Reviews of recent research literature – 5

Citation

Nazari, M. and Gorman, G.E. (2012), "Reviews of recent research literature – 5", Online Information Review, Vol. 36 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/oir.2012.26436eaa.002

Reviews of recent research literature – 5

Article Type: Reviews of recent research literature – 5 From: Online Information Review, Volume 36, Issue 5

The literature of research, including theory, method and methodology, has become a substantial subset of the publishing industry in its traditional, electronic and hybrid forms. In this occasional series of reviews we focus on recent titles that address the many issues of research. The intention is to inform both established researchers and students of research. Our assessment of each title is indicated by the number of stars (five being the highest recommendation).

Assessing the Quality of Survey DataJörg Blasius and Victor ThiessenSAGE PublicationsLondon2012174 pp.£26.99 soft coverISBN 9781849203326Assessment *****

Case Study ResearchDan RemenyiAcademic Publishing InternationalReading2012153 pp.£19.00 e-bookISBN 9781908272409The Quick Guide SeriesAssessment **

Qualitative Data Analysis with ATLAS.tiSusanne FrieseSAGE PublicationsLondon2012274 pp.Price not reported, hard coverISBN 9780857021311Assessment ***

Undoing Ethics: Rethinking Practice in Online ResearchNatasha WhitemanSpringer VerlagHeidelberg2012154 pp.€90.00 hard coverISBN 9781461418269Assessment ****

“It is easy to compute quality coefficients […] but enormously difficult to assess the quality of data”. This is the premise behind the first work in hand, by a German (Blasius) and a Canadian (Thiessen), in which there is detailed discussion of the wide range and variety of threats to survey data integrity. The authors discuss such major issues as systematic data entry errors, falsification of parts of or entire interviews by researchers, errors due to respondent fatigue or lack of understanding and so on. Is it necessary to have such a depressing topic discussed in a 174-page monograph? As any examiner of theses or regular reader of research literature can attest, poor data is, has been and will continue to be a frustrating reality for many reasons. It is best not to speculate on the motivation for such errors, whether intentional or accidental, but rather to have better knowledge of how to detect poor data integrity through a variety of data-screening techniques. That is the purpose of Assessing the Quality of Survey Data, which addresses this issue in far more detail than any other work known to this reviewer.

In eight substantive chapters plus a conclusion, list of references and an index, the authors build their argument and discussion around three main sources that determine the quality of survey data: “the study architecture, the institutional practices of the data collection agencies and the respondent behaviours”. The authors include numerous real-life examples of flawed survey data quality, which gives a necessary immediacy to their insights, taking it out of the laboratory and into the streets.

Following a detailed introductory chapter that foreshadows the content of the remaining chapters, Blasius and Thiessen discuss empirical findings on survey data quality and comparability (Chapter 2); statistical techniques for data screening (Chapter 3); institutional quality control practices (Chapter 4); comparison of PCA, CatPCA and MCA solutions (Chapter 5); item difficulty and response quality (Chapter 6); questionnaire architecture (Chapter 7); cognitive competencies and response quality (Chapter 8). The final chapter is a useful summary of the preceding chapters.

Chapters 3 and 5 form the core of statistical approaches to data screening; whilst not the easiest chapters to understand, they repay careful reading and step-by-step learning to help prepare the reader better to detect poor quality in survey data – something that should be done by anyone before applying sophisticated data analysis techniques to any dataset. Perhaps the most interesting chapters are 4, 6 and 7, focusing specifically on each of the main sources of poor data quality – there is much to ponder here, even by accomplished researchers and their organizations, and much to be a source of embarrassment. Have we really failed to take cognisance of such issues, and can we continue to ignore such flaws now that Blasius and Thiessen have boldly pointed out the error of our ways? I for one am unwilling to look back on my own survey data from this new perspective!

This is an important, groundbreaking analysis of survey data quality that serves as an indispensable vade mecum for anyone engaged in gathering, analysing or utilising survey data. Clearly quality is not always what it appears to be.

At the outset it should be noted that the author of Case Study Research appears also to be the principal of Academic Publishing International (his name is listed as the contact for book proposals); this may or may not have something to do with the quality of the work in hand.

Drawing on 20+ years of experience of case study research, the author provides a fairly simple, unembellished, practice-based view of the topic, and simple (perhaps sometimes simplistic) “how-to” guidelines for case study research practice. The book is designed in eight chapters, beginning with what constitutes case study research and ending with approaches to evaluating the research.

In Chapters 1 and 2 Remenyi discusses issues related to the definition, characteristics and different types of case study and queries that can be addressed using this approach. In Chapter 3 he addresses issues related to the concept and nature of qualitative and quantitative data and their application in case study research.

Chapters 4-7 focus on the case study research process. The discussion begins with issues related to the planning of a research proposal and design of the research protocol as a prerequisite for data collection. In Chapter 4, highlighting the emergent nature of case study research, the author provides guidelines on how to design the study protocol and manage data after being gathered. This is followed by a further discussion on the challenging nature of data collection, in Chapter 5, and what skills and considerations are required to perform productively in this phase of the case study. Chapters 6-7 concentrate on issues related to data analysis, preparing the draft and then final version of the case study. The final chapter discusses ways of evaluating the form and structure of a case study and its success in answering the research question.

