to be tested or proved. http://securepathofscience.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-3-research-and-theory-reflection.html?showComment=1443984557595#c206469514193370724

9. Hi! Thank you for great reflection. It's well structured and you point out all key moments of lecture and seminar. Especially I like your mention about that should be verifiable and the goal of research is to verify theory. Relying on these two statements it's easy to grasp "theory circle" that can be defined as research/analyzing of phenomena - hypothesis - testing - generalizing results - theory - new research - new hypothesis - testing - generalizing results - new theory and repeating steps again. So I think that we cannot consider hypothesis and theory apart from each other and it's even difficult to say what is the primary as hypothesis can be part of existing theory or starting point of investigation and creation of new theory. http://mediatechmishmash.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-3-research-and-theory_23.html?showComment=1443986861338#c8424417540558041469

10. Hi! I like your post, summary the topic of lecture and seminar is great as well as structure of your post. You made interesting point that "hypothesis can be seen as a sort of pre-stage of a theory and an attempt to explain phenomena", I think that hypothesis is not always pre-stage, hypothesis can based on theory and be related to narrow subject within this theory. http://tamfmtol.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-3-post-research-and-theory.html?showComment=1443988272926#c8901346500687608015

Theme #4

1. Hi! For me seminar was also quite boring for me as I already know about qualitative and quantitative methods. Survey about homeless people that you mentioned sounds very interesting. In my opinion qualitative methods allows to analyze subject of survey deeper and probably they more suitable for narrow subjects. I agree with your point that qualitative and quantitative methods generally complete each other. http://ixxzw.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-3-after.html?showComment=1443949680883#c562832224475525007

2. Hi! You reflection is well structured and summarized. You point crucial differences between qualitative and quantitative methods, especially I liked how you explain benefits of questionnaire. I agree with your argument that study can be replicated, but final results will be different. New results can be base for further investigation or disprove the previous study or theory. I think that it principally depends on research subject. http://oscarlimback.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-4-quantitative-research-after.html?showComment=1444139146414

3. Hi! I enjoyed reading your reflection. In our seminars we also discuss our previous thesis works as well. The research paper that you've selected illustrated questionnaire method very well and showed how results can be generalized. I agree that the main benefit of internet-based survey is ability to reach big audience and get accurate statistical data. http://u1ifqcuc.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-4-quantitative-research-after.html?showComment=1444140139516#c5804842750567242988

4. Hi! You did comprehensive reflection of seminar. I like that you emphasized the limitations of using questionnaire.I think that despite obvious benefits such as covering big audience and ability to get general results, questionnaires can have appreciable statistical error because of misunderstanding of participants.  http://paullinderoth.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-4-quantitative-research-after.html?showComment=1444140612741

5. Hi! I enjoyed reading your post. I liked how you define relation between quantitative and qualitative methods. I agree that quantitative methods allow to get more general results while qualitative methods target to deeper investigation, but in that case the question of objectivity arises. The research paper that you've selected seems interesting. I think that nowadays Internet surveys are the most used quantitative methods of variety of research subjects. http://tamfmtol.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-4-post-quantitative-research.html?showComment=1444141656466#c6089889160345769580

6. Hi! You did really great reflection, it's very well structured and summarized. I found a lot of new information for me in your post. I like your statement that hypothesis is proposed for the statistical relationship between data sets. You defined benefits and disadvantages of qualitative and quantitative methods very clear. It seems that you really know that topic. Well done! http://mediatechnologybycorinna.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-4-quantitative-research-reflection.html?showComment=1444163439378#c6488388957413061142

7. Hi! You did great summary of the seminar and the lecture. I like that you brought up the question of objectivity/subjectivity in qualitative and quantitative methods. When we described limitation and benefits of qualitative and quantitative methods at our seminar, the first possible limitation of qualitative methods that came to my mind was possible subjectivity of research. But I agree with your point that it's wrong to assume that quantitative methods allow to get more objective results than qualitative. I think that objectivity is relative term as well as the truth.http://denise-theoryandmethod.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-4-quantitative-research-22.html?showComment=1444164581107#c8188476005360589046

