Few guidelines are available about how a case researcher may collect data about past or historical phenomena. A methodology for case studies based on archival data would be useful for taking advantage of a wealth of evidence (e.g., corporate documents such as memoranda and e-mail, as well as popular press) that occurs naturally in organizational and societal experiences of dealing with informat...

The creation and development of theory and methods used in the study of organizations is predominantly carried out grounded in the positivist paradigm – epistemological and methodological assumptions similar to those of the natural sciences. This essay looks at the limitations of that paradigm for the study of human organizations and the benefits of relativist, humanist and post-modern assumpti...

It is often assumed that the information representations used in interactive information systems are grounded firmly and objectively in mathematics. This positivist view is at odds, however, with contemporary mathematics and philosophy of science, which sees subjective, social, and situated symbol systems — semiology — at the base of all human information use. We describe some of the reasons be...

Some contemporary or relatively recent articles, studied together, seem to suggest that computer science education is in a state of crisis. But, is it? This article examines the arguments. My preliminary findings is that if you examine the arguments from a positivist stance, you may well infer that there is a crisis, but if you view them from a constructivist perspective, the crisis becomes an ...

Although anecdotal evidence suggests that healthcare organizations are relatively slow to innovate, several healthcare organizations are engaging in innovative practices to improve patient care. Facing significant operational challenges, regional healthcare organizations often provide unique and focused services benefiting the entire community. We adapt the dynamic capabilities theory and proce...

The characteristics of systems boundary are unfolded by tracing the conceptual evolution of boundary in diverse and multiple disciplines, including systems approaches, organisational studies, chaos theory, and Chinese Taoism. Some key ideas revealed include difference as the origin of boundary, the primary (non-supplementary) role of boundary, buffering and spanning as boundary strategies, tran...

This chapter presents a set of principles for the use of Grounded Theory techniques in qualitative field studies. Some issues and controversies relating to rigor in Grounded Theory generation are discussed. These include: inductive theory generation and emergence, how theoretical saturation may be judged, the extent to which coding schemes should be formalized, the objectivistsubjectivist debat...

This paper discusses the differences between a positivist research philosophy and one which is increasingly emerging in IS research an interpretive research philosophy, as they relate to case research, by examining selected case studies drawn from recent published IS case research. Each perspective places a different emphasis on case research, reflecting different ways of viewing reality and th...