Improving quality of reasoning with clear "chain of evidence" in housing dissertation report writing: a note

Improving quality of reasoning with clear "chain of evidence" in housing dissertation report writing: a note

One common assignment and dissertation report writing weakness is unclear "chain of evidence" in the report content. The "chain of evidence" is a concept as espoused in the agile literature review approach (ALRA). In the context of housing studies, the following expressions are illustrative on the "chain of evidence" concept. Essentially, using these expressions is the main way to more clearly establish "chain of evidence" in report discussion. Doing so improves the quality of discussion of assignment and dissertation reports:

Expression 1: related to housing concerns and research objectives:

In response to the housing concern of (....: re: the housing-concerns diagram), the following research objective is put forward: "to evaluate....." [re: the theoretical framework level-0]

Expression 2: related to research objectives and academic ideas:

Regarding research objective 1:...., the following three academic ideas have been chosen, via literature review, to investigate research objective 1..... [re: the theoretical framework level-1a].

Expression 3: related to research objectives and research methods:

Two research methods (RMs), i.e., RM1 (interview research) and RM2 (desk research) are employed to address research objective 2 (RM2)....

Expression 4: related to research methods (RMs) and research findings (RFs):

Regarding research method 3 (questionnaire survey), the following research findings (RFs) are presented:

Research finding 1 (RF1):....

Research finding 2 (RF2): ...

Expression 5: related to research findings (RFs) and discussion findings (DFs):

Based on research finding 2 and the analysis using academic idea 3.4, the following discussion findings are presented:

Discussion finding 2.4: ....

Discussion finding 2.5: .... 

{note: discussion findings [DFs] are theory-driven/ analysis findings based on the empirical and raw research findings [RFs] direct from research methods [RMs] employed in the report}

Using clear ALRA pointers (and labels) in the discussion is the way to establish clear "chain of evidence" in report discussion, which improve quality of analysis of the report.

On the difference between literature review and desk research: a note for housing studies students

On the difference between literature review and desk research: a note for housing studies students

About literature review:

Literature review is useful for informing the whole dissertation project work in housing studies. Nevertheless, there is a chapter devoted to the literature work of a dissertation report, which is Chapter 2: Literature Review. For that, students are expected to review relevant academic literature, mainly academic journal articles, textbooks and dissertation project reports (finished and "published").

The problem is that, quite a number of students made use of desk research (notably Internet Research) and utilized desk research findings (notably newspaper articles and government policy reports) to write up their literature review chapter. This is not correct and indicates poor literature review skill.

About desk research:

This is not say that desk research is not important for dissertation project work. Findings of desk research is valuable to inform the discussion of project background (as presented in Chapter 1 of a dissertation report). Desk research is very often a useful secondary research method, for example to study the external drivers (zone 1 [re: the agile literature review approach]) of a housing topic (e.g. housing affordability and homelessness). To discuss the desk research design, the research student could do so in Chapter 3 "Research Methodology" in his/ her dissertation report; to discuss the desk research findings, the student could do so in dissertation report Chapter 4 "Findings and Analysis". Try to avoid presenting the desk research design evaluation  and its findings (especially not using research methods terms) in dissertation report Chapter 2 "Literature Review".

When is a driver an environmental driver in an ALRA diagram for MBA project works: a note

When is a driver an environmental driver in an ALRA diagram for MBA dissertation project works: a note:

Quite some MBA students learning the agile literature review approach has difficulty to determine whether a particular item belongs to zone 1 (environmental drivers) or other zones. For example, 

[question 1] when the IT Department of ABC Ltd is understaffed, does this management-concern item belongs to zone 1 (environmental drivers) or zone 2 (organizational capabilities)? 

Consider another example, [question 2] when the local banking sector is unwilling to lend money to a private enterprise (called it ABC Ltd), is this management-concern item a zone 1 item or a zone 2 item? 

Before I offer the answers to the two questions, I would like to make some clarification on the topic of "environment" in the systems thinking literature (re: Schoderbek et al. 1985. "Chapter One: The Systems View" Management Systems: conceptual considerations, Business Publications Inc.): The main points from the reference are:

Point 1: "External (and relevant) factors over which the organization has a high degree of control can be considered the resources of the organization";

Point 2: "External (and relevant) factors over which the organization has a relatively low degree of control can be defined as the environment of the organization".

