Nordic Research School in Library and Information Science

Research design II: Methods for studying information behaviour

Purpose of the course/workshop:
Selecting an appropriate research methodology for empirically founded doctoral dissertation work is one of the key decisions for novice researchers. The decision of what research methodology or approach to apply, and why, is important especially since there are nowadays several alternative perspectives to apply in information studies. Thus, the choice spans from hard, statistical methodologies (e.g., empirical IR research in laboratory settings) to soft, analytic methodologies (e.g., discourse analysis) through alternatives in between (e.g., empirical IR involving actual users and information seeking in real life work settings). The present research course addresses this issue by presenting various methodologies and the underlying motivations for their use.

Doctoral research courses and workshops have proven to be excellent means for sharing the Nordic mentoring expertise and creating contacts between doctoral students and senior researchers. Hence, a primary goal of the research course is to provide the doctoral students with a forum in which to present their research projects and to discuss with senior researchers and fellow students the range of appropriate methodologies available.

The research course will be based upon a mixture of lectures given by senior researchers and presentations of research projects by the research students. The lecturers involved will have recent experiences of various methods in the field. Altogether there will be 7-9 Nordic and international senior researchers invited to give lectures on specific methodologies. A required reading list will be sent to participants with the note of acceptance.

Main responsible person:
Assoc. Professor Nils Pharo (Oslo) - homepage

Course organizers/lecturers (tentative):
Assoc. Professor Niels Ole Pors (Copenhagen) - homepage
Assoc. Professor Pia Borlund - (Aalborg) homepage
Assoc. Professor Katriina Byström (Borås) - homepage
Assoc. Professor Ragnar Nordlie

Location:
Oslo University College, Faculty of Journalism, Library and Information Science, P.O. Box 4 St. Olavs plass, N-0130 Oslo, +47 22 45 26 00, http://www.hio.no/content/view/full/6728

Time:
October 23-28, 2004

Accommodation
A limited number of rooms are reserved at a local guesthouse.

Application deadline:
2004, September 1

Credits:
NORSLIS recommends 7.5ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) for our research courses.
Note: Final credits are decided by the person in charge of the local Ph.D. program.

How to apply:
Research students are required to submit a five-page abstract (approx. 2500 words) of their PhD research topic, including research questions and the methodological issues of the research project. The application should also include a brief CV. This information will be used for selection purposes.

The application should be electronically submitted by September 1st, 2004 in either Word or RTF-format to Nils Pharo at nils.pharo@jbi.hio.no. The application must contain the following information:
Name of course/workshop:
Last name:
First name:
Birth date:
Male/female:
E-mail address:
Estimated travel costs:
Name of supervisor:
Supervisor's e-mail address:

Participation is primarily reserved for Ph.D. students registred at one of the 15 NORSLIS departments. Provided that there is room for more participants, Ph.D. students from outside the NORSLIS departments, as well as researchers and lecturers at the NORSLIS departments, may participate. However, travel and accommodation costs cannot be financed by NORSLIS for these two groups.

Reimbursement of travel and accomodation costs

Link to the homepage of the course/workshop