INTRODUCTION TO ICT RESEARCH METHODS

INTRODUCTION TO ICT RESEARCH METHODS

QUESTION 1 – (25 MARKS)

(a)        Explain how the term ‘research’ as used in science differs from how it is used in everyday life. Then provide an example of an ICT research project that uses action research to illustrate your definition.

(4 marks)

Research in science differs from everyday life in that research in science handles distinct topics from the social world in which it is the objective of the investigation. Unlike everyday life, diverse topics could be covered. Distance learning project could use utilise action research since the group will participate in identifying the cause of the problem, devise a solution and implement the project through active researching and observing the requirement needed to complete the project.

(b)       A research project commonly includes the following phases: define the research problem, design research, collect data, analyse data and report findings. In your own words, briefly describe what occurs in each of these phases.                                                                                                                                    (5 marks)

During the research problem stage, the research team identifies the issue to be solved to create a platform of what will be covered in the project. Design research creates a plan of how the problem will be solved by easing the solution path of the project. Collection of data in research covers how the information will be acquired for the project; it could be in the form of not taking or observation. Analysis of data ensures that the acquired data is generated to useful information that will help in the completion of the project. The report findings give feedback on the final results of the project for easy assessment of the project.

(c)        A project is defined as a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result, and these are some of the attributes of a project:

• Is temporary
• Has a deliverable
• Has a unique purpose
• Requires resources, often from various areas
• Involves uncertainty/risk

The research project described in the abstract below is temporary as it will have ended once the data analysis was done, and the findings were published. Describe how each of the other attributes listed above is a characteristic of the project.

Studies show that virtual project teams are on the increase, so organisations need assurance that they can be managed just as effectively as traditional projects. The virtual project structure introduces new challenges for project managers. One such challenge is the development and maintenance of trust within the virtual environment. The aim of this research is to explore the role of trust in virtual project teams and to investigate how trust influences project outcomes. Data was collected from a survey of members of the Project Management Institute. A model of trust in the virtual team environment was proposed and tested using Partial Least Squares (PLS). The results show that team trust predicts project success. Institution-based trust is found to have an influence on swift trust; however, the role of swift trust on virtual project success was less clear. The study also finds that the perceived traditional experience of the project manager does not have any influence on virtual project success. Project managers must be aware of both interpersonal as well as organisational factors of trust as they plan for project success. This research adds to the body of knowledge by providing insights into trust dynamics in the virtual project structure.

(4 marks)

• Involves uncertainty/risk of privacy of data since.” One such challenge is the development and maintenance of trust within the virtual environment.”
• Requires resources, often from various areas since the manager should be equipped with reliable resources to manage the organisations. virtual project structure introduces new challenges for project managers
• Has a deliverable since “The aim of this research is to explore the role of trust in virtual project teams and to investigate how trust influences project outcomes.”
• Is temporary since predictions are not permanent “The results show that team trust predicts project success.”
• Has a unique purpose since specifications of the project have not been diversified “This research adds to the body of knowledge by providing insights into trust dynamics in the virtual project structure.”

(d)       A variety of both research and professional codes of ethics exist; for example, the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007), the ACS Code of Ethics and the Singapore Computer Society Code of Conduct.

1. List two (2) themes that commonly appear in codes of ethics and explain why each of them is important.

Ethical principles that include behaviours and respect values that are outlined and should be followed to ensure that the codes of ethics have been put in place.

The Standard of conduct includes complying and commitment with what is situated in the professional codes and consequences if the codes are not followed.

1. Mobile technology has made location tracking commonplace, and metadata retention legislation will make this and other information potentially available to government agencies. Describe one (1) potential ethical risk that this advance in technology has contributed to.

Personal privacy has been a potential ethical risk since there is more risk in disclosing personal data that is not meant for the public. It is a major challenge for personnel’s and organisations since their personal space is violated by the use of technology.

• Describe one (1) example of an ethical issue that ICT researchers might encounter during their research.                                                                                                                 (6 marks)

During research; ICT researchers might encounter right access issues. When conducting the research on a project collection of data is a vital stage that researches should consider. They could find themselves accessing unsecured and unauthorised data resulting in violation of the ethical conducts.

(e)        Answer the following questions about project management:

(6 marks)

1. Explain the relationship between the critical path of a project and slack time.

Slack time of a project is the duration in which the project can be delayed to complete or start a project without actually delaying the project, and critical path is the sequence activities that a project requires to be completed or to be started; it relies on the duration in which it can take for the activities to be achieved. This determines the shortest time possible to complete the projects at hand.

