Interest in the problem of method biases has a long history in the behavioral sciences. Despite this, a comprehensive summary of the potential sources of method biases and how to control for them does not exist. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine the extent to which method biases influence behavioral research results, identify potential sources of method biases, discuss the cognitive processes through which method biases influence responses to measures, evaluate the many different procedural and statistical techniques that can be used to control method biases, and provide recommendations for how to select appropriate procedural and statistical remedies for different types of research settings.

/pdf/common-method-biases-in-behavioral-research-a-critical-53ocysaemj.pdf

Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies.

Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques

Machine Learning is the study of methods for programming computers to learn. Computers are applied to a wide range of tasks, and for most of these it is relatively easy for programmers to design and implement the necessary software. However, there are many tasks for which this is difficult or impossible. These can be divided into four general categories. First, there are problems for which there exist no human experts. For example, in modern automated manufacturing facilities, there is a need to predict machine failures before they occur by analyzing sensor readings. Because the machines are new, there are no human experts who can be interviewed by a programmer to provide the knowledge necessary to build a computer system. A machine learning system can study recorded data and subsequent machine failures and learn prediction rules. Second, there are problems where human experts exist, but where they are unable to explain their expertise. This is the case in many perceptual tasks, such as speech recognition, hand-writing recognition, and natural language understanding. Virtually all humans exhibit expert-level abilities on these tasks, but none of them can describe the detailed steps that they follow as they perform them. Fortunately, humans can provide machines with examples of the inputs and correct outputs for these tasks, so machine learning algorithms can learn to map the inputs to the outputs. Third, there are problems where phenomena are changing rapidly. In finance, for example, people would like to predict the future behavior of the stock market, of consumer purchases, or of exchange rates. These behaviors change frequently, so that even if a programmer could construct a good predictive computer program, it would need to be rewritten frequently. A learning program can relieve the programmer of this burden by constantly modifying and tuning a set of learned prediction rules. Fourth, there are applications that need to be customized for each computer user separately. Consider, for example, a program to filter unwanted electronic mail messages. Different users will need different filters. It is unreasonable to expect each user to program his or her own rules, and it is infeasible to provide every user with a software engineer to keep the rules up-to-date. A machine learning system can learn which mail messages the user rejects and maintain the filtering rules automatically. Machine learning addresses many of the same research questions as the fields of statistics, data mining, and psychology, but with differences of emphasis. Statistics focuses on understanding the phenomena that have generated the data, often with the goal of testing different hypotheses about those phenomena. Data mining seeks to find patterns in the data that are understandable by people. Psychological studies of human learning aspire to understand the mechanisms underlying the various learning behaviors exhibited by people (concept learning, skill acquisition, strategy change, etc.).

Machine learning

This study examines the relationship between use of Facebook, a popular online social network site, and the formation and maintenance of social capital. In addition to assessing bonding and bridging social capital, we explore a dimension of social capital that assesses one’s ability to stay connected with members of a previously inhabited community, which we call maintained social capital. Regression analyses conducted on results from a survey of undergraduate students (N = 286) suggest a strong association between use of Facebook and the three types of social capital, with the strongest relationship being to bridging social capital. In addition, Facebook usage was found to interact with measures of psychological well-being, suggesting that it might provide greater benefits for users experiencing low self-esteem and low life satisfaction.

/pdf/the-benefits-of-facebook-friends-social-capital-and-college-2j90l44gqu.pdf

The Benefits of Facebook “Friends:” Social Capital and College Students’ Use of Online Social Network Sites

This paper differs from previous examinations of organizational learning in that it is broader in scope and more evaluative of the literatures. Four constructs related to organizational learning knowledge acquisition, information distribution, information interpretation, and organizational memory are articulated, and the literatures related to each are described and critiqued.

The literature on knowledge acquisition is voluminous and multi-faceted, and so the knowledge acquisition construct is portrayed here as consisting of five subconstructs or subprocesses: 1 drawing on knowledge available at the organization's birth, 2 learning from experience, 3 learning by observing other organizations, 4 grafting on to itself components that possess knowledge needed but not possessed by the organization, and 5 noticing or searching for information about the organization's environment and performance. Examination of the related literatures indicates that much has been learned about learning from experience, but also that there is a lack of cumulative work and a lack of integration of work from different research groups. Similarly, much has been learned about organizational search, but there is a lack of conceptual work, and there is a lack of both cumulative work and syntheses with which to create a more mature literature. Congenital learning, vicarious learning, and grafting are information acquisition subprocesses about which relatively little has been learned.

