IS 7021: The Philosophy of Science
& Qualitative Research Methods
Dr. Mary C. Lacity
233 Computer Center Building
(314) 516-6127 (work)
(314) 516-6827 (fax)
mailto:mary.lacity@umsl.edu
http:/www.umsl.edu/~lacity
Wednesday, 9:00 to 11:40, 2nd floor CCB
Conference Room (212)
Fall 2010 CLASS
This seminar presents an introduction to
philosophical concepts and qualitative research methods underlying scientific
inquest in IS research. The philosophical and methodological foundations of
information systems are largely built upon the philosophies, theories, and
methods from other disciplines, including the physical sciences, computer
science, sociology, psychology, and mathematics. In this course, we survey a variety of
philosophical perspectives and qualitative methods from other disciplines by
reading the original works, critical responses to these works, and
representative applications of these ideas in the IS domain.
Logically, we should first cover philosophy
of science, followed by qualitative methods.
Practically, we study qualitative research methods first because
students need the entire semester to complete the qualitative research project.
Week two we cover sociological
paradigms (part of philosophy of science), but then we are going to study
qualitative research methods followed by more philosophy of science.
COURSE MATERIALS:
There are ten books
and about 35 readings on the reading list.
You may purchase books from Amazon or borrow from the library. I have an
additional copy of books by Kuhn, Von Bertalanffy, Giddens and Burrell & Morgan someone may borrow from me. Nearly all the papers are available on
ABI-inform. The few book chapters I will
distribute in hard-copy.
Learning
to read a book. I know the new students may be intimated by this
reading list. During your studies, you
will learn how to digest most of a book’s content in about 4 hours. I spend about ½ hour skimming through the
book covers, preface, bibliography, and reading each chapter’s introductory
paragraphs, subtitles, tables, and graphs.
This provides a “feel” for the book in terms of the author’s overall
position, arguments, and evidence. Then
you can speed read the contents, paying particularly attention to the first few
chapters.
GRADING:
|
Assignment: |
Percent of Grade |
Due Date |
|
Weekly
Quizzes |
30% |
Start
of Class |
|
Weekly
Class Participation |
10% |
Every
Class |
|
Qualitative Research Project: |
||
|
Draft:
Qualitative research design:
2 pages |
September
15 |
|
|
Draft:
Defend the use of
qualitative method: 1 page |
September
22 |
|
|
Draft:
Develop an interview
guide based on theory: 1-2 pages |
October
6 |
|
|
List of participants
you plan to interview (provide names, titles, and dates of interviews) |
|
October
6 |
|
Conduct
interviews |
By
October 27, earlier if possible |
|
|
Submit
transcribed interviews (must be audio or video recorded) |
November
17 |
|
|
Oral
Presentation |
20% |
December
1 |
|
Practice
Comp Questions |
10% |
December
8 |
|
Final
Paper on Qualitative Research Project |
40% |
January
5 |
Qualitative Research Project:
Each
student will conduct five or more interviews.
Interviewing is an important skill associated with qualitative
research. The learning goals from this
project include:
There are several options that students may
pursue. Each student may work on their
own or in pairs. The benefit of working in pairs is that you will be able to
combine interviews and possibly develop a publishable piece of research. Also, I find that coauthored projects are
inherently more fun and more productive.
As this is a learning exercise, students
should consider topics in which it will be easy to find participants. Students might try to pick a topic in which
current UMSL students, faculty, or staff could serve as subjects. Alternatively, students may want to pick a
topic in which subjects could be selected from prior work places with other
established contacts. Students should
not pick a topic that requires interviews with five CEOs or CIOs unless
students have access to C-level executives.
Student(s) will select their own topic. Students have at least three choices:
(a) Select a new and exciting topic that has
never before been researched. This option is most appropriate for doctoral
students who have already taken several Ph.D. seminars. The benefit is that an original study could
serve as a pilot for a dissertation and or lead to a publication. The drawback is that this requires a
significant amount of work under a tight deadline. I will show you the various incarnations of
research started in this course that resulted in the following presentation and
publications:
Project
for class:
Iyer, V., and Rudramuniyaiah, P. (2006), “Investigations
of Intentions to Leave Amongst IS Professionals Using Investment Model: A
Qualitative Approach,” Class project, 109 pages.
