A practical approach to theory structuring and analysis: A way to structure research and perform sub-problem solving in a changing IS landscape

Abstract

A large proportion of students who enrol for postgraduate degrees never finish their studies with non-completion rates yielding 30% for a sample size of 2000 students. A number of empirical studies have been conducted indicating the possible factors for the non-completion rate. This chapter briefly highlights such factors and proposes a possible solution to increase the number of successful studies using relevant philosophies and problem-solving to build insight in determining IS/IT solutions and innovations. A research methodology is suggested to enable data capturing aligned to research objectives and organise sub-problem solving effectively. The process of finding information, determining if it is relevant and then relating it to existing keywords and topics can be facilitated by using a spreadsheet as a data generation method. The outcome may lead to a research proposal and study to investigate the problem identified, search for possible solutions and prove/disprove the validity of the suggested solutions.