Information Systems and Qualitative Research: Proceedings of the IFIP TC8 WG 8.2 International Conference on Information Systems and Qualitative Research, 31st May–3rd June 1997, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

574 Pages·1997·22.796 MB·English

by  A. S. Lee, J. Liebenau (auth.), Allen S. Lee, Jonathan Liebenau, Janice I. DeGross (eds.)

Information Systems and
Qualitative Research
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IFIP - The International Federation for Information Processing
IFIP was founded in 1960 under the auspices of UNESCO, following the First World
Computer Congress held in Paris the previous year. An umbrella organization for societies
working in information processing, IFIP's aim is two-fold: to support information processing
within its member countries and to encourage technology transfer to developing nations. As
its mission statement clearly states,
IFIP's mission is to be the leading, truly international, apolitical organization which
encourages and assists in the development, exploitation and application of information
technology for the benefit of all people.
IFIP is a non-profitmaking organization, run almost solely by 2500 volunteers. It operates
through a number of technical committees, which organize events and publications. IFIP's
events range from an international congress to local seminars, but the most important are:
• the IFIP World Computer Congress, held every second year;
• open conferences;
• working conferences.
The flagship event is the IFIp World Computer Congress, at which both invited and
contributed papers are presented. Contributed papers are rigorously refereed and the rejection
rate is high.
As with the Congress, participation in the open conferences is open to all and papers may
be invited or submitted. Again, submitted papers are stringently refereed.
The working conferences are structured differently. They are usually run by a working
group and attendance is small and by invitation only. Their purpose is to create an atmosphere
conducive to innovation and development. Refereeing is less rigorous and papers are
subjected to extensive group discussion.
Publications arising from IFIP events vary. The papers presented at the IFIP World
Computer Congress and at open conferences are published as conference proceedings, while
the results of the working conferences are often published as collections of selected and
edited papers.
Any national society whose primary activity is in information may apply to become a full
member of IFIP, although full membership is restricted to one society per country. Full
members are entitled to vote at the annual General Assembly, National societies preferring a
less committed involvement may apply for associate or corresponding membership. Associate
members enjoy the same benefits as full members, but without voting rights. Corresponding
members are not represented in IFIP bodies. Affiliated membership is open to non-national
societies, and individual and honorary membership schemes are also offered.
I nformation Systems and
Qual itative Research
Proceedings of the IFIP TC8 WG 8.2
International Conference on
Information Systems and Qualitative Research,
31 st May-3rd June 1997, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, USA
Edited by
Allen S. Lee,
McGill University
Montreal
Quebec
Canada
Jonathan Liebenau
London Schools of Economics
London
UK
and
Janice I. DeGross
University ofM innesota
Minneapolis
Minnesota
USA
IgOI
SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
First edition 1997
© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Chapman & Hall in 1997
ISBN 978-1-4757-5487-2 ISBN 978-0-387-35309-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-0-387-35309-8
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The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
I§J
Printed on permanent acid-free text paper, manufactured in accordance with ANSIINISO
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Contents
Program Committee ix
1 Information Systems and Qualitative Research
A. S. Lee and 1. Liebenau
PART ONE Overviewing and Assessing Qualitative IS Research
2 The qualitative difference in information systems research and practice
A1.L.A1arkus 11
3 Crisis in the case study crisis: marginal diminishing returns to scale in
the quantitative-qualitative research debate
1. L. King and L. A1. Applegate 28
4 A review on the use of action research in information systems studies
F.Lau 31
5 Panel - the impact of action research on information systems