Conference
Paper: Lacity, M.,
Iyer, V., and Rudramuniyaiah, P. (2007), “Modeling
Turnover Intentions of Indian IS Professionals,” Third International Conference on Outsourcing of Information Systems,
Presentation: “Modeling
Turnover Intentions of Indian IS Professionals,” Third International Conference
on Outsourcing of Information Systems,
Book
Chapter: Lacity, Rudramuniyaiah,
P., and Iyer, V. (2008), “Understanding turnover
among Indian IS Professionals,” in Offshore
Outsourcing of IT Work (Lacity and Rottman), Palgrave,
Journal Publication:
Lacity, M., Iyer, V., and Rudramuniyaiah, P. (2008), “Turnover Intentions of
Indian IS Professionals,” Information
Systems Frontiers, Special Issue on Outsourcing of IT Services, Vol. 10, 2,
pp. 225-241.
(b) Find an existing study to replicate or
slightly extend. The
benefit of this approach is that new students can quickly conquer the learning
curve. This option is appropriate if you
have a strong interest in a certain topic and would like to start building some
experience with empirical research in a certain topic area. The drawback is
that you will learn less about designing a new contribution to knowledge.
(c) Replicate Anand Jeyaraj’s research for
individual adoption. This might be the
most appropriate option for new Ph.D. students who are not yet familiar with
the academic literature. I will provide,
via Anand, the research questions, theoretical underpinnings, and sample
interview guide. The benefit of this
approach is that students will have a good research project that can be
completed in the allotted time.
On the last day of class, each student will
take 30 minutes to discuss their research method and findings using Power
Point.
WEEKLY QUIZZES:
At the start of class
each week, I will administer a brief quiz on the assigned readings. The
purpose of the quiz is to give you that extra incentive to read all assignments
prior to class. The quizzes will assess basic understanding of the
material, while the subsequent class discussion will provide more erudite
analysis.
WEEKLY CLASS PARTICIPATION:
It is vital that
students attend all sessions. Please make attendance your number one priority. This
class will only be valuable if each and every one of us makes a commitment to
be prepared. That means that each student must have carefully read
all the reading assignments prior to class. We will assess the class
participation grade based on our impression of your weekly preparation,
meaningful insights, plentiful comments, intellectual curiosity, and
enthusiasm.
In a rare
circumstance that a student has to miss class (such as the birth of a child or
severe illness), please contact me immediately.
PRACTICE COMP QUESTION:
One of my goals is to help students prepare for comprehensive
exams. The practice comprehensive exam
will be in the same format as the IS comprehensive exam. The practice exam will comprise two questions
from the course. You have two hours to
answer the exam. I will find a computerized classroom so that you may use a
computer.
TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE:
|
Week 1: 8/25 |
Introduction
to the Course |
|
Week 2: 9/1 |
Sociological Paradigms |
|
Week 3: 9/8 |
Introduction
to Qualitative Research Methods |
|
Week 4: 9/15 |
The
Case Study: Positivist Approaches in IS Research |
|
Week 5: 9/22 |
The
Case Study: Interpretive Approaches IS Research |
|
Week 6: 9/29 |
Grounded
Theory |
|
Week 7: 10/6 |
Action
Research |
|
Week 8: 10/13 |
Nature
of Scientific Inquiry |
|
Week 9: 10/20 |
Beyond
Either/Or |
|
Week10: 10/27 |
Social
Construction of Reality |
|
Week 11: 10/30 |
Systems
Theory |
|
Week 12: 11/3 |
Theories of Change:
Punctuated Equilibrium |
|
Week 13: 11/10 |
Theory
of Communicative Action |
|
Week 14: 11/17 |
Structuration
Theory |
|
|
THANKSGIVING
BREAK |
|
Week 15: 12/1 |
Oral
Presentations |
Week 2:
Sociological Paradigms
Does IS research follow a
paradigm? In this class, Burrell and Morgan's seminal summary of
sociological paradigms inform the question. The book's impact in varying
fields such as sociology and business school disciplines was to compellingly
argue for theoretical and methodological diversity in organizational
studies. Critics, however, subsequently contested that research paradigms
can be neatly organized into a Cartesian plane, and some have even called their
framework "boring and misleading."
