Idea Puzzle® software for research design ricardo.morais@ideapuzzle.com

1. Idea Puzzle® software for research design ricardo.morais@ideapuzzle.com

2. PhD completion rates

3. PhD: a global paradox According to OECD, countries attempt to maximize the number of ‘new doctorate graduates’. Yet, about 50% of the candidates are unable to complete their PhD. In general, the PhD project is managed as a sequence of tasks such as literature review, data collection, and data analysis. The problem is that doctoral students are not necessarily acquainted with the decisions implicit in such tasks. Idea Puzzle has therefore created a system of 21 decisions that helps students, supervisors, and methodology teachers focus a research design. The 21 decisions are based on the entry 'scientific method' of Sage Encyclopedia of Case Study Research (Morais 2010) and integrate theory, method, data, rhetoric, and authorship. The result is a focused research design that reduces the uncertainty of your PhD.

4. Research ambiguity Stages in the research process (Bryman, 2012: 14) • Literature review – A critical examination of existing research relating to the phenomena of interest and of relevant theoretical ideas. • Concepts and theories – The ideas that drive the research process and that shed light on the interpretation of the resulting findings. • Research questions – A question that provides an explicit statement of what it is the researcher wants to know about. • Sampling cases – The selection of cases which are relevant to the research questions. • Data collection – Gathering the data from the sample so that the research questions can be answered. • Data analysis – The management, analysis, and interpretation of the data. • Writing up – Dissemination of the research and its findings.

5. 21 research decisions Theory Author-ship Method Rethoric Data

6. Philosophical ambiguity Constructionism, Constructivism, Critical Realism, Deconstructivism, Determinism, Empiricism, Falsificationism, Indeterminism, Instrumentalism, Interactionism, Interpretivism, Positivism, Postpositivism, Pragmatism, Realism, Rationalism, Relativism, Verificationism

7. 4 philosophical stances • Facts: • Ontology: objective side of reality • Epistemology: fact-centric knowledge • Methodology: qualitative or quantitative research strategy • Axiology: fact-centric researcher • Justification: • Theory testing • Hypothetic-deductive reasoning • Discovery: • Theory development • Quasi-inductive reasoning • Values: • Ontology: subjective side of reality • Epistemology: value-centric knowledge • Methodology: qualitative or quantitative research strategy • Axiology: value-centric researcher

8. Methodological ambiguity “Many writers on methodological issues find it helpful to distinguish between quantitative research and qualitative research. The status of the distinction is ambiguous, because it is almost simultaneously regarded by some writers as a fundamental contrast and by others as no longer useful or even simply as ‘false’.” (Bryman, 2012: 35) “A straightforward approach for coping with the varied meanings of ‘qualitative research’ is to avoid the term. Rather, clarify the research strategy being used, and contrast it with other ‘qualitative’ approaches with differing epistemological assumptions.” (Eisenhardt & Graebner, 2007: 28)

9. 15 research strategies

10. Jigsaw puzzle metaphor

11. Reduction of research uncertainty

12. Through focus Explicit aspects of your research (linear sequence of tasks, deliverables and timelines) Implicit aspects of your research (iterative sequence of decisions in order to focus on a sample of theory, method, data, rhetoric, and authorship) Context of your research (theory, method, data, rhetoric, and authorship beyond your focus)

13. Recent publications Morais, R., & Rebelo, L. 2013. The impact of philosophy of science on research design, forthcoming. Morais, R. 2011. Critical realism and case studies in international business research. In Piekkari, R., & Welch, C. (Eds.), Rethinking the Case Study Approach in International Business and Management Research: 63-84, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. Morais, R. 2010. Scientific method. In Mills, A., Durepos, G. & Wiebe, E. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Case Study Research. 2: 840-842, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.

14. Idea Puzzle® initiatives

15. Idea Puzzle® software

16. Users in 86 countries

17. www.ideapuzzle.com If you are a supervisor or methodology teacher, contact us for a free trial of the Idea Puzzle® software. The Idea Puzzle® software is recommended by Sage Publications and licensed to several universities in The Times Higher Education Top 400.