With reference to the 2 main points above, drivers (and factors) that belong to point 2 are environmental drivers (zone 1), while factors that belong to point 1 are zone 2[organizational capabilities]-related.

With this clarification, I now offer the following answers to the 2 questions above:

On question 1, "concerned that the IT Department of ABC Ltd is understaffed" [a management-concern item] belongs to zone 2. Reason: the human resource management function, including staffing, is essentially a factor controllable by ABC Ltd.

On question 2, "concerned that the local banking sector is unwilling to lend money to ABC Ltd" [a management-concern item] belongs to zone 1. Reason: the banking sector's prevailing lending policy is essentially a factor not controllable by ABC Ltd.

Four typical examples of management-concern statements on environmental drivers are:

Example 1: concerned about the increasing intensity of competition in the HK coffee shop market.

Example 2: concerned about the impact of the much tighter supply of experienced nurses in the labour market on the hospital sector.

Example 3: concerned about the impact of fast changing mobile shopping preference of the local Gen Z consumers on the HK retail sector.

Example 4: worried about the impact of the ongoing regional restructuring supply chain landscape on the HK apparel sector.

The last point to make is that "external" environmental drivers can exist at the macro-environmental or micro-environmental levels. A useful discussion on a framework to study at these two levels is my work on the concept of systemic PEST analysis (re: reading 1; reading 2). The only environmental driver that is "internal" (because it can be quite difficult to control by an organization) is organizational culture, e.g. "concerned about the conservative organizational culture of ABC Ltd".

On the "holistic" nature of the agile literature review approach (ALRA) for housing studies

 Some ideas and readings on the "holistic" nature of the agile literature review approach (ALRA) for housing studies:

One of the key characteristics of the agile literature review approach (ALRA) is that it is holistic. In this note, I provide some basic information about what does being "holistic" mean in the context of ALRA for housing studies: 

1. Dictionary explanation: Holistic: adjective: dealing with or treating the whole of something or someone and not just a part:

Examples of usage:

My doctor takes a holistic approach to disease.

Ecological problems usually require holistic solutions.

2. Some basic information on holism.

3. Some basic ideas on the holistic approach.

4. A briefing (video) on holism and reductionism.

5. Some basic ideas about the holistic view in Systems Thinking.

The agile literature review approach (ALRA), specifically, is grounded on critical systems thinking and endorses creative holism as put forward by M.C. Jackson. For example, all the ALRA diagrams are encouraged to be constructed in a co-created, systemic, critical and complicated way with stakeholders, encompassing inter-related factors that cover zones on environmental factors [zone 1], housing topics: nature and characteristics [zone 2], outcomes-related [zone 3a] and solutions/ policies- related [zone 3b]. This zoning practice is done on the ALRA diagrams. Nevertheless, each dissertation project needs to have sufficient research focus as indicated in the core-focus-domain in the ALRA diagrams. The involvement of stakeholders could take a direct form or an indirect form (e.g. via desk research).

Additional reading: a collection of blog notes on the ALRA for housing studies.

On dissertation supervisor style: a note

 On dissertation supervisor style: a note for my MBA students:

Style 1: versatile or specialized in a particular field and perspective (quantitative or qualitative)?

Style 2: close supervision or not?

Style 3: tendency toward a complication or simplification topic?

Style 4: friendly and generous or not?

Style 5: helpful or not?

Style 6: visible or not?

Style 7: exploratory or structured in guidance

What to do in case of supervision process problems?

To uncover elements of project and diagrams titles etc of an MBA project report that uses ALRA

To uncover elements of project and diagrams titles etc of an MBA project report that uses ALRA:

I. About project title:

An example: An investigation of the marketing and innovation competencies of the ABC Ltd: a mixed methods research

Element 1: the marketing and innovation competencies: Information from the core-focus-domain of the theoretical framework level-0.

Element 2: ABC Ltd: the organizational unit of analysis in focus.

Element 3: mixed methods research: informed by the theoretical framework level-1c.

