Explanation in information systems

Information Systems Journal

Volumn 18, Issue 1, 2008, Pages 23-43

  Hovorka, Dirk S ^a   Germonprez, Matt ^b   Larsen, Kai R ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN EAU CLAIRE   (United States)

Author keywords

Explanation; Information systems; Ontology; Philosophy of science; Research method

Indexed keywords

EID: 38749085683     PISSN: 13501917     EISSN: 13652575     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2575.2007.00271.x     Document Type: Article

References (67)

1. Achinstein, P. (1977) What is an explanation? American Philosophical Quarterly, 14, 1 15.
2. Achinstein, P. (1983) The Nature of Explanation. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
3. Agarwal, R. Prasad, J. (1999) Are individual differences germane to the acceptance of new information technologies. Decision Sciences, 30, 361 391.
4. Agazzi, E. (1992) Intelligibility, understanding and explanation in Science. In : Idealization IV: Intelligibility in Science, Dilworth, C ed.), pp. 25 46. Rodopi, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
5. Apel, K.O. (1984) Understanding and Explanation. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA.
6. Barua, A., Kriebel, C.H. Mukhopadhyay, T. (1995) Information technologies and business value - an analytic and empirical-investigation. Information Systems Research, 6, 3 23.
7. Boudreau, M.C., Gefen, D. Straub, D.W. (2001) Validation in information systems research: a state-of-the-art assessment. MIS Quarterly, 25, 1 16.
8. Bunge, M. (1984) Philosophical inputs and outputs of technology. In : History and Philosophy of Technology, Bugliarello, G Doner, D.B eds.), pp. 263 281. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL, USA.
9. Carlson, P.J. Davis, G.B. (1998) An investigation of media selection among directors and managers: from 'self' to 'other' orientation. MIS Quarterly, 22, 335 358.
10. Casti, J.L. (1992) Reality Rules: 1. Picturing the World in Mathematics - The Fundamentals. John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, USA.
11. Chen, W. Hirscheim, R. (2004) A paradigmatic and methodological examination of information systems research from 1991 to 2001. Information Systems Journal, 14, 197 235.
12. Cooper, R.B. (2000) Information technology development creativity: a case study of attempted radical change. MIS Quarterly, 24, 245 276.
13. Daft, R.L. Lengel, R.H. (1984) Information richness: a new approach to managerial behavior and organization design. Research in Organizational Behavior, 6, 191 233.
14. Daft, R.L., Lengel, R. Trevino, L. (1987) Message equivocality, media selection, and manager performance: implications for information systems. MIS Quarterly, 11, 355 366.
15. Davidson, E. (2002) Technology frames and framing: a socio-cognitive investigation of requirements determination. MIS Quarterly, 26, 329 358.
16. DeLone, W. McLean, E.R. (1992) Information systems success: the quest for the dependent variable. Information Systems Research, 3, 60 95.
17. Dennis, A.R. Kinney, S.T. (1998) Testing media richness theory in the new media: the effects of cues, feedback, and task equivocality. Information Systems Research, 9, 256 274.
18. Devaraj, S., Ming Fan, M. Kohli, R. (2002) Antecedents of B2C channel satisfaction and preference: validating e-commerce metrics. Information Systems Research, 13, 316 333.
19. Dreyfus, H. (1986) Why studies of human capacities modeled on ideal science can never achieve their goal. In : Rationality, Relativism, and the Human Sciences, Margolis, J., Krausz, M. Burian, R.M eds.), pp. 3 22. Martinus Nijhohh Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
20. El-Shinnawy, M.M. Markus, M. L. (1992) Media richness theory and new electronic communication media. In : The Thirteenth International Conference on Information Systems, pp. 91 105. Dallas, TX.
21. Elster, J. (ed 1996a) Functional Explanation in Social Science. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA.
22. Elster, J. (ed 1996b) The Nature and Scope of Rational Choice Explanation, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA.
23. Fay, B. (1996) General laws and explaining human behavior. In : Readings in the Philosophy of Social Science, Martin, M McIntyre, L.C. (eds.), pp. 91 110. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA.
24. van Fraassen, B. (1980) The Scientific Image. The Clarendon Press, Oxford, UK.
25. Galliers, R.D. Whitley, E.A. (2002) An anatomy of European information systems research ECIS 1993-ECIS 2002: some initial findings. Proceedings of the 10th European Conference on Information Systems, ECIS 2002. June 6-8, Gdansk, Poland.
26. Gregor, S. (2006) The nature of theory in information systems. MIS Quarterly, 30, 611 642.
27. Hall, N. (2004) Two concepts of causation. In : Causation and Couterfactuals, Paul, L.A. (ed.), pp. 225 276. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA.
28. Hayek, F.A. (1996) The theory of complex phenomenon. In : Readings in the Philosophy of Social Science, Martin, M. McIntyre, L.C eds.), pp. 55 70. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA.
29. Hemple, C.G. Oppenheim, P. (1948) Studies in the logic of explanation. Philosophy of Science, 15, 135 175.
30. Hevner, A.R., Ram, S., March, S.T. Park, J. (2004) Design science in IS research. MIS Quarterly, 28, 75 106.
31. Hovorka, D.S. (2005) Functional explanation in information systems. Proceedings of the 11th Americas Conference on Information Systems, 11-15 August 2005, Omaha, NE, USA.