8. Hi! I really like reading you blog. You demonstrate unusual approach and deep understanding of every topic. I like your explanation of questionnaire set up. If a study can be replicated, how do you think, if to replicate the same questionnaire with quite big sample, will the results be same? Of course considering history and time influence let's assume that we will repeat the questionnaire in 1 month.http://meglia.blogspot.se/2015/10/post-theme-4.html?showComment=1444166303663#c2877162490517204196

9. Hi! Thank you for interesting reflection! Especially I like your point that research results depends on skills of the researcher. So the design of research is somehow predetermines the result of the research. But sometimes studies conducted by different authors lead to the same results. Consequently, objectivity of results can be reached despite of subjective approach. Is this the way to find the "truth"? I think that objectivity an subjectivity is relative in terms of research methods. http://u1vfukfo.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-4-post-posting-quantitative.html?showComment=1444168285618#c7065156569000454915

10. Hi! I enjoyed reading your post and thank you for the link. I also think that it's impossible to prove that qualitative methods are more effective than quantitative or vice versa, it depends on subject of study. I would say that quantitative methods allow to get more general result while qualitative method allow to investigate subject of study deeper. I agree with your point that from pre-lecture post that online survey is a very efficient method in terms of scalability. New technologies have great impact on research methods development and allow to get more accurate results as now we can handle large data. http://theoryandmethodmediatechnology.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-4-quantitative-research-after.html?showComment=1444169023794#c3095293155778099071

Theme #5

1. Hi! You have made good reflection despite the absence of the seminar. I think that the first lecture was more interesting especially the part about distinguishing great idea from other ides. You mentioned "business mind" as necessary capacity to filter and evaluate idea. I think it's extremely important for entrepreneurs and investors to see potential that will bring profit. http://u1vfukfo.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-5-post-posting-design-research.html?showComment=1444725582462#c7024110299357792633

2. Hi! You did good summary of two lectures. You definitively put a lot of efforts to structure the information and highlight the most important points. For me the concept of design research is not clear as well. As far as I understood prototype creation is significant and required component of design research, and it is base for solution of stated problem. The first lecture helped us to understand the main principle of solving problem. As you have mentioned 90% of the total time should be directed towards defining problem and 10% towards solving it. http://thetheoryabouteverything.blogspot.se/2015/10/post-theme-5-design-research.html?showComment=1444726644211

3. Hi! I enjoy reading your reflection. You gave great example of mother and daughter. You showed creative approach to problem that bring about right solution.
I think that questions to idea that you've mentioned are mainly applicable for business idea than for idea of research. These questions can help to define the limitations of suggested concept, in design research prototype performs the same function, it allows to define limitations of idea. http://gklo.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-5-design-research-post-reflection.html?showComment=1444727740015#c2595831962218144836

4. Hi! You've written interesting reflection. I like how you point out connection between that two lectures. I would just like to add that crucial point in design research is clear problem definition and using prototype is necessary part of design research. But prototype as it is doesn't bring the solution of the problem, it is rather a tool for idea evaluation to draw the analogy with Haibo Li's lecture. For instance, he gave an example of evaluation of media system by measuring effectiveness, efficiency and users satisfaction. And as you've mentioned prototype creation allows to measure this characteristics. http://oscarlimback.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-5-after.html?showComment=1444729241124

5. Hi! You've made good summary of the lectures. Especially I liked how you emphasized the relation between problem solving and design research. I agree with your point that research problem definition is the framework of design research. Using prototype allows to define limitations and get necessary data for further search for problem solution. I think that understanding solving problem and idea creation principles that were pointed out by Haibo Li is essential to conduct design research. http://paullinderoth.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-5-design-research-after.html?showComment=1444730102859

6. Hi! You've made great reflection. You summarized the most important points of both lectures. I like that you highlighted the question about prototype as source of knowledge. For me topic of design research was quite new, and I don't know for sure the answer for that question, but I think that prototype can provoke a new knowledge. When researchers explore the limitations, they can find out new features and functions that haven't been considered in theory. http://denise-theoryandmethod.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-5-design-research-22.html?showComment=1444902716778#c7680594520252036868

7. Hi! I enjoy reading your reflection, you did a great job. It seems that understand the topic very well. I definitely agree with you that seminar would be useful. For example, for me it's a new topic, so I'd like to discuss it with other students to hear another opinions and ideas. http://mediatechnologybycorinna.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-5-design-research-reflection.html?showComment=1444902997135#c1012994543762142631

