Author ORCID Identifier
Fred Niederman: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3246-4769
Abstract
In this essay, I argue that the dominance of so-called “positivist” research is harmful to the accumulation of useful IS knowledge. I argue further that it is based on the misplaced search for reductionist and simplistic models the kernel of which revolves around causality as a chimerical goal rather than the more difficult but productive task of delineating the complexity of the “real-world”. This is based on the premise that causality should be narrowly understood as describing deterministic relationships where an antecedent must be both necessary and sufficient to establish a consequent. I acknowledge potentially legitimate alternative uses of the term but challenge the notion that lesser conceptualizations of causality are helpful relative to understanding alternative relationships that illuminate influences in socio-technical systems. In conclusion, I return to consideration of IS research that doesn’t focus on establishing causal relationships or “laws” considering mindset, representation of knowledge, and the shift to a sense of impermanence and continual improvement as the central element of our understandings of patterns and principles that are observed in the IS domain.
DOI
10.17705/1CAIS.05869
Recommended Citation
Niederman, F. (2026). Causality Is a Lost Cause: IS Research Is Better Off Without It. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 58, 1634-1656. https://doi.org/10.17705/1CAIS.05869
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