Situating Your Research (part 2) // Mobilizing Knowledge

Situating my Research (part II)

I’m now in the final week of the LRNT502 course at Royal Roads and I feel like it is as good a time as any to wrap up my thoughts as I prepare to begin LRNT503 in two weeks. Two posts ago, I began to examine my tacit assumptions and finished by exploring the roles of qualitative and quantitive methods in research. However, in hindsight, I never identified examples of cultures of inquiry. Bentz and Shapiro, the authors of our course textbook, have identified the following:

• Action Research
• Evaluation Research
• Phenomenology
• Hermeneutics
• Historical Research
• Theoretical Research
• Critical social science and critical theory
• Ethnography
• Quantitative and behavioural science

(Bentz & Shapiro, p.93, 1998)

Each of these cultures of inquiry represent unique ways to go about finding truth. I am a firm believer that despite one’s own assumptions about how to conduct research it is prudent to be well versed in each of the methods so that one clearly understands the limitations and advantages of each culture. Despite this, I would argue that Action and Evaluation research are the most critical to my daily work in the corporate sector. Action research requires the researcher to drive change in their inquiry through carefully created experiences that ensure that participants are engaged and aligned with the subject of study towards positive change. One of my functions at work is to assess various learning management systems to determine whether they are still cost-effective and required based on company direction. I begin by gathering needs from various business stakeholders which provide me with mostly qualitative data which I then compound with my own quantitative usage reports and related metrics. Throughout my research, I am engaging these stakeholders in explorations of the current and future status which forces them to consider the value of said learning management systems. Like a researcher, I’m often not in a position to determine the fate of these learning management systems but I do provide valuable insights which influence decision-makers.

Unfortunately, my position at work also limits my mobility to go about conducting more in-depth research without extensive bureaucratic hurdles. I am uniquely interested in an ethnographic study at some of the more remote work-sites to understand safety compliance culture. I have found limited research on this topic and am intrigued with how safety and compliance are maintained in a heavily regulated environment where most compliance activities are validated through manual tracking or basic web-based course.

 

Mobilizing Knowledge

Returning to the academic environment has been an absolute boon for me on many fronts. One of the greatest aspects for me, is access to academic publications through the various publishers that my university subscribes to. Prior to becoming a student, it would be impossible or very costly for me to access the large number of documents stored on these academic distribution sites. Outside of my course work, I have read various articles of interest which has led to excellent discussions at my workplace on a variety of learning technology and epistemological subjects. On further reflection, I find it incredibly frustrating that so much of this knowledge is not easily accessible by the general public. My professor has assigned a variety of readings for my final week on this exact topic, two of which I have added below for reference. Wrecker (2014) talks specifically about Academia.edu which, despite controversial issues with the media, has proven a successful distribution and sharing platform for academics to share and collaborate on research. In the last link, Suarez (2013) examines the changing media landscape which has a direct bearing on academia since research articles are very much consumable media and not immune to popular demand and frustrations.

 

References

Bentz, V. M., & Shapiro, J. J. (1998). Mindful inquiry in social research. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage.

Wecker, M. (2014, Feb. 20). Should you share your research on Academia.edu? [Weblog post]. Retrieved from: https://chroniclevitae.com/news/345-should-you-share-your-      research-on-academia-edu

 Suarez, L. (2013, Sept. 3). Giving up control in the Era of Open Business [Weblog post]. Retrieved from http://www.elsua.net/2013/09/03/giving-up-control-in-the-era-of-              open-business/.

Scholarly Community – Special Guest Edition

My Class

Welcome back to the Corporate Academic. This week I want to acknowledge my cohort in the Master of Arts in Learning and Technology (MALAT) at Royal Roads University who have been diligently creating their own academic blogs as one of our course assignments for the LRNT502 Introduction to Research course. In my opinion, blogging is a great opportunity for self-reflection and an opportunity to connect my academic understanding with my work as a corporate learning professional. Coincidentally, after joining the MALAT program I discovered that one of my fellow students was not only located in the same city is as me but also works at the same company and in an operational learning team. For today’s post I will be responding to Elaine’s recent post entitled “BRAIN-spiration” from her blog at http://studentsandstarbucks.tumblr.com/.

