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.
Recommended Citation
Niederman, F. (In press). Causality Is a Lost Cause: IS Research Is Better Off Without It. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 58, pp-pp. Retrieved from https://aisel.aisnet.org/cais/vol58/iss1/28
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