8. Hi! Thank you for your reflection! I agree with you that the second lecture was a bit confused, but I think that points of the first lecture help to understand the role of prototype is design research better. I think the same steps as defining the problem, filtering the idea, evaluation the idea, etc. should be done in design research as well. And testing prototype is a way of evaluation of suggested solution in the research. http://u1ifqcuc.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-5-design-research-after.html?showComment=1444903689739#c4098458525014800717

9. Hi! Great summary! I like your examples of great ideas and explanation of questions to innovative ideas. I also agree with your point that prototypes can be source of new knowledge. I just would like to add that problem definition create a framework of design research, but the direction of research can be changed after prototype testing. As you mentioned research represents the current perspective of the designer, so it's quite subjective. Using prototypes allows to get empirical data and after that probably to see the problem from another angle. http://meglia.blogspot.se/2015/10/post-theme-5.html?showComment=1444904917569#c7972983983582655317

10. Hi! Your reflection is very interesting. I like your statement that "a prototype is mainly used in order to test out ideas", I think that prototypes actually bring our ideas to reality and set the direction of the research. I also find interesting the question of selection implications. But after the lecture I still don't have clear understanding what cannot be considered as design research.
Your post is well structured and summarized. Great job! http://platotheplatypus.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-5-post-reflection.html?showComment=1444905866048#c2367903516689671508

Theme #6

1. Hi! I enjoy reading your reflection. I agree that the main characteristic of case study is absence of hypothesis, and the main goal of conducting case study is to find out more information about subject of research. Also I like your point that case study can be cycling. Before seminar I had wrong idea what case study is, after seminar and reading your reflection I understand the concept of case study and its difference from research methods that we learnt before. http://securepathofscience.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-6-qualitative-and-case-study_18.html?showComment=1445719319466#c4065333967057025393

2. Hi! I enjoy reading your reflection. I agree that case study is more difficult for understanding as it doesn't have a specific structure. I think that crucial difference of case study to compare with other research methods is that reason to conduct it is lack of information, besides case study doesn't include a hypothesis. You made nice example of case study. I think you understand this theme very well. Great job! http://denise-theoryandmethod.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-6-qualitative-and-case-study_19.html?showComment=1445720786154#c8881617633739607644

3. Hi! You made very good reflection. I think you point out the most important characteristic of case study such as that goal of case study is to build theory and it doesn't start with hypothesis. I think that this seminar helped to understand the idea of case study and how it differ from other research methods. You shows clear understanding of the topic. Well done! http://mediatechnologybycorinna.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-6-qualitative-and-case-study_19.html?showComment=1445722266963#c8933280463338546445

4. Hi! I enjoy reading your reflection. During the seminar we also mainly talked about case study. I thinks it's quite difficult to evaluate case study according to table of steps because as you've mentioned case study doesn't have clear structure. I like your conclusion about what case study is. After reading your post the definition of case study became more clear for me. Besides, I'd like to note that you've chosen very interesting case study about blogs and microbogs. Great job! http://tamfmtol.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-6-post-qualitative-and-case-study.html?showComment=1445722929050#c61781583018199258

5. Hi Paul! You wrote very interesting reflection. You've mentioned case study as method of qualitative research. So case study is just an additional method to find more information about subject to complete the research, isn't it? On the other hand, case study is conducted in order to build a theory, so it can be base of further research as well. In our seminar group we compared case study with prototype, and brought up the question can a case study be a prototype. http://paullinderoth.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-6-qualitative-and-case-study_19.html?showComment=1445724571699

6. Hi! I enjoy reading your reflection. It's well structures and summarized, you highlighted the most important points from the lecture. I like the statement that you've mentioned "In knowledge production, anything goes. There is no set of rules on how to generate 'the right' kind of knowledge." I agree that it explains an approach to conducting case study very well. Thus, case study doesn't need specific rules or framework. I just would like to add that the main goal of case study is to find more information and build new theory. That's how I understood the idea of case study. http://thetheoryabouteverything.blogspot.se/2015/10/post-theme-6-qualitative-case-studies.html?showComment=1445774054777