R. Baskerville, A1. A1yers, P. A. Nielsen, and T. Wood-Harper 69
6 Process models in information systems
T. Shaw and S. larvenpaa 70
7 Systems of meaning: ethnography as a methodology for the study of
information technologies
P. Prasad 10 1
8 Panel - assessing critical social theory research in information systems
O. Ngwenyama, G. Davis, K. Lyytinen, D. Truex, and P. Cule 119
PART TWO Interpretation and IS Requirements Definition
9 Examining project history narratives: an analytic approach
E. 1. Davidson 123
10 Exploring analyst-client communication: using grounded theory techniques
to investigate interaction in information requirements gathering
C. Urquhart 149
11 Constituting users in requirements techniques
C. Westrup 182
VI Contents
PART THREE Illustrating, Experiencing, and Being Critical
in Ethnography
12 A discourse on ethnography
m
L&~
13 Achieving the research goal with qualitative methods: lessons
learned along the way
E. M. Trauth 225
14 Capturing complex, distributed activities: video-based interaction
analysis as a component of workplace ethnography
K. Ruhleder and B. Jordan 246
15 Critical ethnography in information systems
M. D. Myers 276
PART FOUR Interviewing and the Interviewer
16 Exploring a chairman of the board's construction of organizational
reality: the Colruyt case
M. Janson, T. Guimaraes, A. Brown, and T. Taillieu 303
17 Acquiring expert knowledge on IS function design
P. Mantelaers 324
PART FIVE The Social and Political Context of IS
18 Transitioning to client/server: using a temporal framework to study
organizational change
S. Sawyer and R. Southwick 343
19 Playing politics with e-mail: a longitudinal conflict-based analysis
C. T. Romm and N. Pliskin 362
20 Becoming part of the furniture: the institutionalization of
information systems
L Silva and J. Backhouse 389
PART SIX Developments in Qualitative Methods
21 Value in triangulation: a comparison of two approaches for combining
qualitative and quantitative methods
M. J. Gallivan 417
Contents vii
22 Qualitative research in information systems: time to be subjective?
L. Garcia and F. Quek 444
23 Actor-network theory and IS research: current status and
future prospects
G. Walsham 466
24 Imagine: thought experiments in information systems research
L. D. Introna and E. A. Whitley 481
25 Legal case analysis in IS research: failures in employing and
outsourcing for IT professionals
S. Ang and A. Endeshaw 497
26 Balancing interpretation and intervention in infomiation systems
research: the action case approach
R. Vidgen and K. Braa 524
27 Using case study research to build theories of IT implementation
G. Pare and J. J. Elam 542
28 Panel-qualitative research opportunities in health care
B. Kaplan, F. Lau, J. Aarts, and D. E. Forsythe· 569
Index of Contributors 571
Program Committee
General Chairs:
Kenneth E. Kendall Rutgers University, Camden, USA
Hans-Erik Nissen Lund University, Sweden
Program Chairs:
Allen Lee McGill University, Canada
Jonathan Liebenau London School of Economics, United Kingdom
Organizing Chair:
Ken Peffers Rutgers University, Camden, USA
Program Committee:
Soon Ang Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
David A vison University of Southampton, United Kingdom
Richard Baskerville Binghamton University, USA
Richard Boland Case Western Reserve University, USA
Claudio Ciborra Institute Theseus, France
Sue Conger Southern Methodist University, USA
Gordon Davis University of Minnesota, USA
Amir Hartman University of California, Berkeley, USA
Lynda Harvey Curtin University of Technology, Australia
Juhani Iivari University of Oulu, Finland
Lucas Introna London School of Economics, United Kingdom
Marius Janson University of Missouri, St. Louis, USA
Matthew Jones University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Julie Kendall Rutgers University, Camden, USA
John King University of California, Irvine, USA
Stephano Kluzer ENEA, Italy
Kalle Lyytinen University of Jyvaskyla, Finland
M. Lynne Markus Claremont Graduate School, USA
Michael Myers University of Auckland, New Zealand
Ojelanki Ngwenyama University of Michigan, USA
Hans Oppelland Erasmus University, The Netherlands
Wanda Orlikowski Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
x Program Committee
Dan Robey Georgia State University. USA
Ulrike Schultze Case Western Reserve University. USA
Eileen Trauth Northeastern University. USA
Duane Truex Georgia State University. USA
Dick Welke Georgia State University. USA
Susan Winter University of Victoria. Canada
Chee-Sing Yap National University of Singapore
Part One
Overviewing and Assessing
Qualitative IS Research