## Introduction

cc-by-sa HAN (link)

As an ICT student or professional, you will have to solve all kinds of ICT challenges. To do that, you will need to answer questions to arrive at a suitable solution.

In the building block about Doing research with the research cycle, we saw that you can be more confident of your answer if you approach this methodically, and look at the steps of the research cycle to see whether your chosen approach and execution is fitting. Do you dare to bet your smartphone under your answer?

The current building block zooms out a bit. We are now no longer looking at the approach to answer a single information question, but at the approach for the entire problem that you are trying to solve. The practical question you started with.

Choosing suitable research methods can be very tricky. There are many different questions you can ask and research methods you can use to find answers. What combination of sub questions and methods will ensure a good solution? The DOT framework, that will be introduced in this building block, offers a good way to understand the differences and similarities between the various research methods, so you can select a suitable method, or a suitable combination of methods.

This building block first explains the framework with the accompanying research strategies and trade-offs. This is followed by a concrete example of what this could mean in practice. Next, there is a description of a number of ways to use this framework and the list of methods (also available as a deck of cards) to choose suitable methods to answer the most important questions in your project.

Do you have any questions or comments about this building block? Feel free to contact Danny Plass (Saxion).

P.S. Research is "methodically answering questions leading to relevant knowledge for the creation of professional products" (Andriessen, 2014). Research is about obtaining the information you need to arrive at a good solution for your project. This means that research is not something that you only need for your final project (thesis), but that it is simply part of your job!

P.P.S. The DOT framework has been developed by Koen van Turnhout et al. (2013), lecturers at the HAN. The images have been reproduced by the letter and have been used with their consent. The explanation has been copied for the greater part from the CMD methods and ICT research methods websites, with small adjustments here and there. The knowledge clips have been created by Tom Langhorst van Fontys for "Praktijkgericht onderzoek voor ICT" (EN: "Practically-oriented research for ICT"). This building block here is a slightly adjusted version of the building block DOT framework.