Assigned
Week 3:
Introduction to Qualitative Research
|
Major Research “Strategies” |
Major Data Collection & Analysis Methods |
|
Case
Study |
Interviewing |
|
Ethnography,
Participant Observation |
Observing |
|
Grounded
Theory |
Artifacts,
Documents, Records |
|
Action
and Applied Research |
|
Assigned
·
Myers,
M. (1997), “Qualitative Research in Information Systems,”published
on www.isworld.org (announced in MIS
Quarterly), Vol. 21, 2, pp. 241-242.
·
Orlikowski,
W., and Baroudi, J. (1999), “Studying IT in Organizations: Research Approaches
and Assumptions,” Information Systems
Research, Vol. 2, 1, pp. 1-28.
Week 4:
The Case Study Method: Positivist Approaches
Assigned
Week 5: The Case Study Method: Interpretive Approaches
Assigned
Week 6: Grounded Theory
Assigned
·
Galal, G. (2001), “From contexts to constructs: the use of grounded
theory in operationalising contingent process models,” European Journal of Information Systems, Vol. 10,
1, pp. 2-14.
Week 7: Action Research
Assigned
·
Susman, G. and Evered, R. (1978), "An Assessment of
The Scientific Merits of Action Research," Administrative Science
Quarterly, Vol. 23, 4, pp. 582-603.
·
Baskerville, R. and Myers, M. (2004),
“Special Issue on Action Research in IS—Forward,” MIS Quarterly, 2004, Vol. 28,
3, pp. 329-335.
· Iversen, J. (2004), “Managing Risk in Software Process Improvement: An Action Research Approach, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 28, 3, p. 395-433.
·
Baskerville,
R. and Wood-Harper, A.T. (1998), "Diversity in Information Systems Action
Research Methods," European Journal of Information Systems, Vol. 7,
2, pp. 90-107.
·
Baskerville,
R. (1999), "Investigating Information Systems with Action Research",
Communications of The Association for
Information Systems, Vol. 2, 19, pp. 1-32.
Week 8: Nature of Scientific
Inquiry
According to E.D. Klemke in his introduction
to Introductory Readings in the Philosophy of Science, edited by Klemke,
Hollinger, and Kline, 1988, the Philosophy of Science is "the attempt
to understanding the meaning, method, and logical structure of science."
The Philosophy of Science studies the nature of matter (ontology), the nature
of mind (philosophical psychology), and the relationship between matter and
mind in the process of perception and knowledge creation
(epistemology). In these introductory readings, we will read that
historically, science is not an incremental acquisition of knowledge, but
rather a punctuated series of revolutions and evolutions of thought and wrought
with politics. Popper teaches that we can only falsify theories induced
from observations, but never prove them. Allen Lee reminds us why
these lofty speculations are germane to our lives as IS researchers.
Assigned
Week 9: Beyond Either/Or:
Integrating Paradigms
·
Lee,
A. S. (1991), "Integrating Positivist and Interpretive Approaches to
Organizational Research," Organization Science, Vol. 2, 4, pp.
342-365.
·
Mason,
R. (2001), “Not Either/Or: Research in Pasteur’s Quadrant,” Communications of the AIS, Vol, 6,
Article 16.
·
Mingers,
J. (2001), “Combining IS Research Methods: Towards a Pluralist Methodology,” Information Systems Research, Vol. 12,
3, pp. 240-259.
Week 10: The Social Construction
of Reality
The back cover of Searle's book brilliantly
captures the issue of the Social Construction of Reality:
"In the Social Construction of
Reality, eminent philosopher John Searle examines the structure of social
reality (or those portions of the world that are facts only by human agreement,
such as money, marriage, property, and government) and contrasts it to a brute
reality that is independent of human agreement. Searle shows that brute
reality provides the indisputable foundation for all social reality, and that
social reality, while real, is maintained by nothing more than custom and
habit."
