Data sources for scholarly research: Towards a guide for novice researchers

One of the biggest challenges the novice researcher faces is determining just where and how to start her or his research. During the research design stage, a novice researcher must take into consideration three key factors: a) literature; b) research-worthy problem; and c) data. While the role of the problem and literature in research has been explored previously, inadequate attention has been given to the centrality of data and access to collecting data in the context of research design. This paper explores data as a vital element of scholarly enquiry by outlining the role of data in research in the informing sciences, identifying some issues with access to data collection, and their impact on the design of a proposed research. This paper explores the categories of data, organized in a 2x2 taxonomy: the Qualitative-Quantitative-Indirect-Direct (Q2 ID) Taxonomy of Data Sources. This paper concludes with examples from literature for some research studies and explanations for the types of data used in the context of the proposed Q2 ID Taxonomy of Data Sources are provided

Towards a framework of literature review process in support of information systems research

This paper introduces an initial effort towards developing a framework for writing an effective literature review. The target audience for the framework are novice IS researchers or other researchers who are constantly struggling with the development of an effective literature-based foundation for the proposed research. The proposed framework follows the systematic data processing approach comprised of three major stages: 1) inputs (literature gathering and screening), 2) processing (Blooms Taxonomy), and 3) outputs (writing the review). This paper provides the rationale for developing a solid literature review and addresses the central stage, processing the literature. The paper concludes by providing arguments for the value of an effective literature review as well as implications for future work in this proposed framework

Framework of problem-based research: A guide for novice researchers on the development of a research-worthy problem

This paper introduces the importance of a well-articulated, research-worthy problem statement as the centerpiece for any viable research. The aim of this work is to help novice researchers understand the value of problem-based research by providing a practical guide on the development of a well articulated and viable statement of a research-worthy problem as the starting point for all research. Additionally, this paper explores the interaction of the problem with the other fundamental elements of scholarly research including the research topic, goals, research questions, methodology, results, and conclusions. Scaffolding for articulating a ‘research-worthy problem’ is provided in the form of a deconstruction of the expression into definitions of its component terms, followed by a discussion of what is not a research-worthy problem. A roadmap on locating problems that could support scholarly research is provided. The theoretical foundation is placed into practice by examining some problem statements and proposing a template for crafting an effective statement

A guide for novice researchers on experimental and quasi-experimental studies in information systems research

The main focus of this informative article is to bring attention to experimental research in the field of information systems, especially for novice researchers such as doctoral students. In the past three decades, information systems research has been heavily focused on theoretical model development and testing using survey-based methodology. However, criticism on such an approach has been prevalent. Experimental research has been used extensively in the ‘hard’ sciences and has provided a solid foundation for advancement in those fields. Incorporating a greater emphasis on experimental studies in information systems research is a route to similar advancements in that domain. Although this paper presents little new information, it attempts to make the wealth of existing information on experiments and quasi-experiments usable by the novice researcher. As such, we start by defining the term experiment and argue for its importance in the context of information systems research. We then discuss three key categories of experimental design: lab-experiments, quasi-experiments, and factorial design experiments. In each of the key experimental categories, we provide examples of common type(s) of design. Within the lab-experiment, we explore pretest-posttest with control group and Solomon fourgroup designs. In the quasi-experiment, we discuss nonrandomized pretest-posttest control group design, control-group time series design, and multiple baseline design. We examine factorial design with a discussion of the ex-post facto type of experiment. We conclude the paper with discussions about importance of increased use of experimental research in information systems and it’s relevancy to practice and advancement of knowledge

A systems approach to conduct an effective literature review in support of information systems research

This paper introduces a framework for conducting and writing an effective literature review. The target audience for the framework includes information systems (IS) doctoral students, novice IS researchers, and other IS researchers who are constantly struggling with the development of an effective literature-based foundation for a proposed research. The proposed framework follows the systematic data processing approach comprised of three major stages: 1) inputs (literature gathering and screening), 2) processing (following Bloom’s Taxonomy), and 3) outputs (writing the literature review). This paper provides the rationale for developing a solid literature review including detailed instructions on how to conduct each stage of the process proposed. The paper concludes by providing arguments for the value of an effective literature review to IS research

