Acquiring Knowledge of Information Systems: Research in a Methodological Quagmire
نویسنده
چکیده
Information systems development and use involves people in action. Still, information systems research is dominated by ideals largely fetched from Newtonian physics. This leaves no room for human innovative action. Its only role becomes a disturbing factor in the general laws aimed at. The problem is, it largely ruins the possibilities of finding important general laws. A far bigger problem would follow from imposing such general laws on the majority of people in order to smooth the development and use of information systems. To avoid these problems new research methods, conducive to the study of human action as such, have to be added to the traditional ones. Here I intend to open a debate on meeting the challenge of truly human centered information systems research. The Purpose of this Paper The advocates of information technology take its beneficial effects for granted. They point to the earlier industrial revolution and how it improved the standard of living. To them, research to get the benefits of the electronic revolution is research, which produces new information technology and introduces it through practical applications. Creating knowledge in physics, chemistry, etc., for technological development contributes, in a sense, to the emancipation of man. It frees him/her from believing in unexplainable forces of nature and enables him/her to gain control over natural
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