Response

In Elaine’s “BRAIN-spiration” post (August 22, 2014) she provides a wealth of links to various TED talks videos and other online resources for those looking for inspiration on leadership and motivation. Elaine uses thought leaders Simon Sinek and Daniel Pink as the focal points of her post and I discuss my thoughts on these two below.

I hadn’t heard of Simon Sinek prior to today but after watching his TED talk video I urge those interested in leadership to watch his video on “How great leaders inspire action.” Elaine points out in her summary that “great leaders all think the same way, but it is the opposite of everyone else.” I found it difficult to accept Sinek’s appraisal of “great leader” as he compared military leadership to corporate american culture.  He attacked the modern corporations’ focus on metrics and upper leadership’s focus on self-survival rather than self-sacrifice for the betterment of team. Sinek’s solution requires leaders in any organization to focus primarily on what he calls the “golden circle,” a set of concentric circles beginning with “why” at the center and continuing with “how” and “what” as questions to answer as you progress outwards. The result, he proposes is more loyal employees, cost savings and better productivity. However, he offered no statistics or studies to validate this claim. I found his theories interesting as I have experienced a wide gamut of leadership styles during the course of my career but lacking hard evidence with which to initiate the kind of cultural change require to overhaul the deeply quantitative and risk-management focused modern workplace. 

Simon Sinek’s “Golden Circle”. Source: https://www.startwithwhy.com/

Elaine’s second highlighted speaker is Dan Pink. Unlike Simon Sinek, I am aware of Dan and his work in the area of motivation. I had seen his wonderful TED talks video which was later animated. I’m glad that Elaine included Dan’s work in her blog post as it is well researched and supported by international qualitative and quantitative studies. Similar to Sinek, Pink argues that the modern corporate culture is fundamentally flawed and requires a re-thinking or else continue to make the same costly mistakes which led to the recent economic downfalls. Unfortunately, Elaine missed what I would call Dan’s simplest message during his TED talk video: the role of “Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose” in the motivation of knowledge workers. Pink states that those engaged in rudimentary mechanical tasks benefit from financial incentives to perform but that once any cognitive load is required to solve problems, that financial incentives have a measured detrimental effect. Autonomy, mastery and purpose are therefore critical to engage these knowledge workers and sustain growth. I’ve included a graphic below to highlight this point.

Screen captured image from RSA Animate – Drive: The surprising truth about motivation. Source: http://blogs.salesforce.com/company/2013/07/daniel-pink-motivating-sales-team.html

 

Blog Links
http://lrntkeithandony.tumblr.com/	http://learningandtechnology.staff.sd62.bc.ca/	http://yukionlearning.wordpress.com/
http://clearasmudmalat.blogspot.ca/	http://ashleylpriest.blogspot.ca/	http://chibilearning.blogspot.ca/
http://kbutlerrr.wordpress.com	http://kenalearning.com/blog	http://lrnt502mkang.blogspot.ca/
http://andthenistartedanmaprogram.blogspot.ca/	http://mrodrigues502.wordpress.com/	http://ithoughtthiswouldbemuchlesswork.blogspot.ca
https://weatheringthestormblog.wordpress.com/	http://andrecroy.com	http://studentsandstarbucks.tumblr.com/
http://wpinhorn.blogspot.ca/2014/07/7.html	http://wpinhorn.blogspot.ca/2014/07/7.html	http://wpinhorn.blogspot.ca/2014/07/7.html

 

Situating Your Research (part 1)

Self-Reflection

Upon completing the latest assignment in the LRNT502 course at Royal Roads University, I am beginning to better understand the concept of “cultures of inquiry” and feel that it is a good time as ever to examine my own innate culture of inquiry.  I feel that I must also acknowledge that I have spent considerable time as a student of the social sciences and have internalized many of the paradigms used in sociology and cultural anthropology. This also leads me to consider some of my other biases due to my socio-economic status, generational time-point in history, gender, ethnicity, peer influences and others.  

