Creative Research Corner

Study of Argument

2011-10-16T00:56:00.002+08:00

Although not a very good reader of books, I somehow managed to read the 400+ pages of this textbook in one sitting (of course skipping the chapter-end exercises and notes):

Grovier, T. (2010). A practical study of argument (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

The book is a very useful introduction to the structures of argument and the common pitfalls. Many of the examples have a familiar ring to them; consider this on p. 175: "You should give me an A because otherwise I will not get into law school" -- well, a fallacious appeal to pity or, speaking more formally, the ad misericordiam fallacy.

The eight-page Appendix titled "A Summary of Fallacies" (pp. 378-385) is something that I want to photocopy and stick on the walls of our Corridors of Joy . . . sorry Facilities.

Our Research Seminars

2010-09-30T16:56:00.007+08:00

I want to start this discussion as a follow up of the discussions we have been having using our emails earlier.

To facilitate our discussions, I am taking the liberty to paste the discussions we were having in our emails (anonymously). This will provide a coherent view.

Recently, we have stated our expectations from the research seminars. We want those expectations fulfilled as we shape the future directions of these seminars.The presentation by Bala today referred to the “wells” within which we seem to live and think. Identifying our respective wells could be a starting point because the wells pose a definite challenge for us to grow as a research community.

Now, conducting the seminar in such a manner that we can communicate meaningfully across our respective wells is also a challenge and, I am sure, the research seminar is a platform where we shall learn the necessary academic skills to respond to that challenge.

I don’t agree with the concept of separating business staffs into different wells. We all belong to one same well and we want to know more about managing people / building customers / getting profits / doing research / strategies / managing accounts etc…You cannot motivate staff if you don’t know what sales person do? You cannot create pricing strategy if you don’t understand company accounts. I think we all should come out of these assumptions.

Interesting seminar we had today with few interesting view points and discussions about research methodology. Unfortunately we went totally away from the topic of the presentation. I feel that our questions should be more focused on the topic.

Research seminar expectation?

Based on research seminar expectation report send by Anand it is clear that most of the staffs are interested to know more about research methodology (22 responses) and developing academic skills.

I interpret that most of our research seminar topic should be like

1) Identifying and defining research problem,

2) Content Analysis,

3) How to do good literature review

4) Interpreting SPSS data

5) How to run focus group interview?

1) How to publish in journals?

2) Conference Publication

I am quite surprised with the report but if this is what most of the staffs want then we can definitely present lot of interesting seminars on these topics. Say for example if I want to present a topic on research problem identification then I can give examples from my research and other researchers on how problem was identified and defined. Some thing like Peter’s and Rodney’s seminar which only focused on research methodology.

I think we need to come out with some clear guideline for our research seminar topics (Match the expectations of the audience). I feel the presentation should not be more than 20-30 minutes so that we can have 30 minutes for discussions. Maybe we need to keep some specific time limit so that it does not get stopped half way. Let me know if my interpretation about research seminar is different from yours.

I agree with Sudarsan on the part that “we went totally away from the topic of the presentation” because if Bala was allowed to continue, it would be a good awareness presentation on the rights of all employees which also include foreign employees. After all, all of us are employees, including the boss!

Have a nice day and be rest assured that under the Malaysian Labour Law/Labour Ordinance employees are all very well protected in this country but you have to know your rights!

On the whole, I find myself in agreement with the drift of your message. I have some further reflections on this part:

I don’t agree with the concept of separating business staff into different wells. We all belong to one same well and we want to know more about managing people / building customers / getting profits / doing research / strategies / managing accounts etc…You cannot motivate staff if you don’t know what sales person do? You cannot create pricing strategy if you don’t understand company accounts. I think we all should come out of these assumptions.