Assigned
Week 11: Systems Theory
We will define systems, and look at
properties of systems, including the rational and political nature of
information and information systems. I know this section's reading list
is a bit ambitious, but we will start with Von Bertalanffy, generally
recognized as the father of general systems theory. Von Bertalanffy was a
biologist and philosopher, who searched for the universal laws of
organization. His legacy is important because many believe social systems
are like living organisms in the sense that both display wholeness, interact
with their environment, exhibit strategies of self-maintenance, and experience
cycles of birth, growth, maturity and death.
Assigned
Week 12: Theories of Change: Punctuated Equilibrium
Two biologists, Stephen Jay Gould and Niles
Eldredge, made significant contributions to their field, which have been subsequently
adopted in ours. Specifically, Gould and Eldredge noted that the fossil
record shows that many species seem to "appear" quite rapidly and
then remain stable during their existence. Thus, rather than species
gradually and incrementally changing over time, most change occurs when a
population is separated and evolves into a new species in 10,000 to 50,000
generations (peanuts in terms of geologic time!). Thus, evolution occurs
in periods of punctuated change followed by periods of equilibrium. In
the social organizational context, researchers have adopted punctuated
equilibrium as a basis for studying organizational change.
Assigned
Week 13: Communicative Action Theory
Habermas’ theory of communicative action extends
the concept of a critical theory. Habermas' theory is oriented towards
participation and emancipation. Thus, communicative action is germane to
studying information systems (e.g., information systems design).
The assumption that is basic to communicative
action is the idea that communication pervades all that individuals do –
communication is a form of action. Habermas draws on the work of Austin who
theorized that much of speech constitutes action. For example, if a minister
during a wedding ceremony declares: “I hereby declare you man and wife” the
persons involved are in fact married. This “speech act” is goes by the name of
a “declarative.” Thus, to understand Habermas’ communicative theory we first
have to understand
Assigned
·
BOOK: Austin,J. L. (1975), How to Do
Things With Words,
·
BOOK: Habermas,J. (1984), The Theory of
Communicative Action, Volume One: Reason and the Rationalization of Society,
·
BOOK: Klein, H., and Huynh, M., "The
Critical Social Theory of Jurgen Habermas and its Implications for IS Research,"
in Social Theory and Philosophy for Information Systems, edited by John
Mingers and Leslie Willcocks, Wiley, Chichester, 2004,pp. 157-237.
Week 14: Structuration Theory
What is the relationship among organizational
structures, agents (such as IS developers, users, managers) and information
technology? Not an easy to question to answer. Consider first
the traditional and opposing views on the just the relationship between
structure and agents (let alone throwing IT into the mix). The Structuralist/Functionalist
perspective, based on the legacy of Parsons, views that agents react to
objective social structures; thus this view is strong on structure and weak on
agent's freewill. In contrast, Interpretive Sociologists view agents as
completely free to act in their own subjective reality; thus this view is
strong on agent's free will, but weak on structure. An alternative
to these opposing views is proposed in the works of Anthony Giddens. He
views agents and structures not as a dualism of independent phenomena, but as a
duality. "Structure" is created and recreated by the actions of
knowledgeable agents. Although Giddens did not address information
technology in any detail, IS researchers have applied his ideas, with varying
conformity to his original works, to the IT domain. I've also included
four articles that debate structuration theory in the accounting context (the
Boland verses Scapens & Macintosh papers.) This lively debate
displays some of the challenges of importing theories to new domains.
Assigned
·
BOOK: Giddens, A. (1986), The
Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration, University
of
·
Jones, M.,
and Karsten, H., “Giddens's
Structuration Theory and Information Systems Research”,
MIS Quarterly, Vol. 31, 1, pp. 127-157.
·
Orlikowski,
W., and Robey, D. (1991), "Information Technology and the Structuring of
Organizations," Information Systems Research, Vol. 2, 2, pp.
143-169.
·
Orlikowski,
W. (1992), "The Duality of Technology: Rethinking the Concept of
Technology in Organizations," Organization Science, Vol. 3, 3, pp.
398-427.
Week 15: Oral Presentations
Week 16: In-class Exam