Research Methods

Kirsty Williamson has focused her career almost entirely on research since 1996 when she obtained her PhD. For much of that time she was Director of the research group, Information and Telecommunications Needs Research (ITNR), a joint initiative of Monash University and Charles Sturt University in Australia. She has undertaken many research projects and has received many research grants from a range of different non-government and government organisations, including the principal funding body of Australian Universities, the Australian Research Council (ARC). Her research has been widely published. Graeme Johanson is Director of the Centre for Community Networking Research at Monash University. He has undertaken academic research for 45 years, and his research findings are widely published. He has supervised many research projects, mainly about the evaluation and use of information and communications technologies for the benefit of developing countries and marginalised groups of people. His initial interest in archives, historical documents, and oral history led him to work as a librarian in research institutions for ten years before becoming an academic focusing on information management and community informatics.

• Section I Foundations and Framing1. Research concepts2. The fundamentals of research planning3. Information research: Patterns and practice4. Archival and recordkeeping research: Past, present and future5. The methodological landscape: Information systems and knowledge managementSection II Research Methods6. Survey designs 7. Case study research in information systems8. Action research: Theory and practice9. Constructivist grounded theory: A 21st century research methodology10. Bibliometric research11. Design-science research12. Researching history13. Ethnographic research14. Experimental researchSection III Research Techniques15. Populations and samples16. Questionnaires, individual interviews and focus group interviews17. Observation18. Quantitative data analysis19. Qualitative data analysisSection IV Research Practice and Communication20. Ethical research practices21. Managing research data22. Research writing and disseminationSection V Information Research: Reflections on Past and Future23. The future of information research

"In their second edition of Research Methods: Information, Systems and Contexts, Williamson and Johanson (2018) have tackled these tensions well, both in their inclusive approach to the book as well as by introducing diverse contexts while keeping to the deep and the oretical roots of the discipline. ...Research Methods is a substantial review and critique of research methods in the discipline, accompanied by useful and interesting reflections." --Library and Information Science Research"The book that you are about to read provides a fresh perspective on research in information science. There is something for everyone here – whether you are new to research in the discipline, or whether you are a seasoned scholar looking for new and inspiring ideas." --Professor Lisa Given. Associate Dean, Research and Development, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology and President, Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T), 2018."It is not easy to find anything that addresses both qualitative and quantitative paradigms in library and information studies in detail. Williamson and Johanson’s book thoroughly satisfies these criteria, and is an engaging discussion of fundamental concepts, as well as of the wider research landscape. ...Each chapter has its own extensive references which is more helpful than a single end-of-the-book reference list because it clusters and contextualises the publications. Chapters stand alone as well as contributing to the whole; the book can be dipped into as well as read more comprehensively." -Information Research"Research Methods is a substantial review and critique of research methods in the discipline, accompanied by useful and interesting reflections. The attention to theory as well as the practical toolkits, resources and cases make the text accessible and relevant to researchers and practitioners at different stages in their research careers." -Information Research