1. Explain how a tracking Gantt chart differs from one used to plan a project.

Tracking Gantt chart helps to compare two elements; that is activity progress and the original plan to enable the project to be completed in the articulated time this makes the chart user-friendly and can be easily be understood than the other methods. Their unique structure aid in the analysis of the project, making the method reliable.

QUESTION 2 (25 MARKS)

• Identify the variables that would need to be measured to test whether each of the statements below is true. Give each variable a meaningful name and indicate whether it is an independent or dependent variable.

1. Faster average network throughput results from implementing the in-transit buffer mechanism (ITB).

Independent variable- implementing in-transit buffer mechanism (ITB).

Dependent variable-   Faster average network

1. Whether a person is male or female influences how likely they are to buy a VR headset.

(4 marks)

Independent variables- a person is male or female

Dependent variable- buy a VR headset.

• Consider the following hypothesis and answer the questions below about it:

H1: Implementing intelligent user interfaces leads to improved user satisfaction

1. Explain whether the hypothesis expresses a causal relationship or not.

The hypothesis expresses a causal relationship since the statement suggests a cause and an effect exists between the variables.

1. What is the null hypothesis associated with the hypothesis?

The null hypothesis is “improved user satisfaction is led by implementing intelligent user interfaces”. It shows that there is no statistical significance between the two variables.

• Is H1 a directional or a non-directional hypothesis? If it is directional, provide a non-directional hypothesis that could be associated with it. If it is non-directional, provide a directional hypothesis that could be associated with it.

H1 is a directional hypothesis since stating that one variable implies whether the other value will increase. Non-directional hypothesis example will predict the independent variable; “there will be a difference in how many values are correctively entered by the student.”

1. What research strategy would be best for testing this hypothesis? Why?

Quantitative research would be the best since it would provide a preliminary answer on the number of users who will be satisfied when intelligent user interfaces are implemented.

(7 marks)

• In your own words, explain the difference between descriptive and inferential statistics. Then indicate which type of statistic you would need to answer the following research questions and explain why:

Descriptive statistics describe data through numerical calculations and graphs to show the trend of the population data while inferential statistics bases the outcome data through inferences after sampling a population of the data to be processed.

1. RQ1: Does age influence information security behaviour?

Age positively impacts information security behaviours since young employees are likely to perform in a riskier manner than the old age. Old age people are likely to comply with security issues.

1. RQ2: What are the important issues currently facing IT managers?

Cybersecurity, asset-data management and new technologies are the important issues faced by IT management. The more technology is growing; the more difficult issues grow for the IT managers.

(6 marks)

(d)     Explain how non-probability sampling techniques differ from probability sampling techniques Use examples of specific techniques in your answer.

(2 marks)

Non-probability sampling techniques do not involve random selection, unlike probability sampling techniques which rely on a random selection of data which is more accurate than the non-probability sampling techniques.

(e)     The following questions relate to quantitative data analysis.

1. How do nominal and ratio scales differ? Why do researchers need to consider which type of scale they use when collecting data?

The nominal scale does not have a specific order of naming variables, while ratio scales have a pre-defined order mainly in intervals. It is essential for researchers to consider the type of scale since it relates to the type of statistic used and mixing up the formalities would result in misleading data which is inaccurate.

1. Explain what type of quantitative data the chi-square statistical test can be used with.

(6 marks)

Independent continuous quantitative data can be tested by the chi-square statistic test since testing of such categorical data can be easily be achieved between certain intervals in which research is to be covered.

QUESTION 3 (25 MARKS)

• You wish to use survey research to answer the following research question:

RQ:  Does having experienced a previous malware attack influence user security behaviour?

1. Describe key variables that you would need to measure.

The malware attack experiences and the user security behaviours

1. What form of data generation approach would you use: questionnaire or interview? Why?

Interview since monitoring the behaviours of the correspondent will help in generating data.

• What sampling frame could you use?

The type of user security behaviours experienced could form the sampling frame of the research.

1. How would you recruit participants?

I am freely surveying and motivating self-awareness to those who are affected by these experiences.

(7 marks)

(b)     The following abstract describes a project.

The recent area of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) has brought new challenges to developers of network protocols. Energy consumption and network coverage are two important challenges in wireless sensor networks. We investigate intelligent techniques for node positioning to reduce energy consumption while coverage is preserved. A genetic algorithm is developed to create energy-efficient node positioning in wireless sensor networks. The results of a proof of concept implementation show that the intelligent algorithm can extend the network lifetime for different network positioning methods.

1. What makes this project research?

Because there is a problem that needs to be addressed about Wireless Sensors Network to come up with the solution.

