Disputation Mikhail Fominykh - Department of Computer and ...

Research Context and Design
Survey was deselected for the reason that it is usually applied as an exploratory
study with “who”, “what”, “where”, “how many”, and “how much” forms of research
questions (Yin, 2003). However, the research work presented in this thesis has the
“how” form of research questions.
Experiment was eliminated, as it requires full control over the phenomena studied
and often used for causal research (Yin, 2003). However, in the research work
presented in this thesis, it was impossible to have full control over the phenomena
studied.
In such a way, the case study method was chosen. Its technical definition consists
of two parts. The first part is:
A case study is an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary
phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries
between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident (Yin, 2003).
The research work presented in this thesis fits the definition as it deals with
contemporary events that are studied together with their context. The second part
of the technical definition is:
The case study inquiry copes with the technically distinctive situation in
which there will be many more variables of interest than data points, and as
one result relies on multiple sources of evidence, with data needing to
converge in a triangulating fashion, and as another result benefits from the
prior development of theoretical propositions to guide data collection and
analysis (Yin, 2003).
The research work presented in this thesis fits the definition as it attempted to
study many interconnected phenomena, it uses multiple sources of evidence, and it
benefited from theoretical propositions developed prior to the data collection.
3.4 Research process
Initial research proposal aimed at developing a framework for virtual campus
learning tools, which now fits RQ1b and RQ2a. However, the scope of the study
was modified during the work to match the resources available and new ideas.
Among the main influencing factors were the facilities of Cooperation Technology
course at NTNU and the requirements provided by R&D projects.
The research work presented in this thesis included four empirical studies and
several theoretical studies (Figure 2). Most of the theoretical studies were based, at
least partly, on the primary data from earlier empirical studies conducted within
this research work. Therefore, the borders between the analysis of data in
empirical studies and independent theoretical studies are often blurred.
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