Reading tip: Find topic

There are many types of research. I am concerned with empirical social research in this article because it is the dominant mode for business informatics and economics. Empirical social research mainly deals with social and human issues (Döring and Bortz 2015). Use cases in the context of companies and society are:

• Research into behavior
• Research into doing
• Exploration of coexistence
• Exploring the experience of people.

Research means collecting data

Your goal is to scientifically investigate facts and to obtain so-called reliable knowledge. To investigate such issues, you need to collect empirical data through surveys or interviews. These are defined as:

Empirical data (“empirical data”) are specifically selected and documented information about the reality of experience with regard to the research problem. They are collected using scientific data collection methods (observation, interview, questionnaire, psychological test, physiological measurement, document analysis) using appropriate standardized or non-standardized survey instruments (observation plan, interview guide, questionnaire, measuring device, etc.). “

Döring and Bortz (2015, p. 5)

Research means evaluating data in a structured manner

You have now collected data and can use it to derive hypotheses or recommendations for action. You do this with a methodical procedure that you describe in detail from the academy. If you do that, we are talking about scientific knowledge gain. This is defined as follows:

“Scientific knowledge gain” is based in empirical sciences such as the social and human sciences on the systematic collection, processing and analysis of empirical data as part of an orderly and documented research process. “

Döring and Bortz (2014, p. 5)

Research means: collecting data cleanly and evaluating it in a comprehensible manner

Of course, the collection of data and the evaluation can always be criticized. Facts can change quickly, especially in companies, and interpretations are not always clear. Certain quality criteria must therefore be observed in research. According to Himme (2007), these are:

• objectivity
• Reliability
• validity

The first criterion is objectivity. Imagine that different researchers could collect different data and interpretations on the same issue. There are two ways to do this. On the one hand, the implementation objectivity. This means the collection of data: “What is the chance that three independent people will collect the same data as you?”. The second type is the objectivity of the evaluation, i.e. the evaluation of the data: “What is the chance that three people will interpret the results of your interviews in the same way?” Objectivity is primarily about you as a researcher and your neutrality on the research question.

The second criterion is reliability. It is about the reliability of your results. How long are these stable and are they always the same with repeated measurements? Objectivity is primarily about your research method.

The validity refers to the validity and material accuracy of a measuring instrument. So does your data really provide qualified answers to the research question? The validity is primarily about your data and the evaluation.

Tip: Discuss the three criteria in your thesis and limit them if you like.

In addition to the criteria mentioned, there are of course numerous other secondary criteria. You can also define these as you like, but I recommend starting with the three in the first research work. According to Himme (2007), further examples are standardization (calibration), economy (costs) and practicability (usefulness) of the data.

2 examples of empirical research

Let me give you two examples to illustrate. In example 1, you want to use expert interviews to better understand conflicts in agile teams and derive recommendations for action. So you collect data through the interviews and evaluate them. The evaluation results in recommendations for action. Now you have to consider the following quality criteria:

• objectivity : You must derive the recommendations for action in a clear and comprehensible manner. It is also important to limit this to the respondents.
• Reliability : By properly documenting your research methodology and the survey process, you show a high level of reliability.
• validity : You could have a short final discussion or evaluation of the recommendations for action by the test persons.

In example 2 you would like to find out about the software and hardware of IT service providers through an online survey. You create a questionnaire and send it to 40 IT experts. Now you have to consider the following quality criteria:

• objectivity : Make the construction of the questionnaire and the derivation by static methods clear.
• Reliability : Use a clear and recognized statistical method.
• validity : Let the test persons rate the results, for example on a scale of 1-5) “agree to disagree”.

Conclusion

In this article I raised the question: what is research. I hope you could grasp the difference with a term paper or a journalistic article. It is about collecting data cleanly and evaluating it in a structured and comprehensible manner. This leads to reliable knowledge. In order to gain such insights, you should therefore conceive a research design in the first step.

Reading tip: Basics of a research design

swell

Döring, N., & Bortz, J. (2016). Scientific theoretical foundations of empirical social research BT – Research methods and evaluation in the social and human sciences. In N. Döring & J. Bortz (Eds.) (Pp. 31-79). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41089-5_2

Himme, A. (2007). Quality criteria of the measurement: reliability, Validity and generalizability BT – methodology of empirical Research. In S. Albers, D. Klapper, U. Konradt, A. Walter, & J. Wolf (Eds.) (Pp. 375-390). Wiesbaden: Gabler. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-8349-9121-8_25

Der Beitrag Basics of empirical research: what is research? erschien zuerst auf agile Companies.