Of course, the different activities that make up a business are all interconnected and one cannot function effectively without appreciating how that interconnection works. That is why we have the integrative Units in the business curriculum, for example (and final-year projects in various professional programs). However, this is not a sufficient argument against “separating business staff into different wells.” Consider, for example, the natural world: rivers, mountains, animals, trees, soil, air, cloud . . . and humans, civilisations, regulatory regimes . . . are all interconnected. However, we still have “wells” such as geology, biology, soil science, meteorology, anthropology, political science . . . These cannot be wished away. However, at the same time, we have also seen the emergence of the more integrative forms of research and scholarship, such as systems science, environmental science, integration research, design research . . . as well as area studies (to draw upon multiple sources of knowledge to study a specific area/region of the world) and multidisciplines, such as bio-mathematics or behavioural finance. This is not to ignore the reverse trend of specialisation growing at the same time, such as anthropology of education. Of course, there is a danger of each of these to turn us into a frog in the well. So, either as professionals or as researchers, we need to watch out: if things are beginning to look very familiar, predicatable, and there are no surprises anymore, most likely we are in a well.

I think, a key choice one has to make is whether one is going to work as a policy maker, manager, consultant, researcher . . . I think, these are different roles, perhaps associated with different callings. Each of these can serve as a template to structure our practice. In a professional school context, we seem to have the option to structure our practice using either a professional template or a scholarly template. Depending upon our choice, our focus get defined and our activities and thoughts grow around that focus. Mind you, there are different quality criteria associated with different templates we may adopt to structure our practice. If we choose a professional template, the quality criteria would include things like client satisfaction. If we choose a research template, the quality criteria would include things like peer review.

These choices are basic to our work in a modern university, I think. The choices are not independent of the priorities of the institution. Still, the choices we make can shape the priorities of the institution in the long run. It is a two-way relationship. There is definitely more to discuss . . .

I told Anand that I have attended many workshops, seminars, etc. after coming here. The more I attend the more I am confused, because each presenter or facilitator has his or her own logic, method(s) etc., and most of them do not tell us their logic, method(s), etc. at the outset. So, we were introduced with SWOT, Bloomer’s model, etc., which may contradict with each other.

One well or different wells? Well, applying my model: 12 3 4 5 A B C D E, it becomes very clear:

One well (or 1 2 3 4 5, representing the safe zone spectrum) versus Non-well (A B C D E, representing the danger zone perspective).

“Different wells” actually should be rephrased to read “Different Sub-wells.” In other words, each sub-well is but part of “One well.” So, we can separate and non-separate our business staffs.

In sum, applying a series of my crab and frog motion models, I do not see any contradictions between what Bala, Sudarsan, and DP said.

I am quite happy seeing the discussions we are having now. In fact, we are on the right track.

After going through your mails and receiving suggestions from various colleagues, I realize that it will be fruitful if meet again to decide the norms and formats of research seminar presentations.

Moreover, online discussions will be more organized if we use a blog instead of emails. We should design a blog for these discussions later.

Therefore, I propose another meeting to discuss the norms and formats for research seminars so that we can have a clear direction to realize the objective of “creation of a research community to facilitate our comprehensive academic development.”

The meeting day and venue will be announced soon.

Affordance of an Environment -- Classroom Example

2010-04-20T13:54:00.001+08:00

I notice that the seating arrangements in many classrooms is always the “matrix-type.” An alternative would be the “circular-type” (see figures below). The two designs have different affordances -- that is, they offer different action and interaction possibilities within the classroom.

Note. The matrix-type image is from Classroom and Behavior Management--Section B. The circular-type image was created by dragging the tables (so to speak), using the Paint software. The above Web site has an interesting quote: "Someone once said that it is a wonder we know how to communicate face-to-face, since we spent 12 years looking at the backs of heads."

Designers know that different design options for objects and environments (whether real or virtual) offer different affordances. As teachers, do we pay attention to the design of the social space within the classroom?

ADDED ON 28 JUNE 2010

Let's talk to each other, face-to-face:

Straight and Crooked Thinking

2010-03-27T10:21:00.001+08:00

Straight and Crooked Thinking by Robert H. Thouless (1930) was one of the early influences on me. The book introduced me to a number of tricks people employ in order to assert what in fact cannot be asserted on the basis of the available evidences alone. Some of these corrupt forms of thinking have stayed in my memory and my ears perk up whenever I hear a variant of any of those in everyday conversations or, sometimes, in research seminars. Here is a rough summary of what I remember about straight and "crooked thinking" [Note 1]:

Analogy-Overextending Crookedness: Analogical reasoning is an important tool in inquiry. However, the tool loses its sharp edge when the analogy is over-extended. For example, it is quite a breakthrough to realise that business is like a game, with its participants, rules, strategies, moves, and payoffs, but it is one great crooked leap from there to assert that business is nothing but a game. Next time you catch yourself using the expression "nothing but," do take a pause and think about the validity of your assertion.

