A presentation to the Interaction Design Association (Waterloo) on how to design research projects.

1. Designing research
IxDA Waterloo
February 24, 2011
Dr. Sam Ladner
Copernicus Consulting Group

2. •Creativity
The Four Cs of
Design •Complexity
•Compromise
•Choice
Borja De Mozota, Brigitte. 2003. Design Management: Using Design to Build Value. New York: All Worth Press.

3. market research
design research social theory

4. market research
design research social theory

5. Technology designers have
unspoken theories about
social life.

6. 1. Social phenomena can be
counted.

8. “When a company is filled
with engineers, it turns to
engineering to solve
problems.”

10. “a central role for computation
and computational models...to
address new spatio-temporal
social questions related to
change, trends, duration,

11. 1a. I want to predict the likelihood
of something happening.

12. Another way of thinking of
social life...

13. 2. People have experiences.

15. “This transformation from
‘brute things’ to social objects is
performed mainly by the language
that gives reality a social
existence.”

16. 2a. I want to understand the
meanings humans assign to
people, places, things and ideas.

17. What is your theory?

18. Qualitative vs. Quantitative
Quantitative Qualitative
Role of theory in Deductive, testing Inductive,
research of theory generating theory
Ontological Objectivism Constructionism
orientation
Epistemological Natural science Interpretivism
orientation model

19. •Creativity
The Four Cs of
Research •Complexity
Design •Compromise
•Choice
Borja De Mozota, Brigitte. 2003. Design Management: Using Design to Build Value. New York: All Worth Press.

20. What do quant researchers
worry about?
I really spend a lot of
I want to know what 8me wondering how I want to make sure
causes something else. to measure things. others can repeat my
I wonder how small pa9erns
findings.
generalize to big pa9erns.

21. In short, quant researchers…
• Use numbers to summarize their findings
• Aspire to measure concepts accurately
• Attempt to predict the likelihood of any
social phenomena
• Look for correlations between “variables”
• Connect what they count to theory

22. What’s wrong with quant
research?
Yeah and they treat people
like they’re test tubes or
something.
It’s the way they do things…
it makes it hard for people to Well their research is just so
see their research as sta8c. Real life actually
They always seem to measure
relevant to them. changes.
ar8ficial things and say
they’re really precise.

23. What do qual researchers
worry about?
I want to describe the
I want to see the world context in a lot of I really want my
through the eyes of my detail. I want to show how social research approach to
respondents. change occurs. I’m be flexible and able to
interested in how things change.
come to be.

24. In short, qual researchers…
• Use quotes, stories and pictures to
summarize their findings
• Aspire to have their participants’ voices
heard
• Seek “verstehen,” or deep understanding of
a phenomenon
• Look for patterns and themes
• Connect what they see and hear to theory

25. Types of Qualitative Research
Methods
• Observational field research (ethnography;
in situ; participant observation)
• Interviewing (one-on-one; dyad; group or
focus groups)
• Unobtrusive
• Discourse analysis
• Hermeneutics
• Content analysis
• Semiotics
• Conversation analysis

26. What’s wrong with qual
research?
Well good luck trying
to re‐create those
results! That’s because they oKen
don’t tell you how they did You just can’t generalize it.
what that did. How am I supposed to
know how many people
It’s just so subjec8ve. have the same
experiences?

27. An example

28. Mobile phones, work, life

29. What are the experiences?
How many people have them?

31. @mobileworklife

32. The compromise
The choice

33. About Copernicus
‣ Our story: Copernicus proved the Earth revolved around the Sun
- We prove brands revolve around the consumer
‣ Our mission: helping you understand a changing social world
‣ Founded in 2009
‣ 4 core researchers, network of 12 more
‣ Highly trained sociologists and anthropologists
‣ Expertise in:
- medical sociology
- sociology of new technologies
- economic sociology (money; finances)
- sociology of gender and families
- cultural anthropology/ethnographic methods