Tip 1: take a little distance!

Most of the time you are in tunnel vision yourself and can no longer think clearly. You’re stuck and can’t really come up with a meaningful idea. My tip would be to take a break for 1-2 days and go for a drink with friends. Then talk to your supervisor in peace and watch the work from a distance.

Tip 2: less is more!

I often notice that the students keep the subject far too ready and complex. Interviews should be paired with a survey, which lead to an ultimate framework. This framework is so ultimate that it solves all business problems. However, it doesn’t solve any problems; it drives you to despair.

My tip is: limit the topic! Less is often more. The point is that you research ONE issue meaningfully and deeply. So if you are researching 5 aspects, then limit yourself to 2. Look how you can narrow down the topic and where you can take complexity out of the work.

An example would be that you want to look for success factors for agility in companies and want to record the implementation using a framework. It is sufficient for a bachelor thesis if you look for success factors and say in the outlook that someone could now make a framework out of them.

Reading tip: Thesis effort

Conclusion

I get a lot of calls that the thesis is frustrating and desperate people. Yes, it is very complex and students often stress themselves by demanding too much.

The tip is: Take complexity out of your work: It is not important to revolutionize the whole world, but to use research methods sensibly and to get a degree in the end. You can always change the world afterwards.

Der Beitrag Help! I’m desperate for my thesis! erschien zuerst auf agile Companies.

You are a young researcher! Start with small steps!

You always have to keep in mind that this is your first (bachelor thesis) or second (master thesis) real research work. If I used a research method in my doctorate, I usually first attended a 3-day seminar and learned it properly. So you first have to learn a lot in the empirical and research theory basics. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What is a structured literature analysis according to Mayring?
• How does this differ from Webster and Watson?
• How do I perform a correlation analysis and what is the difference to regression analysis?
• How can I do qualitative interviews quantitatively evaluate?
• What are the criteria for the quality of empirical data?

If you can answer less than 4 of them, then you are still missing important basics. But this is no problem: So start in small steps.

Goal 1: Get the Graduation!

The primary goal that you should achieve is how to work through a topic in a meaningful and methodical manner. The topic is actually completely irrelevant. At the end it is graded how you proceeded. So you are looking for a simple topic such as agility in companies, an exception to digitization or the potential of big data or cloud computing. Specifically: At the end you should learn to carry out a literature analysis and interviews or surveys properly and to use them to approach a complex topic in a meaningful way.

Believe me: in the end, you will have enough work to do, even with a supposedly simple topic!

Reading tip: Find topic

Goal 2: Get the employment contract!

Another goal in addition to the conclusion can be that you want to get an employment contract through the participation of a practice partner. The practice partner usually gives you a rather complex topic, where you can hardly find any literature due to its practical relevance. Example: Agile project management, agility in HR, agility in production …

If the company pays and employs you for it, it can be worth it. The extra effort is worth it. If you don’t want to work for the company anyway, or the company is guaranteed to hire you, don’t do it. You have to work 100% more than normal work.

My experience: It is worthwhile to accept the additional effort, as there is often an employment contract with better conditions!

Reading tip: Find a topic with a practice partner

Conclusion: learn to proceed methodically!

The primary goal is that you should learn how to work through a topic in a meaningful and methodical manner. So if you are not necessarily working towards an employment contract, then I recommend starting with a small step. You can still change the world after the master.

Der Beitrag How much effort should you put into a thesis? erschien zuerst auf agile Companies.

Reading tip: Qualitative and quantitative research

Mixed Method combines the advantages of both types

The mixed method approach means that you use various quantitative and qualitative research methods (Kuckhartz 2014). The advantages are that a research question can be illuminated by several research methods.

The advantage of the thesis is that you can shed light on a question in two ways and make findings that were not possible on purely qualitative or quantitative research (Roch 2017).

Different variants of the mixed method approach

There are different versions of the mixed method approach. To do this, look at the following illustration.

