Investigating Information Systems with the Extended Case Method
Description
This paper introduces and exemplifies the Extended Case Method in Information Systems research. Furthermore, the article provides criteria for evaluating the method. The main argument of the study is that the ECM is ideal for reconstructing a known theory to a new context; particularly, when the objective is to theorize how different information systems respond to that context. The method promotes a “systemic significance†based on the topology of those systems rather than a statistical significance. The study provides the background of the ECM and argues its differences from alternative interpretative research methods in IS. After that, the paper elaborates an illustration of how to support the theoretical and practical relevance of the context, the selection of the theory, the commonalities and differences among information systems, and the extension of the theory, in research guided by the ECM.
Investigating Information Systems with the Extended Case Method
This paper introduces and exemplifies the Extended Case Method in Information Systems research. Furthermore, the article provides criteria for evaluating the method. The main argument of the study is that the ECM is ideal for reconstructing a known theory to a new context; particularly, when the objective is to theorize how different information systems respond to that context. The method promotes a “systemic significance†based on the topology of those systems rather than a statistical significance. The study provides the background of the ECM and argues its differences from alternative interpretative research methods in IS. After that, the paper elaborates an illustration of how to support the theoretical and practical relevance of the context, the selection of the theory, the commonalities and differences among information systems, and the extension of the theory, in research guided by the ECM.