Using recent criticisms and suggestions regarding themulti-level perspective as stepping stones, the article aims to enhance the reflexivity in transition debates regarding social theories. To that end, the article discusses seven social science ontologies (rational choice, evolution theory, structuralism, interpretivism, ccepted 1 January 2010 vailable online 21 February 2010

This paper explores the association between postmodernism and interpretivism. The paper’s objective is to show that the interpretivist research paradigm shows very clear postmodernist traits. After defining the two concepts the paper attempts to answer the research question whether interpretivism is a typical postmodernist approach to Information Systems science and research. The paper is conce...

in this book, elizabeth frazer offers a detailed study of the concept of community; and examines political and philosophical communitarianism. more specifically, she analyzes the relationships between communitarianism and interpretivism, social constructionism, locality, family life and finally politics.

Qualitative research is often associated with interpretivism, but alternatives do exist. Besides critical research and sometimes positivism, qualitative research in information systems can be performed following a paradigm of pragmatism. This paradigm is associated with action, intervention and constructive knowledge. This paper has picked out interpretivism and pragmatism as two possible and i...

Received: 29 June 2009 Revised: 9 February 2010 2nd Revision: 8 November 2010 3rd Revision: 21 June 2011 4th Revision: 9 January 2012 5th Revision: 12 November 2012 6th Revision: 17 November 2012 Accepted: 20 November 2012 Abstract In 1995, Geoff Walsham wrote one of the most important and most widely cited papers on interpretivism in information systems (IS). Walsham’s paper, along with his fu...

Political philosophy seeks to justify principles of social justice. How should it go about that task? One answer, what may be called the practice-based method of justification, is that we are to justify principles, by moral reasoning, both for and from a social practice, which we identify by way of social interpretation. The approach contrasts, on the one hand, with what might be called pure so...