Offer a sharp contrast to directly collected data. The greatest strength of trace data is that it is unobtrusive. The collection of the data does not interfere with the natural flow of behavior and events in the given context. Since the data is not directly collected, there is no observer present in the situation where the behaviors occur to affect the participants’ actions. Trace data is unique; as unobtrusive and nonreactive data, it can make a very valuable research course of action. In the past, trace data was often time consuming to gather and process, making such data costly. With the advent of transaction logging software, trace data for the studying of behaviors of users and systems has really taken off.
Published in Chapter:
Research and Methodological Foundations of Transaction Log Analysis
Bernard J. Jansen (Pennsylvania State University, USA), Isak Taksa (Baruch College, City University of New York, USA), and Amanda Spink (Queensland University of Technology, Australia)
Copyright: © 2009
|Pages: 16
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-974-8.ch001
Abstract
This chapter outlines and discusses theoretical and methodological foundations for transaction log analysis. We first address the fundamentals of transaction log analysis from a research viewpoint and the concept of transaction logs as a data collection technique from the perspective of behaviorism. From this research foundation, we move to the methodological aspects of transaction log analysis and examine the strengths and limitations of transaction logs as trace data. We then review the conceptualization of transaction log analysis as an unobtrusive approach to research, and present the power and deficiency of the unobtrusive methodological concept, including benefits and risks of transaction log analysis specifically from the perspective of an unobtrusive method. Some of the ethical questions concerning the collection of data via transaction log applications are discussed.