Research methodology

I've found trying to sort out what method of research I'm going to use quite difficult. It seems odd doing research about how to research....

Anyway, my literature searches finally came off (thanks in no small part to some excellent training that I received from a colleague at Pennine Acute Trust a few years back) in that I found this interesting piece by Bonnie Kaplan who suggests evaluating health informatics systems through use of the '4Cs'. The 4C's are:
communication
care
control
context

and Kaplan's approach considers how an information system 'fits' within an organisation, taking into consideration the 4 parameters above. The 4C's help us to assess the take up of systems through the consideration of social and professional, as well as technical factors. All very interesting and it made sense to me!

For more details see:

Kaplan, B (2001). "Evaluating informatics applications-some alternative approaches: theory, social interactionism, and call for methodological pluralism". International Journal of Medical Informatics 64, 39–56