Towards a guide for novice researchers on research methodology: Review and proposed methods

The novice researcher, such as the graduate student, can be overwhelmed by the intricacies of the research methods employed in conducting a scholarly inquiry. As both a consumer and producer of research, it is essential to have a firm grasp on just what is entailed in producing legitimate, valid results and conclusions. The very large and growing number of diverse research approaches in current practice exacerbates this problem. The goal of this review is to provide the novice researcher with a starting point in becoming a more informed consumer and producer of research. Toward addressing this goal, a new system for deriving a proposed study type is developed. The PLD model includes the three common drivers for selection of study type: research-worthy problem (P), valid quality peer-reviewed literature (L), and data (D). The discussion includes a review of some common research types and concludes with definitions, discussions, and examples of various fundamentals of research methods such as: a) forming research questions and hypotheses; b) acknowledging assumptions, limitations, and delimitations; and c) establishing reliability and validity

Toward a Model for Customer-Driven Release Management

Undetected software bugs frequently result in service disruptions, productivity losses, and in some instances significant threat to human life. One way to prevent such bugs is to engage customers in acceptance testing prior to the production software release, yet there is a considerable lack of empirical examination of the release process from the customer’s perspective. To address this research-practice gap, this study proposes a model for customer-driven release management that has been shown to minimize the number of software bugs discovered in production systems. The model is evaluated during a 27 month study at a municipality using the action research method. Following the model, 361 software bugs were detected and eliminated prior to final production releases, confirming the value of customer-driven release management for elimination of production software bugs

The Relationship between the “Dark Triad” Personality Traits and Deviant Behavior on Social Networking Sites

Many aspects of the Internet have been described as taking a “dark turn”, as incidents of spear-phishing, identity theft, and other known cyber threats are becoming more commonplace. Social networking sites (SNSs) such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and other services with user-generated content (UGC), provide a platform to facilitate these types of behavior. While these SNSs encourage respectful or acceptable behavior and adherence to conduct standards, incidences of obscene language, personal attacks, cyberbullying, racial, gender or sexual bias, and hate speech are rampant. Prior research suggests that this type of unacceptable or deviant behavior can be attributed to Dark Triad personality traits (i.e., narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy). Using the lens of the Dark Triad and an extensive literature review, a Short Dark Triad (SD3) survey study was conducted to investigate the gap in Information Systems (IS) research and the influence of deviant behaviors and its acceptance in SNSs

Production method for making rare earth compounds

A method of making a rare earth compound, such as a earth-transition metal permanent magnet compound, without the need for producing rare earth metal as a process step, comprises carbothermically reacting a rare earth oxide to form a rare earth carbide and heating the rare earth carbide, a compound-forming reactant (e.g. a transition metal and optional boron), and a carbide-forming element (e.g. a refractory metal) that forms a carbide that is more thermodynamically favorable than the rare earth carbide whereby the rare earth compound (e.g. Nd.sub.2 Fe.sub.14 B or LaNi.sub.5) and a carbide of the carbide-forming element are formed

Local and non-local measures of acceleration in cosmology

Current cosmological observations, when interpreted within the framework of a homogeneous and isotropic Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) model, strongly suggest that the Universe is entering a period of accelerating expansion. This is often taken to mean that the expansion of space itself is accelerating. In a general spacetime, however, this is not necessarily true. We attempt to clarify this point by considering a handful of local and non-local measures of acceleration in a variety of inhomogeneous cosmological models. Each of the chosen measures corresponds to a theoretical or observational procedure that has previously been used to study acceleration in cosmology, and all measures reduce to the same quantity in the limit of exact spatial homogeneity and isotropy. In statistically homogeneous and isotropic spacetimes, we find that the acceleration inferred from observations of the distance-redshift relation is closely related to the acceleration of the spatially averaged universe, but does not necessarily bear any resemblance to the average of the local acceleration of spacetime itself. For inhomogeneous spacetimes that do not display statistical homogeneity and isotropy, however, we find little correlation between acceleration inferred from observations and the acceleration of the averaged spacetime. This shows that observations made in an inhomogeneous universe can imply acceleration without the existence of dark energy.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures. Several references added or amended, some minor clarifications made in the tex