Wholeness-Overlooking Crookedness: A part is not the whole. That should be a self-evident truth. But, alas, how often this self-evident truth is forgotten, or overshadowed! For example, it is one thing to use the expression "hired hands" to refer to hired personnel, but it is pretty unfortunate to overlook the fact that they are not just "hands," but whole persons.

Implication-Reversing Crookedness: Given that A implies B, the crooked claim would be, B implies A. This is akin to the fallacy of "putting the cart before the horse." For example, it's like saying, expert artists do not follow rigid rules, therefore, if you do not follow rigid rules, you will be an expert artists!

Value-Concealing Crookedness: It would be a crooked argument to claim that something is developing (or, for that matter, degenerating), when the thing in question is merely changing. A positive or negative value judgement, or directionality, creeps in surreptitiously to qualify a mere fact of something altering its state. A scalar becomes a vector! No wonder then, there is so much hue and cry when, for example, an airport authority wants to "develop" the airport by expanding it ("Heathrow third runway," March 26, 2010).

Over the years, I have learnt to distinguish between two kinds of deployment of crooked thinking [Note 2]: (a) when it is done in ignorance, that is, without adequate critical awareness and (b) when it is done in full awareness, with a view to obfuscate or misguide. The first kind, that arises from ignorance, calls for ongoing learning and development of critical thinking. The second kind, the preserve of modern sophists, unfortunately, represents intellectual corruption. It calls for every kind of social, economic, legal, and spiritual sanction that may be available to prevent and protect us from any kind of corruption.

Note 1. A summary of the different types of crooked thinking described in the book can be found in several places, such as in this blog post: Thirty-Eight Dishonest Tricks in Arguing.

Note 2. There is a possible third situation, in which the person deploying such crooked thinking may be of unsound mind. It is beyond my capacity to comment on that; I would leave it to brain scientists and psychiatrists.

Effects of Expectation Within Research

2010-03-10T16:22:00.000+08:00

Pratik Modi, IRMA, India wrote in "doctoral_education":

I came across this interesting news story about how placebos are getting stronger overtime. Placebos are not stable/constant -- that is the point made here. They are twice as effective as they were in 1980s. If this is true, it has immense impact on the current science today. What are the implications of this for management research?

The Growing Power of the Sugar Pill (by Alix Spiegel)

The effects of expectation within research have been discussed since long. The following article makes some references to that: The Hawthorne, Pygmalion, Placebo and Other Effects of Expectation: Some Notes

Both the placebo effect and its reported strengthening over time seem to be results of positive expectations about the effectiveness of "scientific" medicine. As the article also indicates, it may have something to do with the practical circumstances within which medical research is conducted, for example, short-cuts to the recruitment of research participants and over-enthusiasm of doctors to report positive outcomes.

One thing Spiegel's article does not highlight enough, I think, is that the placebo effect (even in its more stable version) is good (or bad) enough to confound research outcomes. When the sugar pill heals as well as the "real" pill, we are unable to ascertain the effectiveness of the treatment.

Thanks to the expectations, over-enthusiasm, and short-cuts ever present in the research process involving humans, sometimes carefully defined control groups fail to isolate the effects the researcher is trying to study.

Pratik's question was about management research. Remember the famous experiments at Western Electric, to which we owe the Hawthorne effect. Isolating the effect of the "treatment," that is, better lighting on the shop floor as a strategy for higher productivity, was confounded by the enthusiasm of the participants about the attention the whole project was bringing.

Although, according to one kind of research setting, such "enthusiasm" could be seen as a corrupting influence, it may be turned into a virtue in another kind of research setting. Consider the possibility where such enthusiasm is viewed (and channelised) as a useful resource. And if the enthusiasm is indeed growing over time, then even better, as long as the research process is able to channelise it effectively.

Let me end by alluding to something I have been reading lately -- design thinking. In design research, people's enthusiasm for things is sometimes taken as a useful force, to be channelised for a useful purpose in the design context. You may be aware of the "placebo buttons" in elevators, for example, the door closing button. Does it work? But notice next time, how frequently and how enthusiastically people press it, often repeatedly!

