Towards dissolution of the is research debate: from polarization to polarity
نویسندگان
چکیده
The debate between ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ research approaches continues in the IS field, but with little prospect of resolution. The debate is typically characterised by tendentious arguments as advocates from each approach offer a somewhat one-sided condemnation of the counterpart from the inimical research tradition. This paper begins by relating two fictitious tales which serve to highlight the futility of research conducted at the extremity of each research approach. The dichotomies which characterise these rival factions are also summarised. The debate is then framed in terms of the polarisation problem whereby IS researchers are divided geographically and paradigmatically into ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ camps. A variety of different strategies have been proposed for resolving the debate and these are discussed in detail. They are grouped into four categories, referred to as supremacism, isolationism, integration, and pluralism. Finally, the paper contends that the debate cannot be resolved, and offers the metaphor of magnetic polarity as a means of reflecting this. The paper concludes by arguing that it would be more appropriate to recast the debate at a macro level in order to accommodate different research agenda and recognise the strengths within each tradition. 1 Published in the Journal of Information Technology, (1998, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 313326) in the Special Issue on Qualitative Research guest edited by Geoff Walsham and Michael Myers. Towards Dissolution of the IS Research Debate: From Polarisation to Polarity “I began to wonder whether anything truly existed, whether reality wasn’t an unformed and gelatinous substance only half-captured by my senses. There was no proof that everyone perceived it in the same way; maybe others had a different impression of things; maybe they did not see the same colours or hear the same sounds I did. If that were true, each of us was living in absolute isolation.” from Eva Luna (p.167) by Isabel Allende, 1987, Penguin, UK
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ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- JIT
دوره 13 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 1998