Beyond the Qualitative/Quantitative Split: Alternate Forms of Research in the Information Space

Description Within information schools, multidisciplinarity has most typically meant the extension of “information science” to include social science, and the use of qualitative as well as quantitative research methods. The ultimate goal of research, as presented, for example, in research methods courses, is generalizable and predictive knowledge. There is also an emphasis on research that has clear practical implications. The University of Washington’s iSchool, for example, concludes its mission statement by declaring that “we make information work,” which implies that information research must go beyond mere understanding of how “information works” and into application, or making it work. Other mission statements also support this implied notion. U.C. Berkeley’s mission statement asserts that the school “pioneers solutions,” and the University of Michigan states that its research is intended to “[unify] human-centered design approaches and sophisticated technologies.”