Exam in INF5220 autumn 2006?

Type: Written exam (no books, papers or notes allowed)

Time: 11. December kl. 15:30 (3 hours)

Place: Sal D, Section 14 in Hasle Tennissenter, Eastern Hall. (Use T-bane 5 to Hasle).

Map here: /om/finn-fram/hasle.html

(Closing date for withdrawal from exam via StudentWeb: 27. November)

NB: Check StudentWeb in case of changes!

Preparation checklist:
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Theory about qualitative research:

You should be able to describe and discuss qualitative research in general (as distinct from quantitative). You should be able to describe various types of qualitative studies (e.g. ethnography, action research, case study, grounded theory, ethnomethodology, conversation analysis, discourse analysis, contextual inquiry - The first four in more depth that the last ones). For these types, you should know some facts about the theoretical basis and history, and be able to describe its emphasis, approach and discuss its suitable area of application. Also you should understand what the three different research paradigms in IS research imply (positivism, interpretivism, critical research) as well as Silvermans categories (positivism, emotionalism, constructionism).

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Research skills:

For various types of empirical material (interviews, observations, texts, video, audio recordings) you should know how to collect and how to approach it (suitable techniques for organising, handling and analysing). Which challenges (practical, methodical, ethical) may you encounter if you gather your empirical material from digital media/online communities/Internet newsgroups, forums or blogs? What are relevant regulatory (legal) and ethical factors to consider when collecting data? You should also be able to describe and discuss the status or role you assign to the data collected in various ways, as well as discuss how you can generalize from data in sensible ways. You should also be able to reflect on issues of quality, both with regard to reliability of the material and validity of analysis and interpretation (in general and with respect to concrete data collection methods)

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Research Design:

You should know what elements a research plan (proposal) should contain, and you should be able to write one. Given a case description and a research question, you should be able to choose, describe and justify how you would approach the study, including the specific technique(s) you will employ, the kinds of material you will collect, the object, sample, population, and/or site of study. Similarly, you should be able to describe and/or evaluate another research study, how it is motivated, whether the chosen approach is well linked to the research question, whether the empirical material is well suited to address the research question, etc.