The mixed method approaches usually have a dominant research method. This can be qualitative or quantitative. It is seldom that both methods are equally weighted in theses. I’ll give you a few examples:

• You compare the results of qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey (equal status)
• You evaluate data from a quantitative survey through qualitative interviews with experts (predominantly quantitative)
• You underpin the statements of qualitative interviews with a quantitative survey (predominantly qualitative)

Reading tip: Development of a research design

Conclusion

If you combine research methods, you specifically hide the disadvantages of the methods. For example, hard facts, i.e. survey data, are usually difficult to interpret and can be substantiated by interviews with experts. At the same time, you can also back up the statements of experts with data.

On the one hand, knowledge of both research methods is necessary, but on the other hand you also save effort, as it is, for example, It is enough if you question 5 interviews and 15 test subjects instead of conducting 20 expert interviews.

There are no guidelines in the distribution of research methods as it always depends on the context. Often you only know which method dominates in the course of the research. I recommend using the mixed method approaches, especially in master’s theses. In the bachelor thesis, a literature analysis paired with a qualitative or quantitative method is often sufficient.

swell

Kuckartz, U. (2014). Mixed Methods . Heidelberg: Springer.

Smelt, S. (2015). Research-based learning at the European University of Flensburg – Survey methods . University publishing house: Flensburg.

Der Beitrag Mixed method approach in the thesis erschien zuerst auf agile Companies.

In the bachelor thesis, for example, you have to argue why you preferred an expert interview to the survey. Since your method does not, of course, reveal the entire knowledge on the topic, it should also be sensibly limited. In this article I show the advantages and disadvantages of each methodology.

Tip: Use the advantages to justify your choice and pack the disadvantages into the limitation of your work.

Literature analysis

Literature analyzes form the foundation of any research and summarize similar findings. It helps in understanding, structuring existing knowledge and finding research gaps.

Nevertheless, the following points should be limited:

• Novelty: Often literature analyzes only summarize existing knowledge and do not generate any new knowledge.
• Incompleteness: Depending on the procedure, you can only find part of the literature and you have to concentrate on certain papers as you cannot read all of them in full. They are always just a selection of findings.

Reading tip: Literature analysis

Expert interviews

The advantage of the method is the free and natural situation of the interviews. You can interpret results in depth with the test subjects and ask questions. They also control the interview situation and ensure that the test subject is not stressed, for example, and that statements are therefore to be interpreted differently. They also offer a high level of information through the detailed answers given by the test subjects.

Nevertheless, the following points should be limited:

• Social undesirability: test subjects can “beautiful” answers through the presence of the researcher
• Sampling: You only interview a small group and are therefore not very representative
• Subjectivity: The evaluation of the answers is subjective and can be interpreted in various ways

Reading tip: Expert interviews

Group discussion

The great advantage of the group discussion is that the interaction of the participants can lead to new insights (collective intelligence). You will find new perspectives and suggestions. You can also ask questions and get different perspectives on the same topic through the group.

Nevertheless, the following points should be limited:

• Frequent speakers: Individual frequent speakers can dominate and falsify the discussion
• Low representativeness: You only interview a small target group
• Evaluation: Due to the large number of opinions, it is difficult to present the group consensus.

Reading tip: Group discussion

Case study

Case studies present complex issues quickly and easily. You do not disturb processes or the natural situation. They therefore provide a detailed description of a complex individual case.

Nevertheless, the following points should be limited:

• Limited generalization: Often findings only apply to this case study
• Extreme cases or individual cases cannot be clearly identified: For example, did you happen to catch the only project of this type and it is otherwise not the case
• Subjective data: They represent the case study from your point of view or the observer and are therefore subjective

Reading tip: Case study

survey

The great advantage of surveys is that a large number of people can be reached quickly. In contrast to interviews, large amounts of data can be evaluated quickly. In addition, the questionnaire can be used to exclude the influence that the interviewer has on the test person (an interview usually makes test persons nervous).

Nevertheless, the following points should be limited:

• Insufficient control of the interview situation: You do not know whether the respondent is currently under stress or is just skimming the questions
• Honesty of the respondents: it could happen that questions are not answered completely honestly
• Different views on the question: each participant will interpret your questions differently
• Answers cannot be interpreted qualitatively: the results provide facts and data that should be interpreted using qualitative methods

Reading tip: survey

Reference modeling

Reference models simply represent complex issues and generalize them. Above all, they serve for a better understanding and transferability of complex issues.

