Information Gathering
Methods
Interactive Methods to Elicit
Human Information Requirements
• Interviewing
• Questionnaires
• Observing
• Studying business documents
• Joint Application Design (JAD)
Major Topics
• Interviewing
• Interview preparation
• Question types
• Arranging questions
• The interview report
• Questionnaires
• Writing questions
• Using scales
• Design
• Administering
• Joint Application Design (JAD)
• Involvement
• Location
Interviewing
• Interviewing is an important method for
collecting data on human and system
information requirements.
• Interviews reveal information about:
• Interviewee opinions
• Interviewee feelings
• Goals
Interview Preparation
• Reading background material
• Establishing interview objectives
• Deciding whom to interview
• Preparing the interviewee
• Deciding on question types and
structure
Question Types
• Open-ended
• Closed
Open-Ended Questions
• Open-ended interview questions allow
interviewees to respond how they wish,
and to what length they wish.
• Open-ended interview questions are
appropriate when the analyst is
interested in breadth and depth of
reply.
Advantages of Open-Ended
Questions
• Puts the interviewee at ease
• Allows the interviewer to pick up on
the interviewee’s vocabulary
• Provides richness of detail
• Reveals avenues of further
questioning that may have gone
untapped
Advantages of Open-Ended
Questions (Continued)
• Provides more interest for the
interviewee
• Allows more spontaneity
• Makes phrasing easier for the
interviewer
• Useful if the interviewer is
unprepared
Disadvantages of Open-Ended
Questions
• May result in too much irrelevant detail
• Possibly losing control of the interview
• May take too much time for the amount
of useful information gained
• Potentially seeming that the interviewer
is unprepared
• Possibly giving the impression that the
interviewer is on a “fishing expedition”
Closed Interview Questions
• Closed interview questions limit the
number of possible responses.
• Closed interview questions are
appropriate for generating precise,
reliable data that is easy to analyze.
• The methodology is efficient, and it
requires little skill for interviewers to
administer.
Benefits of Closed Interview
Questions
• Saving interview time
• Easily comparing interviews
• Getting to the point
• Keeping control of the interview
• Covering a large area quickly
• Getting to relevant data
Disadvantages of Closed
Interview Questions
• Boring for the interviewee
• Failure to obtain rich detailing
• Missing main ideas
• Failing to build rapport between
interviewer and interviewee
Attributes of Open-Ended and
Closed Questions (Figure 4.5)
Bipolar Questions
• Bipolar questions are those that may be
answered with a “yes” or “no” or
“agree” or “disagree.”
• Bipolar questions should be used
sparingly.
Probes
• Probing questions elicit more detail
about previous questions.
• The purpose of probing questions is:
• To get more meaning
• To clarify
• To draw out and expand on the
interviewee’s point
• May be either open-ended or closed
Arranging Questions
• Pyramid
• Starting with closed questions and working toward
open-ended questions
• Funnel
• Starting with open-ended questions and working
toward closed questions
• Diamond
• Starting with closed, moving toward open-ended,
and ending with closed questions
Pyramid Structure
• Begins with very detailed, often closed
questions
• Expands by allowing open-ended
questions and more generalized
responses
• Is useful if interviewees need to be
warmed up to the topic or seem
reluctant to address the topic
Pyramid Structure for Interviewing Goes from
Specific to General Questions (Figure 4.7 )
Funnel Structure
• Begins with generalized, open-ended
questions
• Concludes by narrowing the possible
responses using closed questions
• Provides an easy, nonthreatening way
to begin an interview
• Is useful when the interviewee feels
emotionally about the topic
Funnel Structure for Interviewing Begins with
Broad Questions then Funnels to Specific
Questions (Figure 4.8)
Diamond Structure
• A diamond-shaped structure begins in a
very specific way.
• Then more general issues are examined
• Concludes with specific questions
• Combines the strength of both the
pyramid and funnel structures
• Takes longer than the other structures
Diamond-Shaped Structure for Interviewing
Combines the Pyramid and Funnel Structures
(Figure 4.9)
Closing the Interview
• Always ask “Is there anything else that
you would like to add?”
• Summarize and provide feedback on
your impressions.
• Ask whom you should talk with next.
• Set up any future appointments.
• Thank them for their time and shake
hands.
Interview Report
• Write as soon as possible after the
interview.
• Provide an initial summary, then more
detail.
• Review the report with the respondent.
Planning for the Use of
Questionnaires
• Organization members are widely
dispersed.
• Many members are involved with the
project.
• Exploratory work is needed.
• Problem solving prior to interviews is
necessary.
Question Types
Questions are designed as either:
• Open-ended
• Try to anticipate the response you will get.
• Well suited for getting opinions.
• Closed
• Use when all the options may be listed.
• When the options are mutually exclusive.
Tradeoffs between the Use of Open-Ended and
Closed Questions on Questionnaires (Figure 4.12)
Questionnaire Language
• Simple
• Specific
• Short
• Free of bias
• Addressed to those who are knowledgeable
• Technically accurate
• Appropriate for the reading level of the
respondent
Measurement Scales
• The two different forms of
measurement scales are:
• Nominal
• Interval
Nominal Scales
• Nominal scales are used to classify
things.
• It is the weakest form of measurement
• Data may be totaled
What type of software do you use the most?
1 = Word Processor
2 = Spreadsheet
3 = Database
4 = An Email Program
Interval Scales
• An interval scale is used when the intervals
are equal.
• There is no absolute zero.
• Examples of interval scales include the
Fahrenheit or Centigrade scale
How useful is the support given by the Technical Support Group?
NOT USEFUL EXTREMELY
AT ALL USEFUL
1 2 3 4 5
Problems with Scales
• Leniency
• Central tendency
• Halo effect
Leniency
• Caused by easy raters
• Solution is to move the “average” category
to the left or right of center
Central Tendency
• Central tendency occurs when
respondents rate everything as average.