7. Hi! You made great reflection. Especially I liked your point that a case study needs to have a specific time and place. It's interesting conclusion. We didn't discuss that point at our seminar. It got me thinking about it. In my opinion, a case study can be conducted just in presence and cannot be replicated.
Anyways, well done, good conclusions! http://sannanodm2572.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-6-reflection.html?showComment=1445774997059#c5182903771346694270

8. Hi! You wrote great reflection. I find your point about the amount of participants is a deciding factor in case study very interesting. I think that case study is quite subjective anyway no matter what methods are used whether qualitative or quantitative since the subject is quite narrow and just particular case is investigated. So bigger amount of participants can help to get more data for building theory.
You did great job! Thank you for interesting reflection. http://platotheplatypus.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-6-post-reflection.html?showComment=1445776463825#c5234007762013047137

9. Hi! Thank you for interesting reflection. You've described what case study is very clearly. I was a bit confusing for me to understand whether case study is method of qualitative research or it independent research method. Now it's clear for me, thank you. Besides, I really like the point that you've mentioned "every rule and every methodology is always limited." It's a big question for discussion, I just want to add that case study is probably gives more freedom to author as it doesn't have any specific rules and requirements, so it allows to get knowledge to build new theory.
Well done! http://meglia.blogspot.se/2015/10/post-theme-6.html?showComment=1445778018391#c2553657782167636218

10. Hi! I enjoy reading your reflection. You gave an interesting example that illustrates that amount of participants can be not so important factor in research. I thought that big sample allows to get more data to build or test a theory. But, you are right, it depends on research subject.
Information about several layers of analysis in case study was new for me.
It's seems that you understand this topic very well. Good job! http://jonathansbs.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-6-post.html?showComment=1445778647707#c4952464440544415063

Theme #6. Comments.

1. http://securepathofscience.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-6-qualitative-and-case-study_18.html?showComment=1445719319466#c4065333967057025393

2. http://denise-theoryandmethod.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-6-qualitative-and-case-study_19.html?showComment=1445720786154#c8881617633739607644

3. http://mediatechnologybycorinna.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-6-qualitative-and-case-study_19.html?showComment=1445722266963#c8933280463338546445

4. http://tamfmtol.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-6-post-qualitative-and-case-study.html?showComment=1445722929050#c61781583018199258

5. http://paullinderoth.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-6-qualitative-and-case-study_19.html?showComment=1445724571699

6. http://thetheoryabouteverything.blogspot.se/2015/10/post-theme-6-qualitative-case-studies.html?showComment=1445774054777

7. http://sannanodm2572.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-6-reflection.html?showComment=1445774997059#c5182903771346694270

8. http://platotheplatypus.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-6-post-reflection.html?showComment=1445776463825#c5234007762013047137

9. http://meglia.blogspot.se/2015/10/post-theme-6.html?showComment=1445778018391#c2553657782167636218

10. http://jonathansbs.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-6-post.html?showComment=1445778647707#c4952464440544415063

Theme #6. Reflection

Unfortunately we didn't have lecture of theme 6. So there were a lot of questions and unclear moments for seminar.
At the beginning of the seminar we discussed research paper that we have selected in small groups. I selected two papers for this theme, the first one  “Don’t be dumb—that’s the rule I try to live by”: A closer look at older teens’ online privacy and safety attitudes” by Denise E Agosto and June Abbas and case study “Intercultural Communication Training in IT Outsourcing Companies in India: A Case Study” by Raju, R. In both papers the authors used such qualitative methods as questionnaire and interview. Actually I didn't get the difference between case study and qualitative research. For instance, in both paper quite small sample was analyzed, the results were quite subjective and had serious limitations.  So we discussed what a case study is. That main point that distinguishes case study is absence of hypothesis. In other words, case study helps to formulate the hypothesis. As I mentioned in pre-lecture post, the one of characteristic of case study is targeting on understanding the phenomena instead of explanation the phenomena. Consequently, the goal of conducting case study is to look depth on the topic and explore the problem in order to come up with a hypothesis and continue further research based on that hypothesis.
Another question that we also discussed was the limitations of case study and methods. The conclusion was that both qualitative and quantitative methods can be used in a case study. The main limitations of case study are small sample and subjective author's view. Therefore, case study results cannot be generalized and require further research,
Continuing the previous issue we brought up the question of relation between prototype and case study. Can a prototype be a case study? I think it's quite interesting question, but there is no definite answer.
After the seminar I got a grasp what is case study and its role in research. I really like that we had seminar this week as seminars allow to understand topic way better.