Nevertheless, the following points should be limited:

• Transferability: The model cannot be used exactly as it is in every context. They do not give a ready-made solution scheme
• Abstraction: Often these models are very abstract and make no contribution to the solution, only to understanding

Reading tip: Reference modeling

Grounded Theory

The advantage of the methodology is the constant restructuring of research and the high level of applicability. It is therefore suitable for unknown research areas without much literature or a strong foundation (“grounding”).

Nevertheless, the following points should be limited:

• Depending on the researcher: As you work very freely, the evaluation depends on the researcher, as each researcher would evaluate the data differently. This methodology needs a very good researcher.
• Complexity: Due to the often fuzzy research topic, the results are usually only guidelines and so complex that they may still be very imprecise and further iterations are necessary.
• Binding: Due to the selected data sources, the grounded theory is bound to a certain social reality and is not transferable

Reading tip: Grounded Theory

Conclusion

It turns out that every research method has certain advantages and disadvantages. It is therefore important to select and limit this sensibly for good scientific work.

Reading tip: Build research design

Image source: School photo created by freepic.diller – de.freepik.com

Der Beitrag Advantages and disadvantages of research methods – limitations in the bachelor thesis erschien zuerst auf agile Companies.

I often get calls and inquiries for help for one Bachelor thesis in my telephone hours . I would therefore like to shed some light on the dark in this article.

Let’s be honest: The primary goal of the bachelor thesis is to learn something and to get the degree. You can still change the world afterwards in your doctorate.

Mistake 1: A bachelor thesis does not solve a practical problem or utopia

At the beginning, many of you spoke to a practice partner or supervisor and want to solve the following two categories of problems:

• A practical problem that is not academic (SAP implementation, Scrum implementation, evaluating software, …)
• Solve an absolute uptopia (scaling Scrum throughout the company, digitizing complete processes, …)

On the one hand, you should note that you are not solving a practical problem in a company, but rather questioning something such as the effect of Scrum on employee satisfaction or the introduction of software on productivity. The company’s employees and not science are responsible for such practical problems.

On the other hand, you shouldn’t try to work on unsolvable and unsolved problems of mankind, e.g. to scale Scrum into every corner of the company. You can do this if you want to win a Nobel Prize later.

Reading tip: Find topic

Mistake 2: A bachelor thesis is not a project

Furthermore, I often hear that students make an absolutely precise plan: I will read exactly that so that exactly that comes out and then I’ll be done. This is not science but project management. Science means questioning and an openness to the subject of research. You read literature openly and work out of these research gaps, which you question.

Tips: Literature analysis

A bachelor thesis conveys scientific working methods

Ultimately, you should learn how to deal with a topic structured according to scientific methods with openness. The aim is to expand the level of knowledge for the complex issue with the help of a research design. The results are therefore less important than the actual methodology, so that you do not work on a topic according to the scheme X as before, but learn to think complexly. It’s about an exercise and your first real scientific contribution.

Reading tip: Build research design

Example: watching a film via streaming service

I would like to use an example to illustrate both views. Imagine a scientist and a practitioner want to watch a film on the streaming service.

Example – scientific approach : The scientist asks himself whether streaming services really increase his satisfaction and asks the Internet and its environment. He carries out extensive comparisons and sets up criteria for the streaming service. The result is a large list of streaming services as well as questions and a questioning of what makes a good streaming service and which ones exist and which criteria make them up.

Example – practical approach: The practitioner reads such test reports or takes these criteria and simply watches the desired film on a service of his choice.

Conclusion

You notice that a bachelor thesis should help you to work on tasks scientifically and to work on finding solutions with foresight and structure. Take the chance and study the scientific method and mindset. It will help you throughout your life.

Image source: School photo created by mindandi – www.freepik.com

Der Beitrag What are the requirements for a bachelor thesis? erschien zuerst auf agile Companies.

The strength of case studies lies in the fact that complex processes and procedures within a company can be clearly illustrated and can be used as examples.

A point of criticism of a case study is often that general deductions from the individual case to the whole are not always possible or only possible under certain aspects. The reason for this is the strong contextual relevance to the respective case.

Types of case studies

There are two types of case studies. Case studies consider a case with a mostly critical, unique, typical or previously inaccessible nature over a longer period of time (Bodendorf et al. 2010). In doing so, you examine a company or a case very carefully and in detail. Often this is done in cooperation with just one practice partner.

The second case is the comparative case study. Comparative case studies have the advantage of critically illuminating the knowledge gained by looking at several cases in parallel and thereby discovering case-specific similarities and differences (Bodendorf et al. 2010). For example, it becomes clear how different companies use SAP or Scrum.