• Improve by making the differences smaller
at the two ends.
• Adjust the strength of the descriptors.
• Create a scale with more points.
Halo Effect
• When the impression formed in one
question carries into the next question
• Solution is to place one trait and several
items on each page
Designing the Questionnaire
• Allow ample white space.
• Allow ample space to write or type in
responses.
• Make it easy for respondents to clearly
mark their answers.
• Be consistent in style.
Order of Questions
• Place most important questions first.
• Cluster items of similar content
together.
• Introduce less controversial questions
first.
Methods of Administering the
Questionnaire
• Convening all concerned respondents
together at one time
• Personally administering the
questionnaire
• Allowing respondents to self-administer
the questionnaire
• Mailing questionnaires
• Administering over the Web or via email
Electronically Submitting
Questionnaires
• Reduced costs
• Collecting and storing the results
electronically
Interviewing and Listening
• One of the primary ways analysts gather
information about an information systems
project
• Interview Guide is a document for
developing, planning and conducting an
interview.
Guidelines for Effective
Interviewing
• Plan the interview.
• Prepare interviewee: appointment, priming
questions.
• Prepare agenda, checklist, questions.
• Listen carefully and take notes (tape record if
permitted).
• Review notes within 48 hours.
• Be neutral.
• Seek diverse views.
Interviewing and Listening (Cont.)
Typical interview guide
Choosing Interview Questions
• Each question in an interview guide can
include both verbal and non-verbal
information.
• Open-ended questions: questions that
have no prespecified answers
• Closed-ended questions: questions that
ask those responding to choose from
among a set of specified responses
Interviewing Groups
• Drawbacks to individual interviews:
• Contradictions and inconsistencies between
interviewees
• Follow-up discussions are time consuming
• New interviews may reveal new questions
that require additional interviews with
those interviewed earlier
Interviewing Groups (Cont.)
• Interviewing several key people together
• Advantages
• More effective use of time
• Can hear agreements and disagreements at once
• Opportunity for synergies
• Disadvantages
• More difficult to schedule than individual interviews
Directly Observing Users
• Direct Observation
• Watching users do their jobs
• Obtaining more firsthand and objective
measures of employee interaction with
information systems
• Can cause people to change their normal
operating behavior
• Time-consuming and limited time to
observe
Analyzing Procedures and
Other Documents
• Document Analysis
• Review of existing business documents
• Can give a historical and “formal” view of
system requirements
Analyzing Procedures and
Other Documents (Cont.)
• Types of information to be discovered:
• Problems with existing system
• Opportunity to meet new need
• Organizational direction
• Names of key individuals
• Values of organization
• Special information processing circumstances
• Reasons for current system design
• Rules for processing data
Analyzing Procedures and
Other Documents (Cont.)
• Useful document: Written work
procedure
• For an individual or work group
• Describes how a particular job or task is
performed
• Includes data and information used and
created in the process
Analyzing Procedures and Other
Documents (Cont.)
• Potential Problems with Procedure
Documents:
• May involve duplication of effort.
• May have missing procedures.
• May be out of date.
• May contradict information obtained
through interviews.
Analyzing Procedures and
Other Documents (Cont.)
• Formal Systems: the official way a
system works as described in
organizational documentation (i.e. work
procedure)
• Informal Systems: the way a system
actually works (i.e. interviews,
observations)
Analyzing Procedures and
Other Documents (Cont.)
• Useful document: Business form
• Used for all types of business functions
• Explicitly indicate what data flow in and out
of a system and data necessary for the
system to function
• Gives crucial information about the nature
of the organization
Analyzing
Procedures and
Other
Documents
(Cont.)
An example of a business
form—An invoice form for
QuickBooks, from
jnk.btobsource.com. Reprinted
by permission.
Source:
http://jnk.btobsource.com/
NASApp/enduser/products/pro
duct_
detail.jsp?pc513050M#
Analyzing Procedures and
Other Documents (Cont.)
• Useful document: Report
• Primary output of current system
• Enables you to work backwards from the
report to the data needed to generate it
• Useful document: Description of current
information system
Analyzing Procedures and
Other Documents (Cont.)
Contemporary Methods for
Determining System
Requirements
• Joint Application Design (JAD)
• Brings together key users, managers, and systems
analysts
• Purpose: collect system requirements
simultaneously from key people
• Conducted off-site
• Group Support Systems
• Facilitate sharing of ideas and voicing of opinions
about system requirements
Joint Application Design (JAD)
• Intensive group-oriented requirements
determination technique
• Team members meet in isolation for an
extended period of time
• Highly focused
• Resource intensive
• Started by IBM in 1970s
Joint Application Design (JAD)
• Joint Application Design (JAD) can
replace a series of interviews with the
user community.
• JAD is a technique that allows the
analyst to accomplish requirements
analysis and design the user interface
with the users in a group setting.
Conditions that Support the Use
of JAD
• Users are restless and want something
new.
• The organizational culture supports
joint problem-solving behaviors.
• Analysts forecast an increase in the
number of ideas using JAD.
• Personnel may be absent from their
jobs for the length of time required.
Who Is Involved
• Executive sponsor
• IS analyst
• Users
Benefits of JAD
• Time is saved, compared with
traditional interviewing
• Rapid development of systems
• Improved user ownership of the
system
• Creative idea production is improved
Drawbacks of Using JAD
• JAD requires a large block of time to be
available for all session participants.
• If preparation or the follow-up report is
incomplete, the session may not be
successful.
• The organizational skills and culture
may not be conducive to a JAD session.
JAD (Cont.)
Illustration of the typical room layout for a JAD
Source: Based on Wood and Silver, 1995