32. Hunt, S.D. (1991) Modern Marketing Theory: Critical Issues in the Philosophy of Marketing Science. South-Western Publishing Company, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
33. Kinkaid, H. (ed 1994) Assessing Functional Explanations in the Social Sciences. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA.
34. Kinkaid, H. (1996) Philosophical Foundations of the Social Sciences: Analyzing Controversies in Social Research. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY.
35. Kitcher, P. (1989) Explanatory unification and causal structure of the world. In : Scientific Explanation, Vol. 13, Kitcher, P. Salmon, M. (eds.), pp. 410 505. University of Minneapolis Press, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
36. Kohli, R. Devaraj, S. (2003) Measuring information technology payoff: a meta-analysis of structural variables in firm-level empirical research. Information Systems Research, 14, 127 145.
37. Lee, A. (1994) Electronic mail as a medium for rich communication: an empirical investigation using hermeneutic interpretation. MIS Quarterly, 18, 143 157.
38. Lee, A. (2000) The social and political context of doing relevant research. MIS Quarterly, 24, v viv.
39. Markus, M.L. (1994) Electronic mail as the medium of managerial choice. Organization Science, 5, 502 527.
40. Markus, M.L. (2004) Fit for function: functionalism, neofunctionalism and information systems. In : Social Theory and Philosophy for Information Systems, Mingers, J. Willcocks, L. (eds.), pp. 27 55. John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, UK.
41. Markus, M.L. Robey, D. (1988) Information technology and organization change: causal structure in theory and research. Management Science, 34, 583 598.
42. Miles, M.B. Huberman, A.M. (1994) Qualitative Data Analysis: an Expanded Sourcebook. Sage Publications Ltd, Beverly Hills, CA, USA.
43. Mingers, J. (2001) Combining IS research methods: toward a pluralist methodology. Information Systems Research, 12, 240 259.
44. Myers, M. (1997) Qualitative research in information systems. MIS Quarterly, 21, 241 242.
45. Ngwenyama, O. Lee, A. (1997) Communication richness in electronic mail: critical social theory and the contextuality of meaning. MIS Quarterly, 21, 145 167.
46. Orlikowski, W. Baroudi, J. (1991) Studying information technology in organizations: research approaches and assumptions. Information Systems Research, 2, 1 62.
47. Orlikowski, W. Iacono, C. (2001) Desperately seeking the 'IT' in IT research: a call to theorizing the IT artifact. MIS Quarterly, 12, 121 134.
48. Pervan, G. Klass, D. (1991) The use and misuse of statistical methods in information system research. In : Information Systems Research: Issues, Methods and Practical Guidelines, Galliers, R.D eds.), pp. 208 229. Blackwell Scientific Publications, London, UK.
49. Pinsonneault, A. Rivard, S. (1998) Information technology and the nature of managerial work: from the productivity paradox to the Icarus paradox. MIS Quarterly, 22, 287 311.
50. Rice, R. (1992) Task analyzability, use of new media, and effectiveness: a multi-site exploration of media richness. Organization Science, 3, 475 500.
51. Rosenberg, A. (1988) Philosophy of Social Science. Westview Press, Boulder, CO, USA.
52. Ruben, D.-H. (1990) Explaining Explanation. Routledge, London, UK & New York, NY, USA.
53. Salmon, W. (1984) Scientific Explanation and the Causal Structure of the World. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA.
54. Salmon, W. (1989) Four decades of scientific explanation, In : Scientific Explanation; Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Vol. 13, Kitcher, P. Salmon, W. (eds.), pp. 3 220. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
55. Salmon, W. (1998) Causality and Explanation. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, USA.
56. Salmon, W., Jeffrey, R. Greeno, J.G. (1971) Statistical Explanation and Statistical Relevance. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
57. Schmitz, J. Fulk, J. (1991) Organizational colleagues, media richness, and electronic mail - a test of the social influence model of technology use. Communication Research, 18, 487 523.
58. Searle, J.R. (2001) Rationality in Action. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA.
59. Simon, H.A. (1969) Sciences of the Artificial. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA.
60. Sussman, S.W. Siegal, W.S. (2003) Informational influence in organizations: an integrated approach to knowledge adoption. Information Systems Research, 14, 47 65.
61. Trevino, L., Lengel, R. Daft, R. L. (1987) Media symbolism, media richness, and media choice in organizations. Communication Research, 14, 553 574.
62. Walsham, G. (1995) The emergence of interpretivism in IS research. Information Systems Research, 6, 376 394.
63. Walton, D. (2004) A new dialectical theory of explanation. Philosophical Explorations, 7, 71 89.
64. Weber, R. (2004) The rhetoric of positivism versus interpretivism: a personal view. MIS Quarterly, 28, iii xii.
65. Whitehead, A.F. (1967) Science and the Modern World. Free Press, New York, NY, USA.
66. von Wright, G.H. (1971) Explanation and Understanding. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA.
67. Wright, L. (1976) Teleological Explanations: an Etiological Analysis of Goals and Functions. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, USA.