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Building Empirically Plausible MAS 113

the kinds of interactions influential in decision (and clear recall of “interesting”
interactions), details of number, kind and order of interactions may be lost.
Ethnographic Interviews [12]: Ethnographic techniques were developed
for elicitation of world-views: terms and connections between terms consti-
tuting a subjective frame of reference. For example, it may not be realistic to
assume an objective set of EPO attributes. The term “convenient” can depend
on consumer practices in a very complex manner.
Focus Groups [19]: These take advantage of the fact that conversation is
a highly effective elicitation technique. In an interview, accurate elicitation of
EPO adoption history relies heavily on the perceptiveness of the interviewer.
In a group setting, each respondent may help to prompt the others. Relatively
“natural” dialogue may also make respondents less self-conscious about the
setting.
Diaries [15]: These attempt to solve recall problems by recording relevant
data at the time it is generated. Diaries can then form the basis for further data
collection, particularly detailed interviews. Long period diaries require highly
motivated respondents and appropriate technology to “remind” people to record
until they have got into the habit.
Discourse and Conversation Analysis [20, 21]: These are techniques for
studying the organisation and content of different kinds of information ex-
change. They are relevant for such diverse sources as transcripts of focus
groups, project development meetings, newsgroup discussions and advertise-
ments.
Protocol Analysis [17]: Protocol analysis attempts to collect data in more
naturalistic and open-ended settings. Ranyard and Craig present subjects with
“adverts” for instalment credit and ask them to talk about the choice. Subjects
can ask for information. The information they ask for and the order of asking
illuminate the decision process.
Vignettes [10]: Interviewees are given naturalistic descriptions of social sit-
uations to discuss. This allows the exploration of counter-factual conditions:
what individuals might do in situations that are not observable. (This is partic-
ularly important for new products.) The main problems are that talk and action
may not match and that the subject may not have the appropriate experience or
imagination to engage with the vignette.
Experiments [14]: In cases where a theory is well defined, one can design
experiments that are analogous to the social domain. The common problems
with this approach is ecological validity - the more parameters are controlled,
the less analogous the experimental setting. As the level of control increases,
subjects may get frustrated, flippant and bored.
These descriptions don’t provide guidance for practical data collection but
that is not the intention. The purpose of this discussion is threefold. Firstly,
to show that data collection methods are diverse: something often obscured by