Tip: don’t forget yours Cleanly limit methodology.

Collect data and conduct a case study

The task now is to depict the case study through interviews or observation. If the project has already been completed, you can have the story of the project told you in 2-5 interviews. I recommend asking several roles, as this gives you a comprehensive view.

If the project is still ongoing and you are given permission to attend the project, have a piece of paper with you and write down your observations. These notes are attached to your work. So you write a kind of diary. Of course, this should be supplemented by interviews with the project managers. You should also try to take pictures if you get permission to do so.

Written down a case study

Now it is time to write down the case study. Remember: you are not writing a novel, you are still writing a factual report, which does not have to mean that it is boring. However, you should avoid saying: “It was a mild summer morning and the project manager is on his way to the next meeting”. Instead, stay objective and describe the following points:

• event : When and where does the case study take place and how why did the project start? Eg project with Scrum due to a new customer
• person : Which people and roles were there in the case study and what is their relevance? e.g. Scrum Master, Product Owner, …
• place : What are the characteristics of this place and is it relevant to the case study? e.g. New Work Office or Open Space
• phenomenon : Are there cause-and-effect relationships in the case study? Eg introduction of a daily led to better communication in the project

Furthermore, I generally recommend illustrations and, in any case, a schedule of the case study. This greatly helps the reader to better understand the case study.

Evaluation of the case study

Now it is important to derive meaningful results from the existing case study. There are numerous approaches to this. On the one hand, you might ask yourself: What approaches are there in the literature on your topic and which have been implemented? or even simpler: What best practices or tips can you derive from the case study?

You can also derive hypotheses based on the case study and then evaluate them using interviews or surveys.

Conclusion

A case study has the strength in the detailed presentation of an individual case and is often exciting for the practitioner and scientist to read. Interesting impulses relating to the research question can be derived from the case study. A case study is therefore ideally suited to take a detailed look at phenomena from practice.

School photo created by freepik – www.freepik.com

Bodendorf, F., Löffler, C., & Hofmann, J. (2010). Research methods in business informatics. business Informatics , (1), 1-44.

Der Beitrag Case study methodology tips erschien zuerst auf agile Companies.

Hypotheses

Theses are not subject to any specific set of rules and are therefore vaguely defined. In science, however, one uses the hypothesis which is more specifically defined and creates a connection between at least two variables. Examples are:

• Agile companies generate more sales than traditional companies.
• With Scrum, work results can be achieved faster than with Kanban.
• Employees in agile teams require less salary than employees in traditional teams.

You will notice that I always put 2 variables in context. You have the following options for deriving hypotheses in your thesis:

• Formulate hypotheses at the beginning of a thesis
• Derive hypotheses from the literature analysis

Hypotheses have the advantage that they are easy to derive and even easier to evaluate using academic methods. In doing so, you collect targeted data on the selected hypothesis. The result of a thesis is then always the valid hypotheses. I would like to give two examples of this.

Reading tip: Difference between qualitative and quantitative research

Example 1: quantitative thesis

In the first example, let’s take a thesis with a literature analysis and a classic online survey, which you evaluate statistically. You have 10 questions that ask a project manager about the importance of online tools.

Now it’s very simple: take your hypotheses and break them down into variables. You query these variables individually and check afterwards in a correlation analysis whether they are true or not. The advantage is that you substantiate each hypothesis with concrete figures. There are two examples below:

• Hypothesis 1: Younger managers are better trained in using agile methods.
• Question 1.1: How old is your current manager (19-35, 35-45, 45-67)?
• Question 1.2: How do you rate your manager’s level of knowledge of agile methods (scale 1-5)?
• Correlation: Check whether all participants who have stated that they have a manager under the age of 35 also state that they have know-how on agility
• (at least 4).
• Hypothesis 2: Video conferences are suitable for virtual project teams for handing over large task packages.
• Question 2.1: Which virtual tools do you use when handing over large task packages?
• Question 2.2: How satisfied are you with these tools?
• Correlation: Check whether participants who chose video conferencing in question 1 also rated it as good in question 2.

Reading tip: survey

Example 2: Qualitative thesis

If you should do a qualitative check of the hypotheses, then it is also quite easy. Simply take your hypotheses as questions and ask the experts for an assessment. The advantage of this methodology is that you examine each hypothesis in greater depth. Always ask: Do you agree with this hypothesis and give reasons for your answer.

