Design Methods and Practices for Research of Project Management is the most comprehensive guide on how to do research of and in project management. Project management as a discipline has experienced near-exponential growth in its application across the business and not-for-profit sectors. This second edition of the authoritative reference book offers a substantial update on the first edition with over 60% new content and so provides both practitioner and student researchers with a fully up-to-date and complete guide to research practice on project management. In Design Methods and Practices for Research of Project Management, Beverly Pasian and Rodney Turner have brought together 27 original chapters from many of the leading international thinkers in project management research. The collection looks at each step in the research stages, including research strategy, management, methodology (quantitative and qualitative), techniques as well as how to share and publish research findings. The chapters offer an international perspective with examples from a wide range of project management applications; engineering, construction, mega-projects, high-risk environments and social transformation. Each chapter includes tips and exercises for the research student, as well as a complete set of further references. The book is the go-to text for practitioners undertaking research in companies, and also doctoral and masters students and their supervisors who are involved in research projects in and for universities.

Organizations of all types are consistently working on new initiatives, product lines, or implementation of new workflows as a way to remain competitive in the modern business environment. No matter the type of project at hand, employing the best methods for effective execution and timely completion of the task at hand is essential to project success. Project Management: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications presents the latest research and practical solutions for managing every stage of the project lifecycle. Emphasizing emerging concepts, real-world examples, and authoritative research on managing project workflows and measuring project success in both private and public sectors, this multi-volume reference work is a critical addition to academic, government, and corporate libraries. It is designed for use by project coordinators and managers, business executives, researchers, and graduate-level students interested in putting research-based solutions into practice for effective project management.

This book is designed to introduce doctoral and graduate students to the process of conducting scientific research in the social sciences, business, education, public health, and related disciplines. It is a one-stop, comprehensive, and compact source for foundational concepts in behavioral research, and can serve as a stand-alone text or as a supplement to research readings in any doctoral seminar or research methods class. This book is currently used as a research text at universities on six continents and will shortly be available in nine different languages.

This guide is designed for systems researchers – emerging and seasoned – searching for holistic approaches of inquiry into complexity, which the Systems Sciences provide. The authors share insight into the foundations of research that are not only systematic in terms of rigor, but systemic in perspective, analysis, design, development, implementation, reporting, and evaluation. This guide also explores researcher competencies necessary to conduct sound systems research. Researchers using this guide will gain understanding of what distinguishes systems research from other types of research and why it is important in research today.

Meanings and Motivation in Education Research demonstrates the vibrant and vital connection between the researcher and their research. Research is often perceived as an entity which is seemingly produced in isolation; however, there are many important factors which are involved, and this book explores the complexities of investigating the specific areas of meaning and motivation for researchers working in the education sector. With contributions from authors drawn from the field of education in various stages of their career, the perspectives shared in this book are from a diverse range of countries including Australia, Canada, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Key topics include: personal and professional identity narrative inquiry as method teacher educators as researchers conducting education research mixed methods in educational research Foregrounding the personal experiences, interests and motivations of educational researchers Meanings and Motivation in Education Research proves important insights into current discussions in educational research including researchers’ identities, the ways they conduct research and most importantly the impact institutional and personal politics have on their work. This will be a valuable text for educators, education researchers, policy-makers and practitioners across the globe.

This volume constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 8th International Conference on HCI in Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality, VAMR 2016, held as part of the 18th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCII 2016, which took place in Toronto, Canada, in July 2016. HCII 2016 received a total of 4354 submissions, of which 1287 papers were accepted for publication after a careful reviewing process. The 70 papers presented in this volume are organized in topical sections named: Usability, User Experience and Design in VAMR, Perception, Cognition, Psychology and Behaviour in VAMR, Multimodal Interaction in VAMR, Novel Devices and Technologies in VAMR, VAMR Applications in Aviation, Space and the Military, Medicine, Health and Well-Being Applications of VAMR, VAMR in Industry, Design and Engineering, Novel Virtual Environments.

