Positivist single case study research in information systems: a critical analysis

Positivist, single case study is an important research approach within the information systems discipline. This paper provides detailed definitions of key concepts in positivist, single case study research and carefully analyses the conduct and outcomes of the Sarker and Lee study that examined the role of social enablers in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems implementation, and was presented at the International Conference on Information Systems in 2000. A number of key issues about positivist, single case studies are identified, including the need for a clear and deep understanding of key concepts including theory, proposition, hypothesis and hypothesis testing; the need for clearly defined concepts in theories being tested; the need for hypotheses not propositions when undertaking empirical research; the importance of explicit boundaries for theories; the distinction between single case studies and single experiments; and the problem of easy refutation of strong hypotheses using specific and unique cases. Despite these issues, positivist, single studies provide a sound and systematic approach for conducting research and are an important component of pluralist research programs within information systems.