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
Thursday, 9:30 to 12:00, 2nd floor CCB
Conference Room (212)
Fall 2008 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 |
20% |
Start of Class |
|
Weekly Class Participation |
10% |
Every Class |
|
Qualitative Research Project: |
||
|
Draft: Qualitative research design:
2 pages |
10% |
September 11 |
|
Draft: Defend the use of
qualitative method: 1 page |
5% |
September 25 |
|
Draft: Develop an interview guide based
on theory: 1-2 pages |
5% |
October 2 |
|
List of participants
you plan to interview (provide names, titles, and dates of interviews) |
|
October 9 |
|
Conduct interviews |
5% |
By October 30, earlier if possible |
|
Submit transcribed
interviews (must be audio or video recorded) |
5% |
November 20 |
|
Oral Presentation |
10% |
December 4 |
|
Final Paper |
30% |
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 four
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 IS
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. In return for Anand’s
help, he will be given electronic copies of the transcribed interviews to use
in his research.
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.
TENTATIVE COURSE
SCHEDULE:
|
Week 1: 8/21 |
Introduction
to the Course |
|
Week 2: 8/28 |
Sociological Paradigms |
|
Week 3: 9/4 |
Introduction
to Qualitative Research Methods |
|
Week 4: 9/11 |
The
Case Study: Positivist Approaches in IS Research |
|
Week 5: 9/18 |
The
Case Study: Interpretive Approaches IS Research |
|
Week 6: 9/25 |
Grounded
Theory |
|
Week 7: 10/2 |
Action
Research |
|
Week 8: 10/9 |
Nature
of Scientific Inquiry |
|
Week 9: 10/16 |
Beyond
Either/Or |
|
Week10: 10/23 |
Social
Construction of Reality |
|
Week 11: 10/30 |
Systems
Theory |
|
Week 12: 11/6 |
Theories of Change: Punctuated
Equilibrium |
|
Week 13: 11/13 |
Theory
of Communicative Action |
|
Week 14: 11/20 |
Structuration
Theory |
|
|
THANKSGIVING
BREAK |
|
Week 15: 12/4 |
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