Theme #5. Comments

1. http://u1vfukfo.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-5-post-posting-design-research.html?showComment=1444725582462#c7024110299357792633

2. http://thetheoryabouteverything.blogspot.se/2015/10/post-theme-5-design-research.html?showComment=1444726644211

3. http://gklo.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-5-design-research-post-reflection.html?showComment=1444727740015#c2595831962218144836

4. http://oscarlimback.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-5-after.html?showComment=1444729241124

5. http://paullinderoth.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-5-design-research-after.html?showComment=1444730102859

6. http://denise-theoryandmethod.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-5-design-research-22.html?showComment=1444902716778#c7680594520252036868

7. http://mediatechnologybycorinna.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-5-design-research-reflection.html?showComment=1444902997135#c1012994543762142631

8. http://u1ifqcuc.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-5-design-research-after.html?showComment=1444903689739#c4098458525014800717

9. http://meglia.blogspot.se/2015/10/post-theme-5.html?showComment=1444904917569#c7972983983582655317

10. http://platotheplatypus.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-5-post-reflection.html?showComment=1444905866048#c2367903516689671508

Theme #5. Reflection

Last week we had two lectures. The first lecture covered following questions: how to come up with idea, how to define the problem, how to solve the problem, how to evaluate, validate and communicate the idea. I found the lecture very interesting as we consider the process from generation ideas to bringing it in practice in depth.

The summary of lecture helped me to understand main idea aspects: generation idea, filtering idea, validation idea, evaluation idea and communication the idea.

The main conclusions that I made after the lecture:

1. Defining problem is the key thing to come up with the idea.

2. There are 5 questions formulated by Cisco company to define how innovative the idea:

   • Does it address a real pain point?

   • Will it appeal to a big enough market?

   • Is the timing right?

   • If we pursue the idea, will we be good at it?

  • Can we exploit the opportunity for the long term, or would this market commoditize so quickly that we wouldn’t be able to stay profitable? (https://hbr.org/2009/09/inside-ciscos-search-for-the-next-big-idea)

3.Three components of idea validation – proof of concept, existing of potential customers and fund to realize the idea.

The second lecture develop and support points from the previous lecture. The topic was design research. The aim of design research is to shape prototype to answer the particular question. So in other words, prototyping is used to solve the problem. But prototype as it is, is not a decision, it can be a way to generate empirical data that we don’t have to obtain the solution of claimed problem/question of the research. The teacher explained how to used design method and role of prototype using example of research papers for this lecture.

Definition and meaning of prototype was not really clear for me, that’s why I checked additional sources of information.

In dictionaries prototype means an original model on which something is patterned, a standard or typical example, a first full-scale and usually functional form of a new type or design of a construction. So basically synonym word of prototype is pattern. How is it related to the research? The answer I found in the article by “Prototyping as a powerful tool in a user centered innovation process” Tiago Barros and Paulo Melo. “Prototyping is important to bring abstract ideas to a more concrete level […] While prototyping, developers face several limitations that could not be identified while they were discussing abstract concepts only. Apart from that, prototypes bring light to new aspects and opportunities that have not been considered.” I think that, on the one hand, prototype is interim step to prove the feasibility of suggested concept, on the other hand, prototype is base for further investigation and probably new hypothesis as it was mentioned above “prototypes bring light to new aspects and opportunities.” So prototype testing is crucial for exploring limitations and making appropriate changes.

Sources:

1.    Guido Jouret “Inside Cisco’s Search for the Next Big Idea” https://hbr.org/2009/09/inside-ciscos-search-for-the-next-big-idea

2.  “Prototyping as a powerful tool in a user centered innovation process” Tiago Barros , Paulo Melo, IHC+CLIHC '11 Proceedings of the Companion Proceedings of the 10th Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems and the 5th Latin American Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, page 33-35

Theme #6

- 1 -

I have selected the research paper “Don’t be dumb—that’s the rule I try to live by”: A closer look at older teens’ online privacy and safety attitudes” by Denise E Agosto and June Abbas published in New Media and Society, impact factor 2.007.
The goal of the research is to investigate problem of online safety and online privacy in social networks and teenagers’ concerns about it. Authors used qualitative methods to research the topic in-depth. The results showed responsible attitude and behavior of younger generation in terms of online privacy, and less awareness of online safety.