Reading tip: Expert interviews

Recommendations for action

Recommendations for action are advice derived from the data of the thesis. These are usually aimed at practitioners and are intended to help with everyday life in companies. The advantage is that this is especially useful for questions about: “ What did you find out in your thesis? “help as well as are a compact overview for practitioners.

I very often give recommendations for action in my studies and papers. I do notice, however, that this procedure is also very controversial. On the one hand, some are completely convinced of it and other academics are not. The reason is that recommendations for action are often vague. I therefore recommend discussing this with your supervisor.

Ideally, you can easily derive recommendations for action from your confirmed hypotheses. For example, if two variables are correct, then you have a recommendation for action. If you have found out, for example, that the participants like to use Scrum Teams for projects with a volume of more than 5 million euros, you can derive a recommendation for action from this. This is the easy case. I would like to give another example of recommendations for action without hypotheses.

Example: Deriving recommendations for action at the end of the work

Let’s assume that you are writing a thesis on the influence of agility on project success. You read literature and spoke to 5 experts whether the findings from the literature can also be used in day-to-day project work. Now you have to convert the results into concrete recommendations for action.

First of all, check whether statements from the practice partners can be converted directly into tips. For example, an expert says: “ We always use Scrum for remote projects because control is only possible on a task-related basis anyway “. An initial recommendation for action can be derived from this.

Look further if certain variables can be drawn from your interview questions. If, for example, you have asked about stumbling blocks or obstacles in projects, these are usually followed by recommendations for action or if something was denied by the majority of the participants, this has the potential for a recommendation to avoid something. Examples of such statements are:

• We mostly use Kanban in our company because Scrum is too extensive for us (best practice).
• We often have longer conversations via email and there is often a lot of arguments (stumbling block).

Tip: If you have still started your work, I recommend working with hypotheses and deriving recommendations for action from them. Otherwise they generalize individual statements about what is contestable.

Frameworks

The primary purpose of creating a framework is to visually represent complex issues. So it’s a kind of orientation, for example in organizational development. The conception of a framework is a research method and is called Reference modeling.

Usually you take existing hypotheses or data from which you build a framework. This also visualizes the facts again and is particularly worthwhile for facts that are difficult to explain. Examples of well-known agile frameworks are for example:

• LeSS Framework
• SAFe Framework
• Spotify model
• Scrum
• Scrum of Scrums

Tip: Frameworks don’t always have to be pure images. Text constructs such as Porter’s Five Forces or the SWOT analysis be.

Example: My agile framework

In my study on agility, I examined how agility can be increased in a classic SME. More information on the specific content of the framework is available in Article on Roundtable 2.

Important: Always limit the fact that your reference model is always only a ready-made solution scheme for a possible situation in reality and is therefore not always unreservedly valid in practice.

For the conception of a reference model, the practical problem is first of all recorded, a frame of reference is formed and then the solution to the problem is presented. In my model, the research question is taken as a practical problem: How can agility be increased in an SME?

I took a fictitious SME as a frame of reference. Last but not least, I implemented the participants’ recommendations for action into the framework. Examples are: central services with little agility and small agile units (startups).

Conclusion

Which result you ultimately want to draw in your work is up to you and depends on the research question. In most cases, I recommend relying on hypotheses or, if possible, on recommendations for action (be sure to ask the supervisor beforehand), as these are valuable for the practice and you could enclose an application or with me in Can post blog.

If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call. To do this, simply look in the booking system for a free appointment . I take a few hours every month to help students.

Image source: Pixabay

Lindner, D., & Leyh, C. (2018). Organizations in Transformation: Agility as Consequence or Prerequisite of Digitization? BT – Business Information Systems. In W. Abramowicz & A. Paschke (Eds.) (Pp. 86-101). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Der Beitrag Results of a thesis – theses, recommendations for action and frameworks erschien zuerst auf agile Companies.

• introduction to the topic
• Motivation on the subject
• Definition and explanation
• Current figures and reference to the topic
• Existing knowledge on the topic
• Criticism and Research Gap
• Approach of the work and expected results

Download tip: Example of a good introduction

introduction to the topic

With the first sentence you pick up the reader. Imagine that the reader has just cleaned their apartment and is now reading your work. So mentally he is still on another topic. This first sentence is therefore very important.