The Evaluative Study of Action Research presents all eight published papers as part of the six-year, global, Evaluative Study of Action Research (ESAR) in one volume. The study sought to enhance the academic rigour of Action Research (AR) and provide greater evidence of its impact. This research contained in this book shows, in a cohesive way, how the ESAR exemplifies original research incorporating new methodologies to create new knowledge. An Evaluative AR framework and indicators were created for initial qualitative data collection with six initial case studies using interviews, survey, documentary analysis, and Goal Attainment Scaling methods. The initial study was followed by a large-scale mixed method survey with 174 projects from across the globe. Almost all projects exhibited positive elements linked to AR precursors (focus clarification, stakeholder engagement, funding), processes (phased, planned yet flexible activity, data collection and analysis, ongoing collaboration and leadership), and outcomes/impacts (change, knowledge mobilisation and continuing action). The results of the ESAR, elaborated in this volume, offer important indications for how to create the sort of respectful engagement that is required for collective strength in solution based, innovative, change. This book will be a valuable resource for: action researchers throughout the world; postgraduate research students, academics and libraries; evaluators; and anyone in communities who wishes to know how to create sustainable change.

This tribute to Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt is a celebratory Festschrift of her learning/research action-packed life. Colleagues around the world reflect on their own learning, research and professional development, with and through Ortrun, in action learning and action research (ALAR). Four Parts identify focus areas in Ortrun’s work and interests over the last 40 years. Higher Education is the site for most of Ortrun’s work experience since 1974 when she joined Griffith University in Australia. Organisations is a context where Ortrun has actively explored processes of learning, leadership and development in management education. Communities of Practice characterise Ortrun’s work throughout her career, particularly through participatory action learning and action research (PALAR) in communities. Futures focusses Ortrun’s recent writing advocating for PALAR as a flexible and effective methodology for responding to rapid change. Here we see why Ortrun is a quintessential international scholar. And an ALAR practitioner/advocate. Her world view, understandings of knowledge and personal qualities naturally orient her along this path of inclusive, purposeful action. This is why Ortrun is a vital energy in shaping the evolution of the ‘Action’ family of scholarship, now including PALAR and LAL (Lifelong Action Learning). No wonder her life and pioneering work are an adventure story—not just of learning and research, but also of passion and action. This tribute opens windows onto that story.

Design is everywhere. It influences how we live, what we wear, how we communicate, what we buy, and how we behave. To design for the real world and define strategies rather than just implement them, you need to learn how to understand and solve complex, intricate and often unexpected problems. Research for Designers is the guide to this new, evidence-based creative process for anyone doing research in Design Studies or looking to develop their design research skills. The book: Takes an organized approach to walking you through the basics of research. Highlights the importance of data. Encourages you to think in a cross-disciplinary way. Including interviews with 10 design experts from across the globe, this guide helps you put theory into practice and conduct successful design research.

This unique volume explores cutting-edge management approaches to developing complex software that is efficient, scalable, sustainable, and suitable for distributed environments. Practical insights are offered by an international selection of pre-eminent authorities, including case studies, best practices, and balanced corporate analyses. Emphasis is placed on the use of the latest software technologies and frameworks for life-cycle methods, including the design, implementation and testing stages of software development. Topics and features: · Reviews approaches for reusability, cost and time estimation, and for functional size measurement of distributed software applications · Discusses the core characteristics of a large-scale defense system, and the design of software project management (SPM) as a service · Introduces the 3PR framework, research on crowdsourcing software development, and an innovative approach to modeling large-scale multi-agent software systems · Examines a system architecture for ambient assisted living, and an approach to cloud migration and management assessment · Describes a software error proneness mechanism, a novel Scrum process for use in the defense domain, and an ontology annotation for SPM in distributed environments · Investigates the benefits of agile project management for higher education institutions, and SPM that combines software and data engineering This important text/reference is essential reading for project managers and software engineers involved in developing software for distributed computing environments. Students and researchers interested in SPM technologies and frameworks will also find the work to be an invaluable resource. Prof. Zaigham Mahmood is a Senior Technology Consultant at Debesis Education UK and an Associate Lecturer (Research) at the University of Derby, UK. He also holds positions as Foreign Professor at NUST and IIU in Islamabad, Pakistan, and Professor Extraordinaire at the North West University Potchefstroom, South Africa.