Qualitative Research Methods Workshop

2009-12-13T22:04:00.001+08:00

I had the pleasure to attend a workshop on Qualitative Research Methods conducted a few weeks ago at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak by distinguished researcher Professor Mike Myers who visited us from University of Auckland.

The participants were a mix of Swinburne teaching staff who signed up for the workshop to learn more about qualitative research as well as a number of post-graduate students.

An excerpt of Professor Myer's background as listed on his staff profile description from the University of Auckland website reads as follows:

Michael D. Myers is Professor of Information Systems in the Department of Information Systems and Operations Management at the University of Auckland Business School. His papers have appeared in a wide range of journals, conferences and books.

Professor Myers currently serves as a Senior Editor of Information Systems Research, as Editor of the AISWorld Section on Qualitative Research, and as Chair of the International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP) Working Group 8.2 concerning the relationship between information systems and organizations. Previously he has served as President of the Association for Information Systems and as a Senior Editor of MIS Quarterly. The workshop ran four full days and was a very fruitful one.

Professor Myers started with the fundamental concepts for research, like theoretical frameworks and qualitative research designs. He then spent some time to lay out the philosophical perspectives that underpin the qualitative research discipline, in particular positivist, interpretive and critical research.

A large portion of the workshop was spent on qualitative research methods, covering action research, case studies, ethnographic research and grounded theory.

There was plenty of exercises and hands-on experiences for the participants especially in the data collection techniques portions where we were assigned some interesting assignments in the form of interviews, observations, and fieldwork.

We also had an opportunity to analyze some data, and were exposed to qualitative analysis techniques like hermeneutics, semiotics and narrative analysis. He also went through ethical issues and gave some interesting cases for discussion.

We also analyzed a couple of papers as part of the workshops: Adam and Myers (2003), and Larsen and Myers (1999).

The workshop concluded with some tips of writing up and publishing, where Professor Myers shared with his his personal experiences and advice based on his many years of experience as a researcher.

I found the workshop to be invigorating indeed. It was different than most research methods workshops I have attended in the past in that this one did not get bogged down by the rigorous mechanics and nitty-gritty of research methods. Instead there was a lot of discussions and participant interactions which really made it all come alive. I think we all learned a lot from the questions and discussions as well as the little exercises that we were asked to do at then end of each section.

I gained a lot of insights, not only on qualitative research, but research in general. I must admit that I had previously not thought very highly of qualitative research, but this workshop has convinced me that qualitative research is powerful.

I was particularly interested in the grounded theory as I will be using this approach for my own PhD project. Another thing that struck me as a useful take away from the workshop is Professor Myers' suggestion that one should start writing as the project goes along, and not to wait till a later phase as is the usual practice. He reasoned that ideas come along as we write, and thus there is much benefit to derive by continuously writing throughout the research process.

I think that Professor Myer's authority on this area makes his work (check out his book here) an indispensable resource for anyone involved in qualitative research.

He also runs a website that provides very useful info and resources for qualitative researchers: http://www.qual.auckland.ac.nz/

Blog "researchfocus"

2009-11-10T09:41:00.001+08:00

Interesting blog on research: http://researchfocus.blogspot.com/
created by Professor Craig Standing, Edith Cowan University, Australia

Do We Have the Right Expectations of Our Leaders?

2009-10-27T08:55:00.001+08:00

Do we have the right expectations of our leaders?

During tough times, people yearn for heroes or “transformational” leaders who can solve all the problems that they face and usher in the “days of glory”. The Obama phenomenon is a good example. But often the people may end up feeling disappointed when problems persist. They would then try to comfort themselves by attributing the problems to their leaders. This scenario is more common than you think as history offers many examples.

In a recent research seminar on leadership in Malaysian public universities, a number of leadership styles were introduced; one of which was transformational leadership. According to Bass (1985), a transformational leader is described as focusing on transforming and motivating followers by charisma, intellectual arousal and individual consideration. Their followers feel trust, admiration, loyalty and respect to their leaders, and hence, will do more than what is expected of them in the beginning.

Underlying Bass (1985)’s definition of transformational leadership is the notion that such leadership entails change. Specifically, transformational leaders will not take away our problems, but rather, inspire us to change our existing routines and practices, and develop the ability to solve our own problems.

