Evaluating the information management and collaboration of "bench to bedside" microarray research computing with...

This research is a qualitative longitudinal evaluation of the information management, collaboration and analysis of microarray gene expression experimental work in use in basic science and clinical settings. Methods of qualitative observation and in-depth open-ended interviews are used within a theoretical framework to explore and contrast information use in small and medium sized laboratories involved in translational microarray research, or who have completed microarray research and have no further experimental plans using this technology. Case analysis approaches are used to identify positive and negative factors associated with complex data-intensive experimental information management in the laboratory.