Research Methods in Human-Computer Interaction, 2nd Edition

Foreword

Many disciplines are hyphenated combinations, such as bio-informatics or physical-chemistry, but human-computer interaction (HCI) spans a broader range of topics than most. As a result, HCI researchers often draw on multiple diverse research methods, even in a single paper. It is just possible that HCI's remarkable successes in academic publishing and in widely used technologies stem from its diverse research methods.

While the traditional scientific method was a solid foundation for HCI, controlled laboratory studies with tests for statistically significant differences were never quite enough to deal with the ambitions of HCI researchers. We also embraced interviews, surveys, and focus groups, sometimes in fresh ways, to capture ...