Analytical methods for Information Systems Professionals

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• Analytical methods for Information Systems
  Professionals
• Week 13 Lecture
• CONCLUSION

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• Please fill in your surveys
• www.ug.cs.usyd.edu.au/surveys.html
• THEY ARE AVAILABLE UNTIL THE END OF THIS WEEK
•  

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Whats the point?
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• TODAY
• What were the objectives of the course?
• What can you expect in the exam?
• Clarifying some significant issues
• Questions?
• What to do in the next few weeks other than
  panicking.

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• What is the question?
• Who wants to know?
• What is your answer?
• How do you know if it is right?

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Use analytical methods to

• Formulate a question precisely
• Have dependable techniques to gather and analyse
  data to answer questions
• Collect and analyse feedback

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• Needs analysis
• Evaluation of technology
• Design
• Feasibility
• Measurement of performance and alignment
  (auditing)
• Changing

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• Information Systems (IS) professionals in today's
  organisations are leaders in change and
  development.
• Your success in this field will be aided by your
  being able to apply formal methods of information
  collection and analysis to interpreting evidence
  on IS issues.

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• Aims
• It aims to prepare you for your major Information
  Systems project, (http//www.ug.cs.usyd.edu.au/is
  ys3207/) as well as your future practice as an
  IT professional, by building on the skills you
  have already acquired in the Information Systems
  discipline at the University of Sydney
  (http//www.infosys.usyd.edu.au ). 

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• By the end of this course you should be able to
• explain the purpose, relevance and effectiveness
  of using various analytical methods in IS,
• describe and analyse a research problem and its
  context,
• select, analyse and evaluate literature related
  to the research problem
• identify methodologies appropriate to the
  research question
• write a research proposal,
• collect data using both qualitative and
  quantitative investigative methods,
• analyse and interpret data,
• communicate results verbally and in writing,
  including a reflection on your research process.

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• The exam is worth 50 of your final mark and you
  must pass the exam to pass the course.

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• WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT IN THE EXAM?
• (that I can reasonably tell you about)

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• WHAT WILL NOT BE IN THE EXAM
• You will not be examined on finding or reading
  the literature. That has already been assessed
  through your assignments
• You will not be examined on the content of the
  guest lectures who presented case studies,
  Gartner and David Nathan.
• You will not be examined on the content of the
  articles we used for reading and analysing
  research literature.

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• SECTION A
• 50 marks
• Scenario
• Followed by 4 questions with sub-questions which
  allow you to apply your understanding of the how
  you would select, justify and apply (in detail)
  specific qualitative analytical methods to the
  problem.

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• Methodology
• The research methodology describes our strategy
  or plan of action
• This is the research design shaping our choice
  of methods and linking that choice to the
  research outcomes
• Gives a rationale for our choice of methods and
  the way we employ those methods

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• Methods
• Research methods are the techniques or procedures
  we plan to use in our research
• Research methods are used to gather and analyse
  data
• When talking about research methods we talk at a
  very detailed level
• The choice of methods is central to the progress
  and success of our research project and depend
  on
• Purpose of the research
• Location of the research
• Position of the researcher
• Cost (, time etc.)

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• CLARIFYING ISSUES NO2
• Refining the question
• Student requirements?
• Computer resources?
• Access?

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Two types of quantitative research design

• Experiment
• Causal research
• Build a cause and effect relationship between
  variables.
• Survey
• Descriptive and Causal research
• Descriptive research provide an accurate
  description of some aspect of a problem

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Experimental design general concepts

• Key element in experimental design
• Independent variable, dependent variable, control
  variable
• Key stages in conducting experiment
• Assignment of subjects to experiment groups
• Manipulation of independent variable
• Instructional manipulation
• Event manipulation
• Measurement of dependent variable
• Direct results of the treatment
• Use questionnaire to get subjects responses

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Factorial experimental design

• Study two or more independent variables at the
  same time
• Denoted by the number of factors and number of
  levels in each factors.
• Read and interpret the graph of mean values
• Main effect
• Interaction effect
• Interaction as a difference in magnitude of
  response
• Interaction as a difference in direction of
  response

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Other experimental design

• Blocking design
• Latin square design
• Solomon four group design
• Nonequivalent control group design
• Time-series design

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Survey research

• Interview and self-administrated questionnaire
• Sampling
• Define target population, sampling frame
• Choose an appropriate sampling procedure
• Determine sample size
• Survey instruments
• Questionnaire design
• The choice of open and closed-ended questions
• The wording of questions

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Hypothesis testing general concepts

• Null hypothesis and Alternative hypothesis
• One-tailed vs. two-tailed test
• Reporting test results
• p-value vs. significance level (?)
• Test statistics vs. critical value

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Data analysis techniques

• What we have covered
• Chi-square test for independence
• T-test
• One-way ANOVA
• Two-way ANOVA
• Regression analysis
• What you need to know
• Choose an appropriate technique for a particular
  problem
• Interpret the result and make conclusion

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Exam questions in quantitative part

• Two questions
• Small case followed by a few questions
• One question about experimental research
• One question about survey research
• Easy for students who regularly attended lectures
  and participated in tutorials

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• What to do in the next few weeks instead of
  panicking
• Print out the course schedule and stick it on
  your wall. It is the roadmap for what you need to
  understand.
• Revise using the lecture notes, the textbook, the
  articles in the handbook and the lecture
  handouts,.
• Use the message board to discuss issues with
  each other and to ask me questions. I will
  monitor it all through the study period right up
  until the exam.
• Study with a friend or a group.

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• GOOD LUCK