1. Which qualitative method or methods are used in the paper? Which are the benefits and limitations of using these methods?

Qualitative methods used in that paper includes questionnaire and interview of focus group.  The research was conducted in two steps. Participants are 18-19 age male and female students of U.S. public school, total 98 people. The first step is questionnaire that includes such questions as age, sex, race, computer and phone ownership, frequency of using social networks.The second part is interviewing of focus group to concretize answers.

2. What did you learn about qualitative methods from reading the paper?

I already known about qualitative methods such as questionnaire, interview and focus group, but it was interesting for me to know about “qualitative content analysis method” that the authors used for data analysis. The interview answers of focus-group were recorded, obtained transcripts were analyzed according to that method in order to define thematic categories by inductive development method. Conclusions were made according to defined categories relying on particular answers from focus group.

3. Which are the main methodological problems of the study? How could the use of the qualitative method or methods have been improved

The limitations of the study are that research results are not applicable for all teens age categories as behavior 13-14 years old teenagers and 18-19 is different, so the results are actual for older teenager group. The second limitation is that attitude and behavior in social networks can change with time very fast. For instance, if the research was conducted several years ago in the begging of “social networks era”, the results would be different, since the subject of the study relates to fast developing and widely used technologies.

- 2 –

I have selected case study “Intercultural Communication Training in IT Outsourcing Companies in India: A Case Study” by Raju, R. from IEEE organization journal.
The aim of the research is to investigate the reasons of communication problems in international outsourcing companies. The research is based on case study conducted US outsourced business in India. The author used such qualitative methods as personal interview and group interview, and quantitative date gathered from the survey. Obtained results define the reason of communication problem as lack of training, solution proposed by participants of case study are included in the research.

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

Case study is the method of qualitative research that implies in-depth and detailed analyzing of one particular subject. The case study is a research strategy which focuses on understanding the dynamics present within single settings. (Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Building Theories from Case Study Research. Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 532-550) Case study either is based on questionnaire, if crucial question has emerged, or identify the research question that is used in questionnaire to get more general results. Following characteristics of case study can be defined: focusing on one subject instead of multiply ones, aims to understanding instead of explanation, using not manipulative data, ambiguous results are acceptable, multiply perspectives are considered. (“Case study”, Denis Hayes, http://www.edu.plymouth.ac.uk/resined/Case_study/casest.htm)

2. 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.

Selected research paper meet all steps of "Process of Building Theory from Case Study Research".
The author clearly defined the research question – reasons of communication problem in outsourcing company. Author references on similar study, use both quantitative and qualitative methods. Data analysis was conducted using Anova and t-tests, interviews were categorized, the Geisler's techniques was applied to code and analyze the data. Received results proves possibility to apply Cross Theory to communication issues, but they are not the basement of new theory. But I don't think that it's weak side of research as not every research should build the new theory.

Sources:
1. Agosto, D. E., Abbas, J. "Don't be dumb--that's the rule I try to live by": A closer look at older teens' online privacy and safety attitudes. New Media and Society.
2. Raju, R. Intercultural Communication Training in IT Outsourcing Companies in India: A Case Study. Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions on.
3. Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Building Theories from Case Study Research. Academy of Management Review.
4. “Case study”, Denis Hayes, http://www.edu.plymouth.ac.uk/resined/Case_study/casest.htm

Theme #4. Comments

1. http://ixxzw.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-3-after.html?showComment=1443949680883#c562832224475525007

2. http://oscarlimback.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-4-quantitative-research-after.html?showComment=1444139146414

3. http://u1ifqcuc.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-4-quantitative-research-after.html?showComment=1444140139516#c5804842750567242988

4. http://paullinderoth.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-4-quantitative-research-after.html?showComment=1444140612741

5. http://tamfmtol.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-4-post-quantitative-research.html?showComment=1444141656466#c6089889160345769580