Example 1: Agility is on everyone’s lips as a way of working in companies and it is a sustainable way of working.

Example 2: The so-called digitization is a mega-trend of the current business world and is taken into account by almost all companies in their strategy development.

Motivation on the subject

Now it is important to show the reader that your topic is also important for our world. List the potentials of the topic and motivate the reader to deal with the topic.

example : Bachelor thesis on chatbots: There are many cases in which bots can support companies. With chatbots it is possible to record data faster than anyone or to provide answers to questions from large databases. They are available 24/7 and allow unlimited customer support.

Definition and explanation

In this section you explain important terms that are necessary for your work. It is enough if you only briefly define them in one sentence so that the reader knows what you are talking about. For example, if you were working on organizational agility, you would briefly define both terms.

Example: An organization describes the functionality of an institution or similar. serving[planmäßige] Composition, structure and nature ( Gabler Lexicon ).

Current figures and reference to the topic

Now you show that your topic is also relevant and important. Have a look in the latest media or on Google: Are there current events or statistics on your topic?

Example 1: Bachelor thesis on the topic of car sharing: The topic of car sharing is currently of great importance. For example, Volkswagen recently set up its own service in Berlin with WeShare started.

Example 2: Bachelor thesis on the Scrum Master: The Scrum Master profession is becoming more and more important in Germany. Every year 60,000 to 100,000 new Scrum Masters are trained by the Scrum Alliance and a total of 245,000 Scrum Master certifications were awarded by Scrum.org this year.

Existing knowledge on the topic

Now it is important to briefly and concisely show the reader the current state of knowledge from science. They prove that their topic is relevant and that other authors are also dealing with it. To do this, look for current studies and explain them in 2-3 sentences. I recommend mentioning 3-5 studies. See my for more information Article on literature analysis.

example : There are already numerous studies on the digitization of SMEs. For example already has Lindner (2019) through five group discussions demonstrated that SMEs tend to digitize in a wait-and-see manner and gradually. Also Bley and Leyh (2016) surveyed 2,300 SMEs from the Dresden region and concluded that the focus is on internal standard processes such as accounting.

Criticism and Research Gap

Now it is time to show what you would like to research. What did the other authors forget or ignore? I have shown exactly how to proceed in another article: Find a topic for a thesis. I also recommend formulating the research question in this paragraph.

Example 1: All authors mentioned have dealt with the introduction of agile methods regardless of the industry. It can therefore not be assumed that all recommendations also apply to the banking industry. With this work I would like to close this gap and dedicate myself to the following research question: Which recommendations regarding agility can banks be given?

Important : Many of you confuse the reader in this paragraph with a different research question about the title. The title and research question should be the same. I give two examples:

• Agility in banks – an empirical study — Which agility recommendations can banks be given?
• Digitization of management consultancy – a case study — How can digitization look using the example of management consultancy?

You notice that the title and research question are the same. In the second example, it is even noted that the case study relates to advice and the first example gives general tips for all banks.

Procedure and result

Now explain the procedure and the result that the reader can expect. This will help the reader understand what to expect and what steps to take. Don’t forget to highlight the benefit of your results. I also like to share the advantages and show what scientists (input for further research) and practitioners (recommendations for action) get out of it.

Example procedure: In this work, the current state of knowledge is summarized with the help of a literature analysis and evaluated for relevance through interviews with experts.

Example result: The result of the work are recommendations for action for the implementation of agile methods in the company. With the help of the recommendations, work with agile methods can be made more efficient.

Conclusion

An introduction is the most important part of a paper and the reader decides whether he really wants to read the paper or not. It is therefore important to invest a little more time in this. The length of an introduction is often 2-3 pages.

Download tip: Example of a good introduction

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Der Beitrag Thesis: Tips for introduction and expose erschien zuerst auf agile Companies.

Tip: You should roughly know in which direction you want to go, eg big data, agility, etc. If you don’t already know, then take a look at mine Topic areas for digitization as inspiration.

Requirement: existing literature

In the academy you always build your knowledge on other studies (existing knowledge). So to do this you need to find other studies first. It is not or hardly possible to research a topic freely without literature in the thesis. You can do that if you later want to win the Nobel Prize but first dedicate yourself to your thesis for us. If you do want to try it, take a look at my article on Grounded Theory .

