Advanced HCI qualitative research methods

Course goals

At successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

1. design and conduct qualitative HCI user studies
   1. define research questions
   2. critically evaluate, select and conduct appropriate qualitative methods for HCI research, such as contextual inquiry, diary studies, interviews, focus groups, surveys, observational methods, expert evaluation methods, guerilla testing, creative problem solving methods, mixed methods
   3. select an appropriate sampling method for qualitative HCI studies
   4. perform qualitative research in specific domains such as intelligent user interfaces and voice interaction systems, recommender systems and decision support systems, personal informatics systems, persuasive technology and human-centred AI.
2. analyze qualitative data
   1. understand the principles, advantages and disadvantages of grounded theory
   2. apply closed and open coding and perform thematic analysis
   3. determine validity and reliability
   4. use qualitative data analysis packages such as NVivo
   5. visualize qualitative data
3. report on the design and results of qualitative studies
4. consider the ethics, bias, data protection and privacy issues related to HCI research
   1. ensure informed consent for user studies
   2. be aware of bias in research methods
5. contribute to the scientific community and society as a qualitative HCI researcher
   1. write and review academic papers on qualitative HCI research
   2. communicate qualitative HCI research and its value to non-academic audiences and stakeholders
   3. co-organize scientific/outreach events about HCI research and present at such events

Assessment
This course has coursework only; there is no exam.

The assessment will contain the following elements:

• qualitative study design (25% of the final mark)
• qualitative study execution and data analysis plan (25%)
• academic paper (30%)
• organization of and participation in scientific event (20%)

The first three are done in pairs (or a trio), the last one is done mainly individually.

To qualify for a repair of the final result the mark needs to be at least a 4, or “AANV”.

Content

This course will cover

• qualitative HCI research methods
• analysis of qualitative data
• reporting of HCI qualitative studies
• ethics, bias, data protection and privacy issues related to HCI research

Course form
Qualitative research and data analysis methods for HCI will be taught in the context of real HCI research problems.
Short lectures will be alternated with hands-on learning