II. About management-concerns diagram:

An example: the management-concerns diagram for the Production Department of XYZ Ltd

Element 1: the Production Department: the organizational unit of analysis in focus

Element 2: XYZ Ltd: the containing unit

Element 3: the management-concerns diagram: an ALRA diagram.

III. About theoretical framework level-0 diagram:

An example: the theoretical framework level-0 for the Production Department of XYZ Ltd

Element 1: the Production Department: the organizational unit of analysis in focus

Element 2: XYZ Ltd: the containing unit

Element 3: the theoretical framework level-0: an ALRA diagram.

IV: About the main research objectives:

An example: to evaluate the Information Systems management competence of the ABC tutorial centre.

Element 1: the whole research objective statement comes from the core-focus-domain of the theoretical framework level-0.

The notion of "organizational unit of analysis" in MBA research projects: a note

The notion of "organizational unit of analysis" in MBA research projects, notably of the consulting-oriented type: a note

"One of the most important ideas in a research project is the unit of analysis. The unit of analysis is the major entity that you are analyzing in your study. For instance, any of the following could be a unit of analysis in a study:

• individuals
• groups
• artifacts (books, photos, newspapers)
• geographical units (town, census tract, state)
• social interactions (dyadic relations, divorces, arrests)"

Re: unit of analysis in a research project

In the context of doing an MBA dissertation project [notably on the consulting-oriented project type], oftentimes, the unit of analysis is a department of an organization, e.g. the IT Department of ABC Bus Service Ltd. In this regard, it can be more clearly called the organizational unit of analysis.

In this case the organizational unit of analysis under investigation is the IT Department while the containing unit is ABC Bus Service Ltd.

Since the MBA student is encouraged to adopt strategic thinking and holistic thinking (notably with the expansionism lens) to study the organizational unit of analysis under investigation [thus also avoiding the pitfall of suboptimization], it is useful to spare some effort to also the management-concerns at the containing unit level. My suggestion in this regard is as follows:

• Research effort at the organizational unit of analysis level: 75-85%
• Research effort at the containing unit level: 15-25%.

The following diagram is illustrative on the relatedness of analysis at the containing organization unit level and the organizational unit of analysis level in terms of the agile literature review approach (ALRA) thinking:

For a set of ALRA diagrams at the organizational unit of analysis level to also include a few items that belong to the containing unit level could be viewed as a set of squeezed ALRA diagrams. For an organized case study diagnosis with the squeezed ALRA diagrams, the researcher needs to show awareness in his/her line of reasoning at which unit of analysis level (the higher containing level or the lower unit of analysis level) in a specific reasoning stage that he/she is in. [Squeezing the ALRA diagrams simplifies the diagramming and analysis somewhat; besides, to do their dissertation projects, my MBA students are not required to learn contemporary systems thinking, which is required to perform more sophisticated ALRA diagram construction].

Note that some students might be interested in studying a particular business/ industry sector, e.g., the logistics sector in Hong Kong as their organizational unit of analysis. In this case the containing sector could be the whole economy of Hong Kong. See the following table on examples for clarification:

Examples	The containing unit	The organizational unit of analysis [the dissertation project focus]
Project example 1	The regional logistics Industry	The Logistics Industry of Hong Kong
Project example 2	ABC Bus Service Ltd	The IT Department of ABC Bus Service Ltd.
Project example 3	The retail sector of skincare products for the elderly in Hong Kong	XYZ Ltd (a startup) that sells skincare products for the elderly in Hong Kong

Lastly, with regard to dissertation reporting writing, the organizational unit of analysis should be explicitly indicated in the dissertation project title and the ALRA diagrams, illustrated as follows:

Project title: An investigation on the managerial competence of the customer service department [the organizational unit of analysis] of XYZ Ltd.: a case study research

Management-concerns diagram title: The management-concerns diagram of the customer service department [the organizational unit of analysis] of XYZ Ltd.

Additional readings: 

1. a Youtube video on the basic idea of unit of analysis. [note again that this blog note examines a particular kind of unit of analysis called the organizational unit of analysis].

2. The holistic nature of the ALRA. (blog note)