There is really nothing new in this content, and it often glosses over difficult issues and problems with the case study method, thereby misleading the uninitiated. Given the tone of the writing, and the resemblance to anecdotal lecture notes, Remenyi is probably best treated as a very introductory work for students. However, further detailed reading is absolutely necessary to deepen one’s understanding of case study research. For my money, one’s time is better spent reading Robert Yin’s Case Study Research: Design and Methods (4th ed., Sage Publications, 2009), which is also a very practical manual on how to conduct case study research, and has stood the test of critical analysis over time.

Qualitative Data Analysis with ATLAS.ti has been written by an author with strong practical experience in the use and teaching of ATLAS.ti, and this shows in the depth and practicality of her treatment of this data analysis software. Friese sets out to deliver full guidance on the methodological and technical aspects of qualitative data analysis using ATLAS.ti, ensuring throughout that readers understand such software does not “do” the analysis, but simply supports the process – in her words.

By using ATLAS.ti, it becomes much easier to analyse data systematically and to ask questions that you otherwise would not ask because the manual tasks involved would be too time-consuming. Even large volumes of data and those of different media types can be structured and integrated very quickly with the aid of software.

The author takes her readers through the ATLAS.ti data analysis journey in a in a stepwise fashion. The training is well supported with practical exercises and examples, screenshots showing each stage of the analysis, and a companion website containing online tutorials and data sets.

Targeting both undergraduates and postgraduates, Friese has designed the book in a novice-to-expert manner in eight chapters. The first four chapters focus on the descriptive-level data analysis, more suitable for undergraduates; Chapters 5-8 focus on conceptual analysis, perhaps more suitable for postgraduates.

Chapter 1 focuses on the ATLAS.ti interface and the relevant terminology. Chapter 2 discusses issues around data presentation, including data file formats supported by ATLAS.ti, when and for what purpose a particular file format should be selected and how to prepare data transcripts for full utilisation in future steps. In Chapter 3 the reader will begins to experience a specific ATLAS.ti project: After a discussion on the data management issues in ATLAS.ti, various project scenarios for both single and team users are explained. Chapter 4 focuses on the technical aspects of coding for different types of data file formats, ranging from text to audio and video.

Chapter 5 is on the methodological aspects of coding, the process of assigning labels to data segments that the researcher deems to be relevant. From this chapter onward the book moves away from considering only technical aspects and introduces a method of data analysis, namely computer-assisted analysis. In Chapter 6 the discussion moves on to the idea of second-level conceptual analysis, combining an explanation of the memo function with a description of the analysis tools offered by ATLAS.ti. Chapter 7 then focuses on visualising ideas and findings in the form of network views and hyperlinks as tools enabling researchers to create links within and across data. Chapter 8 summarises all methodological aspects presented throughout the preceding chapters. It also proposes a method for computer-assisted data analysis which the author terms “computer-assisted NCT analysis”; this involves the researcher in the process of Noticing, Collecting, and Thinking throughout the data analysis.

The book also has been supplemented with further information on data and project management (editing documents, merging projects and creating backups), as well as strategies for overcoming troubles when working with the software. Overall this is a thorough, accessible guide to an important qualitative data analysis tool that has become more popular in recent years. It is well suited to an audience of both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

The rather voluminous use of footnotes and extensive quotes-extracts from other authorities tells us that Undoing Ethics: Rethinking Practice in Online Research is a PhD-based monograph, and the author confirms as much. My advice on these two points has long been:

1. 1.

   if you need to footnote a comment, consider whether the note should be in the text – if it should, put it there, and if it should not, it also should not be a footnote; and

2. 2.

   use quotes judiciously, and provide juicy titbits rather than long, boring extracts.

I wish the author had considered such stylistic issues when converting her PhD to a research monograph, as the content would have been far more approachable.

These stylistic criticisms aside, Undoing Ethics is a seminal work on a topic that concerns all social scientists, and others, in the online age. The author, a lecturer at the University of Leicester, uses this book to examine “some of the challenges that researchers may face when researching online activity and the ways that existing guidance on research ethics can inform our responses to these”. She does this in six chapters that address ethical stances in internet research, the achievement of research ethics, the public/private distinction in online environments, text and human subject approaches to internet research, shifting affiliations and modes of participation during research. Chapter 6 summarises the arguments of the preceding five chapters and highlights the key questions that the author has raised.

Indeed, in each chapter Whiteman challenges us to look anew at our perceptions about research ethics, both online and offline, and asks difficult questions of our preconceptions. In Chapter 3, for example, she asks how realistic is the private/public distinction, and how the online environment blurs boundaries in new and unexpected ways. Such questions are examined thoroughly through reference to key research related to the question, examples from her own research and careful investigation of the subtle nuances that define the nature of the issue.

As one reads through the work, it is easy to understand why the author believes we face an as-yet unchallenged dilemma in our approach to online research and the accompanying ethical stances. She puts her case clearly and objectively, and places before her readers a set of arguments that enlighten and challenge. At the end of the day we are left to ponder for ourselves where the ethics of research is heading in the online environment and beyond. I would urge all social scientists to read what Dr Whiteman has to say about the ethics of research practice – it would be time well spent.

Maryam Nazari and G.E. GormanFaculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Malaya