Research Methods in Information Studies
Researchers in the field of information studies investigate information systems and services to understand how people use them and to discover better designs for those systems and services. The research questions addressed are wide-ranging, and they evolve as information systems and services change. To meet the challenge of these many research questions, investigators have borrowed and adapted techniques from many other fields of science. These methods, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, offer a range of insights into information systems and services, the people who use them, and the intellectual and cultural content that they preserve. Research in information studies can be divided into three categories:(1) research into information interactions, using methods drawn from the social sciences, (2) research into cultural history, using methods from the humanities, and (3) information technology research and development, using methods from science and engineering.
Information Interaction
Information systems are developed for people who interact with them to search for, evaluate, and employ information. The interactions of users with information systems, and the factors that influence those interactions, are important focuses of information studies research.Researchers ask a variety of questions about information interactions, and they base these questions in a variety of perspectives drawn from the social sciences.
