Successfully completing case study research: combining rigour, relevance and pragmatism

The organizational and social issues associated with the development, implementation and use of computer-based information systems have increasingly attracted the attention of information systems researchers. Interest in qualitative research methods such as action research, case study research and ethnography, which focus on understanding social phenomena in their natural setting, has consequently grown. Case study research is the most widely used qualitative research method in information systems research, and is well suited to understanding the interactions between information technology-related innovations and organizational contexts. Although case study research is useful as a means of studying information systems development and use in the field, there can be practical difficulties associated with attempting to undertake case studies as a rigorous and effective method of research. This paper addresses a number of these difficulties and offers some practical guidelines for successfully completing case study research. The paper focuses on the pragmatics of conducting case study research, and draws from the discussion at a panel session conducted by the authors at the 8th Australasian Conference on Information Systems, September 1997 (ACIS 97), from the authors' practical experiences, and from the case study research literature.     

案例研究方法在信息系统领域的应用

从各种研究方法的讨论开始,介绍了案例研究方法对信息系统领域研究的贡献,分析了案例研究方法适用的研究问题。讨论了案例研究在研究的各个阶段的任务,并与其他几种研究方法进行了比较,并提出案例研究严密性问题。最后,以大量的统计数据为基础,比较了国内外案例研究方法的使用情况,并分析了存在的问题。     

Using decision tree modelling to support Peircian abduction in IS research: a systematic approach for generating and evaluating hypotheses for systematic theory development

Since their early development, computers have had a profound impact on how we conduct modern scientific research. The disciplines of mathematics and operations research are perhaps the earliest to be dramatically transformed by information technology. However, over the years, computing technologies have provided many new opportunities for information processing, problem solving and knowledge creation. In this paper, we explore the potential of data mining technology for providing support for systematic theory testing based on Peirce's theory of abduction. We propose a data mining approach to abducting and evaluating hypotheses based on Peirce's scientific method. We believe that this approach could assist scientist to more efficiently explore alternative hypotheses for existing theories. We demonstrate our approach with empirical observations collected using instruments from the well known user performance area of information systems research.     

Design methods and code structure: a comparative case study

This paper addresses the question of the extent to which structured design methods contribute to the quality of a software product. Comparative data were obtained from the development of a commercial real-time embedded system, for which two versions of the product were produced. Version A was developed informally; by contrast version B used a structured design method. Maintenance effort for A was high compared with that for B. The case study was set up to measure the effect of using structured design on the resulting internal code structure whose metrics were captured by a static analysis tool. Results show that version B has less component coupling than version A. The component size results show that the distribution of B is shifted with respect to A, with more smaller components and fewer large ones. In respect of the detailed code structure within components, the results indicate that B is better structured than A. Only the fully structured components of A and B could be measured for testability, with no significant difference being apparent for the specified test case strategies. Overall, the evidence of this comparative study points to modest advantages of the structured method over the informal development method in this case. Caution must be exercised, however, against sweeping generalizations of these results.     

Pluralist action research: a review of the information systems literature*

Action research (AR) has for many years been promoted and practised as one way to conduct field studies within the information systems (IS) discipline. Based on a review of articles published in leading journals, we explore how IS researchers practise AR. Our review suggests that AR lends itself strongly towards pluralist approaches which facilitate the production of both theoretical and practical knowledge. First, on the level of each study we analyse how research and problem‐solving activities are mixed, in three ways: the research dominant, the problem‐solving dominant and the interactive approaches. Second, in the context of the wider research programme in which the study is situated, we analyse how AR is mixed with other research methods, in two ways: the dominant and the sequential approaches. We argue that these pluralist practices of mixing types of research activities and types of research methods provide IS action researchers with a rich portfolio of approaches to knowledge production. This portfolio helps them address the risks involved in AR to ensure their efforts contribute to the literature as well as to practical problem‐solving.     

Developing ecological sustainability: a green IS response model

Growing private and public concern with the environment is pushing businesses to increase their awareness and action. Using the Nordic bank Nordea as a case study and a Green information systems (IS) organizational response model developed on the basis of extant literature, we investigate how Green IS initiatives become part of a firm's overall strategy and part of the organizational sustainability process. We find that Green IS initiatives are initiated through a bottom‐up process where environmentally concerned individuals identify issues and become Green IS champions. They use their authority and edification skills to promote Green IS to the organizational agenda. If the issue is aligned with the organizational agenda, it receives management's endorsement. The empirical case also shows two types of systemic feedback that can fuel a self‐reinforcing sustainability process. The first type of feedback increases the champion's ability to promote Green IS in the future through authority and edification. The second type leads to the transformation of organizational value through reinforcement and extension. Finally, we identify interrelationships between organizational response processes, where higher‐order response processes, e.g. change of corporate values, function as gatekeepers or pre‐conditions for when and which issues are promoted to the organizational agenda. © 2016 Wiley Publishing Ltd     

IS journal review process: a survey on IS research practices and journal review issues

Journal publication is an important indicator of research productivity for individual researchers as well as academic institutions. It is also a contentious issue as various stakeholders have different and often conflicting interests and perspectives. This study explores how IS researchers view journal review and publication process based on their professional status, institutional mission, and role orientation. It also investigates publication practices of IS researchers, such as frequency of article submissions, acceptance/rejection rates, number of revisions required before publication, and publication outlets.     