1. Explain what type of research strategy (i.e. common research approach) was used in the project.

It is observational research since the challenges can be felt by observing how Energy consumption and network coverage challenges are affecting people.

• What do the researchers mean when they describe their implementation as a ‘proof of concept’?

(6 marks)

Implementation terminates the research project since the vital reason for conducting researches is to implement the solutions to the problems addressed. For the researcher to achieve the solution, he/she should have the concept of the problem to implement the problem.

(c)        Explain how case study research and action research differ. Your answer should include three (3) key differences and examples of each to illustrate these differences.

(6 marks)

• The case study focuses on observing and analysing specific scenarios like space exploration requires deeper research on the field, while action research focuses on solving a certain problem at a particular time of occurrence—action research example like how parents will acquire information on how to monitor their children’s’ studies.
• A case study is a qualitative form of research with an organised way of collecting data for analysis; that is like when analysing one may ask how natural occurrences are achieved leading to case phenomenon study while action research is more of a quantitative form of research since the magnitude is on how to solve the immediate problems with an effective solution path.
• The case study deals with descriptive and explanatory aspects without focusing to the causes and impacts of the research; that is like “does mars support life” the topic research will revolve on the case rather than the cause while action research may focus on the causes that led to the research.
• suggest a suitable sampling frame and approach to sampling from that sampling frame (i.e. sampling technique) for the following research question:

RQ2: What are the most important issues currently facing Chief Information Officers?

The sample frame for the research question would be the number of “common occurrences of the issues facing the Chief Information Officers.” Probability sampling will achieve the accuracy of the data needed.

1. Describe how you could answer this research question using survey research.

(6 marks)

Conducting the research will need us to define the research problem so as to form the basis for the research. The next stage would be to design research to plan for the requirements needed to execute the research. Collecting data will include interviewing Chief Information Officers. By analysing the data; measures will be taken to reduce the issues facing the Chief Information Officers. Report findings will help to summarise the research for future purposes.

QUESTION 4 – Short Answer (25 MARKS)

(a)     The four categories of ICT products that might be designed and created as part of ICT research are constructs, models, methods and instantiations. Provide a detailed example of each type and explain why it fits into that category.

(6 marks)

• Constructs are identifications of the research concepts from the researcher. Constructs arise when the research problem requires to be detailed. For example distance learning research project requires to be conceptualised. The problem is remote accessibility.
• A model is a statement that shows the relation between two or more constructs. It proposes how thigs should be since models are identified with problems and solution path statements—for example, low processing power and distributed processing solution requirements.
• A method is a step that guides how the problems will be solved. Algorithm methods are commonly used to solve the problems. Taking steps to ensure that distributed processing and distance learning have been achieved.
• Instantiations are the final outcomes that are achieved after the research. Recommendations follow since the solution to the problems has been reached. Here the solutions have been achieved, and reports can be generated for documentation for the problem.

(b)     Answer each of the following questions about experiments:

1. Why do researchers choose experiments as an approach to answering their research questions?

Ease of research is achieved since the goals for the research are outlined. It also provides the researchers with options and inferences for the research project.

1. Why is it good to randomly allocate participants to experimental groups?

It will ensure that the differences attributed in the groups will be bearable with the expected outcome of the experiment due to the diversified participation.

• Explain the difference between a true experiment and a field experiment.

(6 marks)

A field experiment utilises independent variables and measures the dependent variables like laboratory practical while the true experiment the variables cannot be controlled since they occur naturally like testing experiments.

(c)     Use of the Internet by consumers is growing rapidly, but you have been unable to find concrete information on how successfully consumers are using it to locate and acquire goods they need.

Identify a research question and hypothesis for a research study you might undertake to investigate one aspect of this issue. Label the independent variable and the dependent variable in your hypothesis.                                                                                         (6 marks)

The research question is the impacts of internet usage on consumers.

The rapid use of the internet by consumers has led to the inability to find concrete information on how successfully consumers are using it to locate and acquire goods they need.

Independent variable: The rapid use of the internet by consumers.

Dependent variable: find concrete information.

(d)     “A project’s schedule depends only on the project’s task durations”. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Explain your response.

(4 marks)

I agree that with the statements since project task duration outlines the project life cycle hence predicting how long the project will sustain. This will give the organisation a glimpse of management costs required to upgrade or install new systems.

• In your own words, explain what causality is. If you wish to establish causality in your research, what conditions must be established?

(3 marks)

Defines the cause of an occurrence leading to an outcome situation. By identifying the variables, whether dependent or independent, this will imply that a change in the independent value will lead to a corresponding change in the outcome of the dependent value.

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