I believe a sensible place to start on this journey of self-reflection, is to start with some foundational research into cultures of inquiry and for that I’m going to reference an excellent book, “Mindful Inquiry in Social  Research” written by the duo Valerie Malhotra Bentz and Jeremy J. Shapiro. One of the most basic divisions between those who practice specific cultures of inquiry comes down to beliefs around quantitative versus qualitative data. As captured in the infographic below, you can see that both qualitative and quantitative research methods are not mutually exclusive but “bridge” each other’s gaps. This is a very post-modern assumption as my experiences through the public education system would have me believe that qualitative data was inferior since it cannot be measured easily and is more challenging to interpret. I have come to understand this phenomenon as the positivist backlash to the theological and meta-physical theories of the early nineteenth century. I would argue that qualitative inquiries are a more innately human method of research and that true quantitative research is a learned phenomenon.

Bentz and Shapiro offer some suggestions when exploring cultures of inquiry. They have compiled a list of questions you can ask to determine the nature of any culture of inquiry which will help both to situate yourself and explore other cultures.

Questions

1. What are the principal sorts of problems and concerns typically  addressed within each tradition?
2. What are the underlying epistemological assumptions concerning the sources of knowledge?
3. What is the relationship between the researcher and the subject of research in each culture of inquiry?
4. What is the nature of attunement between one’s personal style and the culture of inquiry?

 (Bentz and Shapiro, p.93-94, 1998)

I’m realizing now, as I am hoping you the reader are, that there is a lot to consider when aligning oneself with a culture of inquiry even at a foundational level. Originally, I had intended to include examples of major cultures of inquiry but this post have left me with much to consider in preparation for part two. In the meantime, my professor has asked us to respond to posts from other members of your cohort and that will be next week’s topic. 

Great infographic that outlines the differences between quantitative and qualitative research. Source: http://www.dundas.com/blog-post/analyze-that-a-look-at-your-data/

References

Bentz, V. M., & Shapiro, J. J. (1998). Mindful inquiry in social research. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage.

 

Welcome // Cultures of Inquiry

Welcome

Hello and welcome to the Corporate Academic, a place where I will be discussing my thoughts and experiences as a learning professional in the private sector. I am currently pursuing my Master’s degree in Learning Technology at Royal Roads University where this blog is a practical activity to develop my academic voice as well as an opportunity to reflect on course material. I’m initially planning four to six blog posts on this site but may continue to post as my ideas develop. Please feel free to share your thoughts below and we’ll see where the discussions lead.

Cultures of Inquiry

Think about a question, a big and broad question that you have always wondered about. Ignoring time, budget, resources and other constraints, how would you go about finding answers to your question? Would you take measurements, interview experts or conduct a survey? All of these questions help us determine our preferred Culture of Inquiry, that is to say the way in which we inquire about a given question or problem. For those of us in the corporate sector, the culture of inquiry is commonly quantitative in nature due to the dominant culture of risk management, which relies heavily on empirical data to make decisions. However, the world of adult learning cannot always be quantified with data as is the case with measuring the effectiveness of learning.

Arguably, today’s learning management systems provide a plethora of metrics which prove that a learner attended a classroom session or logged on to a web-based course but offer limited evidence of knowledge retention beyond assessments and course feedback forms. As the term “culture of inquiry” suggests, to shift paradigms from quantitative to qualitative is a cultural shift which is incredibly challenging if not impossible when all levels within an organization have accepted qualitative data as the norm. Is this the case at your organization? It is with mine.

I strongly believe that a disciplined learning\training\talent management team can positively influence the culture of inquiry within an organization. The very nature of our role is to align employees to the organization’s goals through behaviour shaping and skill development. Each day we are presented with problems and questions that are intrinsic to our work yet we consciously or unconsciously accept the methods in which said problems and questions are approached. There are a wide variety of cultures of inquiry ranging from Phenomenology and Hermeneutics to Critical social science and Ethnography. Each culture provides has advantages and limitations based on the subject of inquiry and it stands to reason that understanding when and which culture to apply benefits the inquirer towards reaching the purest truth and knowledge.