So let’s stay with the standard case that you base your topic on literature. Look up academic databases using various search terms and try to find papers which roughly do what you want to do. I recommend the databases Sciencedirekt, Emerald, Google Scholar and Springerlink. The papers should have the following properties (I like to call them mother papers):

• The papers are published in academic journals (no specialist articles)
• The papers are exciting in your eyes
• the papers are still quite new (maximum 2-3 years old)
• I recommend 3-5 papers (my doctoral thesis had 4)

Reading tip: Find mother paper

Now take all of these papers and throw them in a pot. Then stir vigorously and you have a topic! Is it that easy? You will quickly find out that it is not! For this reason, I am now giving you three options for creating a topic from the 3-5 studies selected.

Limitation : I think that it is not that critical in the thesis and that you can choose the papers yourself. If you do research at the highest scientific level, you have to show precisely: Why did I choose these three studies and not three others? For example, I did a complete preliminary study to find my mother paper. However, this is not required in a thesis. You are welcome to add 2-3 sentences to the introduction, why you find these 3-5 studies so exciting.

Possibility 1: “think it up yourself”

The most common possibility is that students want to think of the topic themselves. This is usually very difficult and a tough discipline even for experienced scientists. But you can proceed quite simply: Read the outlook of the selected studies. Scientists are always encouraged to give an outlook on further research at the end of the study. Look what they recommend. If e.g. three studies say: please research work 4.0 in SMEs, then it would be great if someone, for example you, did that.

This procedure in the figure above is quite normal and is mostly used in science. You look for various studies that you like and see what is recommended in the outlook.

More specifically, I would like to give an example: If one study recommends examining the effects of executives on agile teams and another the use of software on executives, you can mix a topic. I could imagine that this could be used to examine how executives can use software to lead agile teams in the long term.

Danger : Be careful, however, to keep the mix meaningful. I often experience that the current state of knowledge is mixed up rather vaguely and that your thesis does not continue the current state of knowledge but explores something in between.

Option 2: continue a study

A second option is for you to continue a single study. This gives you the advantage that you only have to read the outlook for the various studies. See what the studies recommend to other researchers. For example, in my study on leadership, I recommend that the results can be deepened by means of an expert interview, or in my study on Work 4.0 that you can now also check the results from the point of view of building concepts and agility.

You are building your study directly on top of another study. I did this in my doctoral thesis and generated new knowledge in a very simple way. You thereby expand the current state of knowledge. Another advantage is that you can write to the author of the publication and hope for knowledge and coaching.

Reading tip: Procedure for my doctoral thesis

Option 3: Examine a study differently

A final and fairly easy option is for you to redo an existing study. The big advantage here is that you only have to change a few things. There are three ways of thinking:

• You believe that methodology of the study and check that the same results are obtained if the results are the same.
• You believe that Results Do not fail of the study and do the same research using a different method.
• You don’t think that General results are and re-run the results for a specific group or industry.

You can compare it a little with a cooking recipe. You doubt that the promised food will come out of the ingredients, which you currently have on your plate and cook it to be on the safe side (result) or you believe that you should proceed differently for preparation (method). You can change the ingredients or the method of cooking, for example a little more salt or another ingredient can improve the dish. Furthermore, you can, for example. If you have a pudding recipe, you doubt that this only applies to vanilla pudding and not to chocolate pudding.

Now you would like to know how exactly to carry out a study again. There are a few ways to do this, which I will list below:

• You change the research method (e.g. questioning instead of interviews)
• You change the target group (e.g. SME managers instead of project managers)
• You carry out the research methods slightly differently (e.g. new interview questions)

You do not expand the current state of knowledge, but consolidate the knowledge and secure it. You can also continue to hope for information from the author of the selected study. Perhaps he already has ideas on how his study can be redesigned. Using the example of my publications, my tips would be:

• Repeat execution my study on digital leadership with the help of interviews instead of a survey
• Another implementation my study on work 4.0 with the help of expert interviews or a survey
• Another implementation my study on agility . You check again whether agility is still a prerequisite for digitization.

Reading tip: qualitative and quantitative research

Conclusion

Finding a topic for the thesis is not as difficult as you might think. It is important to proceed systematically and to work slowly on the basis of selected studies. Make a decision as to whether existing results should be checked again or based on them. In the next step, build your research design around the topic you have found!

Reading tip: Build research design

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Der Beitrag Finding a topic for your thesis – these are the possibilities! erschien zuerst auf agile Companies.