Research Methods

The essence of qualitative research: “verstehen”

by Sam Ladner on October 15, 2009 · 15 comments

“But how many people did you talk to?” If you’ve ever done qualitative research, you’ve heard that question at least once. And the first time? You were flummoxed. In 3 short minutes, you can be assured that will never happen again.
Folks, qualitative research does not worry about numbers of people; it worries about deep understanding. [...]

15 comments

Tagged as: anthropology, linkedin, organizations, qualitative, qualitative research, quantitative, quantitative research, sample size, sociology, thick description, verstehen

Detecting Social Media Bullshit: A Sociologist’s View

by Sam Ladner on September 29, 2009 · 20 comments

Social media “gurus” abound these days. Which ones are worth listening to and which ones are bullshitters?
Philosopher Harry Frankfurt exposed bullshitters in his famous essay “On Bullshit.” The liar knows what the truth is and cares very much about concealing it. The bullshitter, on the other hand, doesn’t care what the truth is and has [...]

20 comments

Tagged as: innovation, linkedin, organizations, social capital, social media, social networks, sociology

Categories: Popular · Research Methods · bourdieu · class · culture · home · luxury goods · methods · social capital · social media · social networks

Designers are from Venus, Six Sigmas are from Mars

by Sam Ladner on September 25, 2009 · 4 comments

in Research Methods, anthropology, design, discourse analysis, ethnography, product design, qualitative research, quantitative research, surveys

DT has a great post over at Design Sojourn that discusses Six Sigma methodology and how it relates to design. He cites Tim Brown at IDEO who argues that Six Sigma is essentially Newtonian, while design thinking is quantum. In his own design work, DT expressed doubts about using Six Sigma:
After studying the Six Sigma [...]

4 comments

Tagged as: design, ethnography, linkedin, organizations, qualitative research, quantitative research

Categories: Research Methods · anthropology · design · discourse analysis · ethnography · product design · qualitative research · quantitative research · surveys

The Importance of Symbols: doctors and their (dirty) lab coats

by Sam Ladner on July 26, 2009 · 3 comments

in Research Methods, anthropology, design, ethnography, goffman, qualitative research, quantitative research, sociology

The New York Times reports that the American Medical Association is considering doing away with the venerable symbol of the physician: the lab coat. There’s a very good reason to get rid of lab coats: they’re dirty. But the symbol of the lab coat is far more important. The New York Times reports the empirical [...]

3 comments

Tagged as: doctors, goffman, identity, medicine

Categories: Research Methods · anthropology · design · ethnography · goffman · qualitative research · quantitative research · sociology

Customers more satisfied when served by white males

by Sam Ladner on July 19, 2009 · 0 comments

in Research Methods, customer satisfaction, feminism, methods, qualitative research, quantitative research, sociology, surveys

In an interesting study, researchers at UBC have found that customers express higher satisfaction when they’re served by white men than by women or people of colour — even when their behaviour is exactly the same. Marketing professor Karl Aquino expressed surprise at the findings, as he told The Globe and Mail
�We had thought there [...]