Business Informatics Course: Personal Reflection, Semester Learning

This assignment is a personal reflection by a student on their Business Informatics course, focusing on key concepts and learnings from the semester. The reflection covers various aspects of the course, including research methods (qualitative and quantitative), the importance of selecting appropriate research methods based on research problems, and the ethical considerations involved in research. It also discusses data collection methods such as interviews, observations, and documents, along with the role of research ethics in guiding decisions and balancing values. The student reflects on the case study protocol, field procedures, and the different forms of evidence used in research, such as documentation, interviews, and observations. Furthermore, the reflection touches upon the integration of computer science and business administration, the effectiveness of case studies, and the use of interviews and observations to gather business-related information. The student concludes by emphasizing the importance of research ethics and the role of field procedures in gaining access to interviewees and planning resources.

Running head: PERSONAL REFLECTION
Personal Reflection
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1PERSONAL REFLECTION
Business informatics can be said to be a discipline that combines information
technology, concepts of management and informatics. Business informatics can help in
developing the solutions to the business problems. This essay discusses about my personal
reflection on the learnings of my semester.
I have learnt in the course about the two kinds of research methods- qualitative along
with quantitative. I have gathered the knowledge that the research method should be selected
on the basis of the research problems. The information regarding a business can be collected
with the help of interviews, observations, diaries, documents and the user-generated data. I
have acquired the knowledge that research ethics can help an individual in deciding whether
an act is right or wrong. Ethics can help an individual in balancing between the two values. I
learnt that research ethics can help an individual in weighing the potential benefits against
that of the potential costs. Ethical responsibility should be shown to research, profession,
finders and the participants. I learnt that code of the ethics can help in providing guidance and
“ethical” investigator carries out research in a honest manner. The researcher should be able
to justify the research decisions along with actions. I acquired the knowledge that ethical
standards of the researcher can help him in providing justification to his action. I have learnt
that ethical responsibility lies with individual investigator and informed consent is required in
the case of ethical social research.
I learnt in the course that case study protocol should contain overview of that of case
study project. Field procedures can help an individual in gaining access to the interviewees
and in planning for the resources. Pilot case study can help in the aspect of testing procedures
along with protocols. I learnt that findings from pilot can help in providing the lessons for the
research design along with the field procedures. Evidence can be of six forms-
documentation, interviews, archival records, participant observations, direct observation and
the physical artifacts. I was able to learn that organisational documents along with archive

2PERSONAL REFLECTION
records can help in corroboration of evidence from the different resources. Information
system can help in improving the effectiveness and the efficiency in relation to an
organisation. I learnt that goal of Business Informatics is to integrate the computer science
along with business administration into a single field. The case study approach can prove to
be effective investigating contemporary phenomenon within the real-life context. I learnt that
case study approach can prove to be effective in the event of the boundaries between the
phenomenon and the context being blurry. The case research deals with the operational links
that can be traced over a course of time instead of the frequency.
It can be concluded that interviews, observations and the diaries can be used to gather
information in relation to a business. Research ethics can help an individual in deciding if an
act is correct or wrong. Ethics can prove to be useful in the balancing of two values. Field
procedures can be useful for gaining access to interviewees and for the aspect pf planning for
resources.