Analyzing IS research productivity: an inclusive approach to global IS scholarship

An increasing number of studies have appeared that evaluate and rank journal quality and the productivity of IS scholars and their institutions. In this paper, we describe the results of one recent study identifying the ‘Top 30’ IS Researchers, revealing many unexamined assumptions about which IS publication outlets should be included in any definition of high-quality, scholarly IS journals. Drawing from the argument that all categories and classification schemes are grounded in politics, we critique the process by which the recent study in question (and several earlier studies) have derived the set of journals from which they count researcher publications. Based on a critical examination of the widespread inclusion of practitioner outlets, and the consistent exclusion of European scholarly IS journals, we develop our own arguments for which journals should be included in such evaluations of researcher productivity. We conduct our own analysis of IS researcher productivity for the period 1999–2003, based on articles published in a geographically balanced set of 12 IS journals, and then we compare our results with those from the recent study in question and their predecessors. Our results feature a more diverse set of scholars – both in terms of location (specifically, the country and continent in which the researchers are employed) and gender. We urge future studies of IS research productivity to follow our practice of including high-quality European journals, while eschewing practitioner-oriented publications (such as Harvard Business Review and Communications of the ACM). We also advocate that such studies count only research contributions (e.g., research articles), and that other genres of non-research articles – such as book reviews, ‘issues and opinions’ pieces and editorial introductions – not be conflated with counts of research contributions.     

Epistemological perspectives on IS research: a framework for analysing and systematizing epistemological assumptions

Abstract.  Over the last three decades, a methodological pluralism has developed within information systems (IS) research. Various disciplines and many research communities as well, contribute to this discussion. However, working on the same research topic or studying the same phenomenon does not necessarily ensure mutual understanding. Especially within this multidisciplinary and international context, the epistemological assumptions made by different researchers may vary fundamentally. These assumptions exert a substantial impact on how concepts like validity, reliability, quality and rigour of research are understood. Thus, the extensive publication of epistemological assumptions is, in effect, almost mandatory. Hence, the aim of this paper is to develop an epistemological framework which can be used for systematically analysing the epistemological assumptions in IS research. Rather than attempting to identify and classify IS research paradigms, this research aims at a comprehensive discussion of epistemology within the context of IS. It seeks to contribute to building the basis for identifying similarities as well as differences between distinct IS approaches and methods. In order to demonstrate the epistemological framework, the consensus-oriented interpretivist approach to conceptual modelling is used as an example.     

E-business and organizational change: a structurational approach

Abstract.  Although e-business is a familiar part of the organizational landscape, its implementation remains a problem for large traditional organizations. This paper argues that the pervasiveness of e-business calls for the adoption of an organizational change perspective to study its implementation. Using structuration theory, the paper analyzes a detailed case study of the implementation of a major e-business initiative in a traditional automotive manufacturer. It shows how a combination of structural contradictions and unexpected consequences derailed the initiative.     

Structuration bridging diffusion of innovations and gender relations theories: a case of paradigmatic pluralism in IS research

This paper discusses the adoption of a pluralist theoretical framework – one that is also multiparadigmatic – for conducting and publishing information system (IS) research. The discussion is illustrated by a single case study involving the Australian cotton industry. The theoretical framework is informed by three sociological theories, each with its particular paradigmatic assumptions: structuration theory as a meta‐theory, and diffusion of innovations and gender relations as lower‐level theories from notionally opposing paradigms. Theoretical pluralism helped to produce rich findings, illuminating both the social nature of women farmers' roles, the materiality of the cotton farming context, the characteristics of the decision support systems in use and the recursive way in which human agency and institutional pressures shape each other. Because users of so‐called divergent paradigms often face criticism based on the incommensurability issue, one of the main contributions of this paper is to discuss the value of a pluralist and multiparadigmatic theoretical framework in dealing with complex IS social phenomena.     

