CHOICES AND STRATEGIES: Choosing Appropriate Research Techniques

CHOICES AND STRATEGIES: Choosing Appropriate Research Techniques

TYPE OF QUESTION EXAMPLE OF QUESTION APPROPRIATE RESEARCH TECHNIQUE
What is the theory behind this process or technique? How do greenhouse gases contribute to global warming? Encyclopedias, handbooks, and journal articles present theory. Also, you can find theoretical information on websites from reputable professional organizations and universities. Search using keywords such as “greenhouse gases” and “global warming.”
What is the history of this phenomenon? When and how did engineers first try to extract shale oil? Encyclopedias and handbooks present history. Also, you can find historical information on websites from reputable professional organizations and universities. Search using keywords such as “shale oil” and “petroleum history.”
What techniques are being used now to solve this problem? How are companies responding to the federal government’s new laws on health-insurance portability? If the topic is recent, you will have better luck using digital resources such as websites and social media than using traditional print media. Search using keywords and tags such as “health-insurance portability.” Your search will be most effective if you use standard terminology in your search, such as “HIPAA” for the health-insurance law.
How is a current situation expected to change? What changes will outsourcing cause in the computer-support industry over the next 10 to 20 years? For long-range predictions, you can find information in journal articles and magazine articles and on reputable websites. Experts might write forecasts on discussion boards and blogs.
What products are available to perform a task or provide a service? Which vendors are available to upgrade and maintain our company’s website? For current products and services, search websites, discussion boards, and blogs. Reputable vendors—manufacturers and service providers—have sites describing their offerings. But be careful not to assume vendors’ claims are accurate. Even the specifications they provide might be exaggerated.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of competing products and services? Which portable GPS system is the lightest? Search for benchmarking articles from experts in the field, such as a journal article—either in print or on the web—about camping and outfitting that compares the available GPS systems according to reasonable criteria. Also check discussion boards for reviews and blogs for opinions. If appropriate, do field research to answer your questions.
Which product or service do experts recommend? Which four-wheel-drive SUV offers the best combination of features and quality for our needs? Experts write journal articles, magazine articles, and sometimes blogs. Often, they participate in discussion boards. Sometimes, you can interview them, in person or on the phone, or write inquiries.
What are the facts about how we do our jobs at this company? Do our chemists use gas chromatography in their analyses? Sometimes, you can interview someone, in person or on the phone, to answer a simple question. To determine whether your chemists use a particular technique, start by asking someone in that department.
What can we learn about what caused a problem in our organization? What caused the contamination in the clean room? You can interview personnel who were closest to the problem and inspect the scene to determine the cause of the problem.
What do our personnel think we should do about a situation? Do our quality-control analysts think we need to revise our sampling quotient? If there are only a few personnel, interview them. If there are many, use questionnaires to get the information more quickly.
How well would this product or service work in our organization? Would this scanner produce the quality of scan that we need and interface well with our computer equipment? Read product reviews on reputable websites. Study discussion boards. Observe the use of the product or service at a vendor’s site. Schedule product demos at your site. Follow up by interviewing others in your company to get their thinking. Do an experiment in which you try two different solutions to a problem, then analyze the results.