Are we prepared for transformational leaders? Will we still support them if we are asked to cast away the comforts of existing routines and expend effort, both mentally and physically to develop new abilities?

Human beings are creatures of habit. They wish for solutions that require minimal disruptions to their existing routines. They also tend to be impatient. They wish for quick solutions to their problems. If leaders do not perform before followers’ patience run out, the latter will demand or wish for replacements.

In organizations, there are no elections for leaders, so leaders may not have to worry about being voted out of office for making unpopular demands from followers. But then again, leaders need to get things done and these are often through their followers. Hence, motivating followers and garnering their support remain essential to leaders’ own success.

So can leaders “transform” their employees?

Being a follower most of the time, I would say that clarifying employees’ expectations of leaders, particularly new leaders, may be a good start. A leader needs to communicate to their followers about his/her plans and goals. Employees need to know what the leader will and will not do. From this, realistic expectations can be developed. Employees will have a clearer idea on what needs to be done and leaders will be in a stronger position to help all those who are willing to be helped.

A harmful truth is better than a useful lie (Thomas Mann)

What do you think?

From Personal to Public to Personal: Embodied Interactions

2009-10-16T16:57:00.001+08:00

In response to an earlier posting here, Professor Paul Grobstein wrote:

Delighted to join a conversation about how things might be different in academic research. And to extend an invitation to other like-minded people to look in on and perhaps join a related set of conversations on "Evolving Systems" at http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/evolsys/home

For more on "dissatisfactions" see http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/evolsys/18aug09
and for one possible route to new directions see http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/evolsys/22sept09

I am aware of some of the excellent discussions hosted @ Serendip. [From the Serendip Web site: Serendip is . . . a gathering place for people who suspect that life's instructions are always ambiguous and incomplete. Serendip is both an expanding forum and a continually developing set of resources to explore and support intellectual and social change in science, in education, in social organization... and in how one makes sense of life.]

So I followed up on the links given by Paul. I was delighted to find the discussions on "againstness" and, within it, the reference to a possible "personal-public" spectrum. These topics are central to my sense-making of research.

I ask you to visualise a chain like this: personal-public-personal-public- . . . Actually a cyclic one, going from personal to public to personal again. To me, the process of going from personal to public is through interaction. In the interactive process, certain personal aspects can lock in with each other to bring forth (or create) a somewhat less personal (and more public) entity. I would liken this to what is being called embodied interaction in various fields today, such as cognitive science, interaction design, and cultural study.

Observations of, and interaction with, the less personal (and more public) entities, such as those created through prior interactions, triggers new personal moments, experiences, and meanings. So, the process can be regenerative. In the language of economics, it can be a renewable resource, that is both private property as well as common property, depending upon where in the cycle one is looking.

Journal of Research Practice, 5(1)

2009-09-25T08:59:00.005+08:00

Journal of Research Practice
Volume 5, Issue 1, 2009

This journal seeks to be a vehicle for extending and enhancing research practice in future.

Main Articles

Collaborative Research on Sustainability: Myths and Conundrums of Interdisciplinary Departments (Kate Sherren, Alden S. Klovdahl, Libby Robin, Linda Butler, Stephen Dovers) [Abstract] [HTML]

Methodological Quandaries in Joint Israeli-Palestinian Peace Research (Julia Chaitin) [Abstract] [HTML]

Review

Science as Reflective Practice: A Review of Frederick Grinnell's Book, Everyday Practice of Science (D. P. Dash) [HTML]

Creative Research

2009-09-24T15:28:00.001+08:00

"The only useful answers are those that pose new questions." -- Vittorio Foa, Italian writer, 1910-2008

This is a gentle reminder to us that research is as much about answering questions as it is also about posing new questions. It is a pity that academic research has been reduced to an almost mechanical application of "techniques," following the neat structures one can find in text books on research. No wonder then why academic research is often seen as wasteful and pointless.

Hope this forum will attract participation from those who are dissatisfied with the state of academic research in many fields today, especially those who believe things can be different. I am optimistic that we will meet interesting colleagues here who are already engaged in some form of creative research that breaks the pattern, creates new possibilities, and seeks to be socially relevant.

And, I believe, we will learn from each other . . .