A qualititative approach to HCI research

Whilst science has a strong reliance on quantitative and experimental methods, there are many complex, socially based phenomena in HCI that cannot be easily quantified or experimentally manipulated or, for that matter, ethically researched with experiments. For example, the role of privacy in HCI is not obviously reduced to numbers and it would not be appropriate to limit a person's privacy in the name of research. In addition, technology is rapidly changing – just think of developments in mobile devices, tangible interfaces and so on – making it harder to abstract technology from the context of use if we are to study it effectively. Developments such as mediated social networking and the dispersal of technologies in ubiquitous computing also loosen the connection between technologies and work tasks that were the traditional cornerstone of HCI. Instead, complex interactions between technologies and ways of life are coming to the fore. Consequently, we frequently find that we do not know what the real HCI issues are before we start our research. This makes it hard, if not actually impossible, to define the variables necessary to do quantitative research, (see Chapter 2). Within HCI, there is also the recognition that the focus on tasks is not enough to design and implement an effective system. There is also a growing need to understand how usability issues are subjectively and collectively experienced and perceived by different user groups (Pace, 2004; Razavim and Iverson, 2006). This means identifying the users' emotional and social drives and perspectives; their motivations, expectations, trust, identity, social norms and so on. It also means relating these concepts to work practices, communities and organisational social structures as well as organisational, economic and political drivers. These issues are increasingly needed in the design, development and implementation of systems to be understood both in isolation and as a part of the whole. HCI researchers are therefore turning to more qualitative methods in order to deliver the research results that HCI needs.With qualitative research, the emphasis is not on measuring and producing numbers but instead on understanding the qualities of a particular technology and how people use it in their lives, how they think about it and how they feel about it. There are many varied approaches to qualitative research within the social sciences depending on what is being studied, how it can be studied and what the goals of the research are.Within HCI, though, grounded theory has been found to provide good insights that address well the issues raised above (Pace, 2004; Adams, Blandford and Lunt, 2005; Razavim and Iverson, 2006). The purpose of this chapter is to give an overview of how grounded theory works as a method. Quantitative research methods adopt measuring instruments and experimental manipulations that can be repeated by any researcher (at least in principle) and every effort is made to reduce the influence of the researcher on the researched, which is regarded as a source of bias or error. In contrast, in qualitative research, where the goal is understanding rather than measuring and manipulating, the subjectivity of the researcher is an essential part of the production of an interpretation. The chapter therefore discusses how the influence of the researcher can be ameliorated through the grounded theory methodology whilst also acknowledging the subjective input of the researcher through reflexivity. The chapter also presents a case study of how grounded theory was used in practice to study people's use and understanding of computer passwords and related security

The citizen interest – still a thorny problem for Ofcom

LSE’s Sonia Livingstone and University of Leicester’s Peter Lunt, authors of Media Regulation: Governance and the interests of citizens and consumers, look at Ofcom’s new report: Citizens and communications services and outline four ways Ofcom can meet its obligations under the 2003 Communications Act to better grasp citizens’ interests

Mediatization: an emerging paradigm for media and communication studies

Mediatization research draws on the history of media and the history of mediation within diverse fields of society to develop a scholarly and empirically grounded account of the mediation of history. It is first argued that mediatization is characterized by two crucial features: it concerns the effects of the media on a field of society that is historically separate from the media; and it recognizes that these effects work in a complex manner over a considerable period of time. The chapter then contrasts three ideal typical accounts of mediatization, each with a different focus and timescale, namely: the many and varied roles of mediation throughout the longue durée of cultural evolution; the institutionalized forces of high modernity converging to produce a dominant corporate media sector in recent centuries; and the still uncertain yet potentially radical socio-technological transformations in digital networks over recent decades. It is concluded, first, that the second, institutional perspective makes the strongest case for a theory of mediatization, but that all perspectives could be mutually compatible with further theoretical and empirical work. This latter should include questions of critique, should be developed in partnership with experts in the various fields being mediatized, and could usefully be collected together under a single hashtag to permit further synthesis

Ofcom’s plans to promote ‘participation’, but whose and in what?

The consultation on Ofcom’s Draft Annual Plan 2013/14 ended on Friday 22 February. LSE’s Sonia Livingstone and Peter Lunt of the University of Leicester point out that despite a stated focus on “participation” and the “citizen interest” the plan needs much more clarity and specifics on these two priorities

Tamar Liebes: a scholar extraordinaire of audiences as citizens in public and private spaces

Tamar Liebes: A scholar extraordinaire of audiences as citizens in public and private space

Australian Bat Lyssavirus: Observations of Natural and Experimental Infection in Bats

This conference abstract gives data and conclusions arising from targeted surveillance of wild bats for naturally occuring Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV) infection and other central nervous system diseases. It also provides data and conclusions arising from experimental infection of 10 Greyheaded flying foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus)

Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) analysis is an effective tool for the detection of novel intragenic PLA2G6 mutations: Implications for molecular diagnosis

Phospholipase associated neurodegeneration (PLAN) comprises a heterogeneous group of autosomal recessive neurological disorders caused by mutations in the PLA2G6 gene. Direct gene sequencing detects 85% mutations in infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy. We report the novel use of multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) analysis to detect novel PLA2G6 duplications and deletions. The identification of such copy number variants (CNVs) expands the PLAN mutation spectrum and may account for up to 12.5% of PLA2G6 mutations. MLPA should thus be employed to detect CNVs of PLA2G6 in patients who show clinical features of PLAN but in whom both disease-causing mutations cannot be identified on routine sequencin