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3.4 Participant Selection
The sample population used in research studies should be representatives of
the population to which the researchers wish to generalize [2]. Thus, we want
potential users of t.BPM to participate in the study. We got the opportunity to
run an on-site experiment at a trade school in Potsdam (Germany) with graduate
oce and industrial clerk students. They all work in companies and study part
time at the trade school. Industrial clerks do planing, execution and controlling
of business activities. Oce clerks do supporting activities in a department, e.g.
as oce managers. Both groups might be questioned in process-oriented projects
by external consultants. Thus, they represent the target population that we like
to address with t.BPM.
3.5 Operationalized Hypotheses
We operationalize the hypotheses presented in Section 3.1 by means of a question-
naire and video analysis. We define each hypothesis as
H
x
and its null hypothesis
as
H
0
x
.
Questionnaire-Based Hypotheses (
H
3
,
H
4
,
H
5
,
H
8
,
H
9
):
Hypotheses which
rely on perceived measures are tested using a questionnaire. On a five-point Lik-
ert scale, subjects rate their agreement to, in summary, fifteen statements. Three
statements together represent one hypothesis. Two statements are formulated to-
wards the hypotheses, one is negatively formulated. The level of agreement is
mapped to the values [1..5] where 1 is no agreement and 5 is a strong agreement.
The values are aggregated (negative statement is turned around by calculating
6
value
) to retrieve the actual value to work with. The hypothesis holds if
there is a significant difference according to the method immediately used be-
fore, t.BPM or interviews. We test the following hypotheses:
•
−
H
3
: Subjects report more fun in t.BPM sessions than in interviews.
H
03
: Subjects don't more fun in t.BPM sessions.
•
H
4
: Subjects report to be more motivated in t.BPM sessions than in inter-
views.
H
04
: Subjects don't report to be more motivated in t.BPM sessions.
•
H
5
: Subjects report to be more committed to the solution in t.BPM sessions
than in interviews.
H
05
: Subjects report to be more committed to the solution in t.BPM sessions.
•
H
8
: Subjects report a clearer goal understanding in t.BPM sessions than in
interviews.
H
08
: Subjects don't report a clearer goal understanding in t.BPM sessions.
•
H
9
: Subjects report to gain more new insights in process understanding from
t.BPM sessions than from interviews.
H
09
: Subjects don't report to gain more new insights in process understand-
ing from t.BPM sessions.
Video Hypotheses (
H
1
,
H
2
,
H
6
,
H
7
):
We operationalize hypotheses related to
time and actions taken during the experimental task using video coding analysis.
We define the following coding schemes:
