Theme #6

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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.

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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