6. http://mediatechnologybycorinna.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-4-quantitative-research-reflection.html?showComment=1444163439378#c6488388957413061142

7. http://denise-theoryandmethod.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-4-quantitative-research-22.html?showComment=1444164581107#c8188476005360589046

8. http://meglia.blogspot.se/2015/10/post-theme-4.html?showComment=1444166303663#c2877162490517204196

9. http://u1vfukfo.blogspot.se/2015/10/theme-4-post-posting-quantitative.html?showComment=1444168285618#c7065156569000454915

10. http://theoryandmethodmediatechnology.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-4-quantitative-research-after.html?showComment=1444169023794#c3095293155778099071

Theme #3. Comments

1. http://ixxzw.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-3-after-seminar.html?showComment=1443951200079#c2493252877604318145

2. http://literaturestuffm.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-3-reflections-after-lecture-and.html?showComment=1443951886670#c5535494716522704431

3. http://theoryandmethodmediatechnology.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-3-research-and-theory-after.html?showComment=1443953330556#c6079432034046172379

4. http://u1ifqcuc.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-3-research-and-theory-after.html?showComment=1443954732103#c8871517301681436870

5. http://theorymethodmediatech.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme3-research-and-theory-after.html?showComment=1443957082482#c6844561753827504392

6. http://thewind-egg.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-3-reflection.html?showComment=1443981409239#c2967124285422658219

7. http://oscarlimback.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-3-research-and-theory-after.html?showComment=1443982623719

8. http://securepathofscience.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-3-research-and-theory-reflection.html?showComment=1443984557595#c206469514193370724

9. http://mediatechmishmash.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-3-research-and-theory_23.html?showComment=1443986861338#c8424417540558041469

10. http://tamfmtol.blogspot.se/2015/09/theme-3-post-research-and-theory.html?showComment=1443988272926#c8901346500687608015

Seminar #4. Refection

The theme of qualitative and quantitative methods was quite easy for me as I already know about it and used in my Bachelor thesis.  Other students in our seminar groups also were aware of qualitative and quantitative methods, so we discussed our bachelor thesis mostly.

In my thesis I used quantitative methods since I developed decision to analyzing target audience and seasonal trends in touristic agency. I analyzed sample and used statistic methods. Another members of our group used such qualitative methods as interview and questionnaire. So it was very interesting to share experience and know about research subjects of each other.

Then we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of qualitative and quantitative methods. We all agreed that key reason to decide what methods are more effective is subject of research. For example, qualitative methods are widely used for sociological and anthropological studies. In that case such qualitative methods as interview, questionnaire, and case study allow to analyze human behavior deeply while quantitative methods allow to get more general results.

After this seminar I learnt more about qualitative methods and how they can be applied in different studies. 

Theme #5 Part 2

1.     What is the 'empirical data' in these two papers?

In the first paper (Fernaeus & Tholander) data was collected using prototype. In the second paper (Lundström) data was collected by interviewing and using prototype as well. Also author analysed information gathered from online forums.

2.     Can practical design work in itself be considered a 'knowledge contribution'?

Knowledge contribution means creation new knowledge relying on previously known facts. In my opinion practical design can be considered as knowledge contribution. Practical design is created to solve certain problem, but proposed decision can be base for further research in the same or contiguous areas depending on results and conclusions that can be made using practical design.

3.     Are there any differences in design intentions within a research project, compared to design in general?

In my opinion design intentions within a research paper aim to answer certain questions, prove hypothesis and are intended to influence on research subject or supplement it in certain way. Basically design within research project has contribution on knowledge. Design in general can be aim to satisfy users’ needs, or has just commercial application and don’t have contribution on knowledge.

4.     Is research in tech domains such as these ever replicable? How may we account for aspects such as time/historical setting, skills of the designers, available tools, etc? 

I think that development of technology made research replicable. For instance, it’s possible to use the same software, tools, and approaches. On the other hand, the same research cannot be replicate in another period of time due to new theories and new knowledges. Designers skills are very individual and if we are talking about design that needs exclusively human skills it would be impossible to repeat it.

5.     Are there any important differences with design driven research compared to other research practices?

I think that the main difference is that design driven research is based on observation of users’ behavior and it uses qualitative research methods.