methodology

The last couple of months have been difficult as I have tried to focus on the problem of satisfactory testing the Project Information Cloud concept. This process has required I nail down my aim and hypothesis so that whatever methodology was decided on would ensure the overall ambitions and specific requirements of the thesis were met. Initially my aim focused on improving the access, timeliness and relevance of the information available to project participants however this posed problems around the semantics and testability of ‘relevance’. Relevance can mean many things to many people and is also dependent on time. Something relevant to me now may not be relevant later but that same thing could be very relevant to you later on but of completely no value at the present. Consequently determining a reasonable and sound methodology for testing relevance was proving to be difficult.

I am stuck fleshing out my methodology, the idea is there but I have 'methodology block', probably more from aprehension than any real reason. I know I am going to create a prototype system for use in the BBSc303 course and perform some case studies of selected architecture practice projects. My main problem areas are how exactly will the prototype be tested and how will these case studies provide for generalisation of information needs rather than just highlighting unique events within a particular project. Consequently I have been trying to find useful stuff to help me out. A few things I have found so far are:

Writing and Presenting your Dissertation - S. Joseph Levine, Ph.D. (PDF Version)

Choosing your research methods wisely - Lea Winerman

An overview of qualitiative research methods

On a different tangent was this crazy site that appeared on the side of most of my Google searches. It is very crazy to think someone has made a business out of mass-producing papers for lazy students.

Last Tuesday Mike and I met for a discussion on things. I was meaning to put an overview of what we talked about online sooner but it slipped my mind. Actually a far more interesting thing entered it - the home theatre system I bought the next day...

For the most part we discussed how the concept of 'rich and unobstructive' connections could be made a reality. Definitely the 'tagging' concept so well implemented in systems like Flickr would be a real benefit in such a system especially when it comes to the difficult task of categorising resources (text, images and CAD files) for searching. The ability for users to easy tag resources (be it theirs or others) would enable a degree of human searching not present in a contemporary model. Once use instance of this could be the client tagging product fittings they like and then having the architect place style tags next to them (i.e. postmodern, classic). Using these tags you could then pull slices out of the conceptual work such as 'classic, low-cost fittings that we (as in the client and architect) like'. Alternatively in a construction scenario the ability for the contractor to tag documents pertanent to a specific contractor would ease some documentation headaches (if I change this drawing who will be effected?).