The literature concerning information distribution is rich and mature, but an aspect of information distribution that is central to an organization's benefitting from its learning, namely how units that possess information and units that need this information can find each other quickly and with a high likelihood, is unexplored. Information interpretation, as an organizational process, rather than an individual process, requires empirical work for further advancement. Organizational memory is much in need of systematic investigation, particularly by those whose special concerns are improving organizational learning and decision making.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2634941.pdf

Organizational Learning: The Contributing Processes and the Literatures

K e y w o r d s computer forms, computer interviews, electronic surveys, measurement, disclosure, response bias, electronic

Self disclosure on computer forms: meta-analysis and implications

Despite advances in technology, nearly everyone experiences technical challenges using home computers and the Internet. In a field trial of household Internet usage, 89% of 93 families needed support from a computer help desk in the 1st year they used the Internet. However, usually only the most technically involved members of the family requested external technical support, and this behavior was associated with other computer-related behaviors in the household. We explore the process by which a family member with comparatively high technical skill or enthusiasm, often a teenager, becomes the family guru, makes external support requests, and becomes the person in the family to whom others turn for technical help. The family guru benefits from this role, influences the household's adoption of technology, and represents an important link between households and computer support professionals. The role also is a fascinating example of the evolution of intergeneration relationships.

Troubles with the internet: the dynamics of help at home

Since the mid-1990s, teenagers have migrated from email and chat rooms to instant messaging (IM). We observed this change in data from 60 interviews with teens and their families conducted from 1996 to 2002 and a national survey of teenagers in 2002. We examined the content of conversations, communication partners, and conversation multitasking. While using IM, teens mainly talk to friends from daily life and rarely with those they met online. In terms of both partners and content, IM conversations are more like face-to-face visits than email exchanges. Teens engage in IM to be “with” friends. Conversations often consist of inconsequential small talk, but can offer opportunities for more substantial social support. Despite these similarities, teens report they enjoy IM conversations far less than they enjoy face-to-face visits and phone conversations. We offer some design recommendations focused on the integration of IM-like interactions with other online and real world communication.

Teenage communication in the instant messaging era.

Disasters are threatening and highly dynamic situations, marked by high levels of information need and low levels of information availability. Advances in communication technologies have given people more ways to seek information and communicate—a redundancy that can help people cope with disaster situations and support subsequent recovery. This article presents results from a longitudinal study of New Orleans musicians in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The authors found that in the immediate aftermath, musicians used cell phones and the Internet to locate family and friends and obtain information unavailable in broadcast news reports. Seeking and redistributing information resulted in the creation or discovery of online spaces that became virtual instantiations of the physical environments from which the musicians were barred. For those who had to leave New Orleans, these online spaces helped them maintain connection with their local communities. As recovery continued, many musicians discontinued or...

Technology Adoption and Use in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans

A random sample survey of an online self-help group for people with hearing loss was conducted. Two factors predicted active participation in the group: a lack of real-world social support and being comparatively effective (having less disability, coping more effectively, and using real-world professional services). More active participation in the group was associated with more benefits from the group and stronger reports of community orientation. The authors also found evidence that integration of online and real-world support (if it existed) benefited participants. That is, if supportive family and friends in the real world shared the online group with participants, participants reported above average benefits, whereas if supportive family and friends were uninvolved in the online group, participants reported below average benefits. One of the best parts of Beyond Hearing is talking to the few friends I have on the list who I know off list .... That opinion was offered to us by a member of an Internet support group for people with hearing loss. If the statement seems incongruous, it is probably because today’s dominant narrative about social support on the Internet focuses on its value when real-world support is unavailable (see Davison, Pennebaker, & Dickerson, 2000; Galegher, Sproull, & Kiesler, 1998; McKenna & Bargh, 1998; Mickelson, 1997). In this article, we draw on theory from the field of social network analysis to explore the role of Internet support versus real-world support. We use empirical evidence from a random sample survey and follow-up survey of an online discussion group for people with hearing loss. We show that although compensatory online support is associated with benefits in this group, leveraged online support—a mixing of real world and online support—is associated with even more benefits.

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~kiesler/publications/PDFs/2002Cummings-BeyondHearing.pdf

Sara Kiesler

Papers

Self disclosure on computer forms: meta-analysis and implications

Troubles with the internet: the dynamics of help at home

Teenage communication in the instant messaging era.

Technology Adoption and Use in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans

Beyond hearing: Where the real-world and online support meet.