Thematic orientation of the ISJ within a semantic space of IS research

This study examines research published in the first 24 years of Information Systems Journal's (ISJ) publication history using a thematic space of all information systems (IS) research as the backdrop. To that end, abstracts from all contributing articles published in eight prominent IS journals in the period 1991–2014 were analysed to extract a latent semantic space of five broad research areas. A two‐dimensional projection of the results was used to create a two‐by‐two map, where one dimension represents the European vs. North American style of IS research and another dimension represents a micro vs. macro level of IS research. The ISJ is positioned in the ‘micro and European school’ quadrant. Over the course of the journal's first 24 years, research in the ISJ started with a relative focus on the IT artefact and IS development and gradually moved towards a more balanced position that includes a considerable amount of research on IT for teamwork and collaboration, as well as on IT and individuals.     

一种用于CBR推理机的案例学习算法研究*

案例学习是CBR(Case-Based Reasoning)推理机的重要环节,但由于案例的多样性以及对领域的依赖性,导致CBR系统中案例自动生成困难的问题。针对这一问题,本文提出将seq2seq(Sequence-to-Sequence)模型用于案例学习,通过seq2seq模型自动生成案例,引入attention机制,提高seq2seq模型生成案例的效果,并利用潜在语义分析LSA(Latent Semantic Analysis)对网络爬取语料库进行筛选,利用过滤后的语料库对模型进行训练,提出一种基于三元组的评估方法,对生成案例进行评估和存储,从而实现CBR推理机的自主学习。最后将改进的案例学习系统应用到实际的智能机器人上进行验证,测试结果表明该方法具有可行性,且能够有效提高机器人的智能性及易用性。     

ICT4D research: a call for a strong critical approach

ABSTRACT

ICT for development ( ICT4D) research seeks to examine the social and economic changes in developing countries brought about by the deployment and use of ICT. This intent of ICT4D research parallels that of the critical research paradigm in IS, since both focus on transformation and change. The overall goals of this paper are to( 1)understand the extent of critical research in ICT4Dand ( 2)propose an approach, the“strong critical” approach, to conduct critical research in ICT4D. The proposed approach is based on the writings of two social theorists, Arturo Escobar and Gayatri Spivak, and consists of four concepts– the nature of the post-colonial state, provenience or local history of the ICT phenomena, the influence of the Washington Consensusand the issues of representation and subjectivity of subaltern subjects. A review of ICT4D papers showed that only about 20% follow the critical research approach. In-depth reviews ofeight papers that follow the critical approach showed that the“strong critical” lens can enable a deeper and richer analysis. The main contribution of this paper is in addressing a gap in the ICT4D literature about theorizing in the context of developing countries. The paper also reveals, through in-depth reviews, the value of the strong critical approach.     

The implications of a critical agenda in gender and IS research

Abstract.  This paper explores the nature of the critical agenda and endeavours to advance the critical debate by considering a particular case in point: gender and information systems (IS) research. It does so by drawing upon Chua's classic framework of outlining philosophical assumptions underpinning research and also by building upon prior work of the authors on the interconnections amongst research topic, epistemology and methodology. Specifically, it presents an argument for the benefits of adopting a critical perspective when studying gender and IS research, illustrating the additional insights that can be generated. These benefits and insights can also be mined from other areas of IS research.     

Current directions in IS security research: towards socio-organizational perspectives

Abstract. The purpose of this paper is to map the current territory of information systems and security research. It uses the Burrell and Morgan framework as an intellectual map to analyse the socio-philosophical concerns in various information systems and security approaches. The paper's contributions are in its analysis of trends in information systems and security research, the former in stressing the socio-organizational perspectives and the latter in criticizing the preponderance of technical solutions. The paper also sets an agenda for a future research emphasis.     

The paucity of multimethod research: a review of the information systems literature

Abstract.  It has commonly been argued that the use of different research methods within the information system (IS) discipline and within individual pieces of research will produce richer and more reliable results. This paper reports on a survey of the IS literature to discover the extent of multimethod research. The findings are that such work is relatively scarce, and where it occurs involves only a small set of traditional methods. Possible reasons for this are discussed.     

可重构制造系统重构算法的实例研究

可重构制造系统（RcMS)的模型及其重构算法是可重构制造系统的形式化表示，是研究RcMS优化的理论基础，基于赋时可重构Petri网的可重构制造系统模型（TRPN－RcMS)及其重构算法是RcMS的形式化表示方法之一。文中以实例对RcMS重构算法进行说明和论证。首先假设一个RcMS的实例系统；然后，根据RcMS的当前系统组成及其生成计划生成RcMS当前系统的TRPN－RcMS模型；最后，根据RcMS重构后的系统组成及其生产计划的变化情况，利用RcMS的TRPN－RcMS模型的重构算法，生成重构后的系统的TRPN－RcMS模型。