Information Systems Research: Scientific Concepts, Language and Change in Evolving Problem Solving Activity

There are several types of approaches to specify the contents and boundaries of the IS field, some of which are normative and some descriptive. However, they do not consider the role of scientific language change in problem solving. Research is an ever-continuing “intellectual voyage”, in which both a research community and each individual researcher progress from one understanding to another during time. An essential part of the problem solving activity and its progress and thereby the progress of the field is evolution of language through problem solving. If a conceptual core for Information Systems is ever to be formed, it should at least make sense in regard to the progress of the IS field among its reference disciplines. Currently, such core cannot be identified due to the use of theoretically and linguistically isolated viewpoints to IS research. We need to strive to change our scientific language to convey and bridge gaps between different viewpoints and schools. In this, new conceptual innovations and active reinterpretation of used theories are needed. An inclusive view of the ontology of the field and willingness to actively pursue to evolve one’s language, concepts, and conceptual viewpoints innovatively in research is essential for this.