FDA104 Qualitative Research Methods in Information Systems

Lectures:

8 days

Recommended for

M.I.T. graduate students and IDA graduate students.

The course was last given:

New course.

Goals

This course develops skills in designing, evaluating, and understanding qualitative research methods. Students will also acquire skills in developing research proposals, making and justifying methodological choices, writing qualitative research reports, and understanding how to publish qualitative research in information systems.

Prerequisites

None.

Organization

This course is designed as a seminar on qualitative research as it is used in the field of informa-tion systems. The course will meet three times during the spring of 2002, 3+2+3 days, in Visby on Gotland, Sweden. The course first meets April 8-10. The second occasion is May 6-7 and the third, and final, set of seminars takes place June 3-5. In preparation for the discussion the first three days, each student will have read a number of assigned articles. The required reading for the rest of the course will be a combination of common and individual assignments.

Contents

The course balances the acquisition of basic knowledge about the conduct of qualitative research with the application of that knowledge to research on information systems. The balance is reflected in the reading material, which consists of basic texts and advanced research reports from journals in information systems.

Literature

Articles.

Teachers

Alf Westelius.

Examiner

Schedule

Spring 2002.

Examination

Examination will be based on active participation and on papers presenting and discussing methodological issues in the students' previous or planned research. These papers are due on the Friday, May 24, ten days prior to the last week the course meets, when they will be discussed.

Credit

5 credits.

Comments

The course language will probably be Swedish, but could be English, given that a significant amount of non Swedish-speaking doctoral students want to take the course.