[AISWorld] CfP HICSS 55 (2022): Informing Research: Where to Now?

[Dirk Hovorka]

HICSS-55 2022 Mini-track
Informing Research: Where to Now?
(Organizational Systems and Technology track)

The "Informing Research: Where to Now?" mini-track invites submissions which address the challenge of exploring where to now, given what we now know. Grounded in the recognition that what we know  and how we know it both guides and constrains what we seek to know our mini-track seeks to challenge scholars to focus attention on "new phenomena, disclose new perspectives on phenomena, and illuminate new research agendas and programs" against the background of existing research. To advance the discourse on the role and development of theory and contributions in IS research, we encourage research that rethinks the processes of theory formulation, theory replacement or theory envisioning.

The contributions we seek will explicitly challenge themselves to not just be reviews of the extant literature. While literature reviews of prior publications synthesize what we already know, they often lock our theorizing in place even when researchers are faced with novel phenomenon or new socio-technical configurations. We propose that the resultant theoretical contradiction, incommensurability, and blind acceptance of received theoretical wisdom all hamper our ability to understand, integrate, and synthesize the exponentially growing body of scientific literature in the social sciences. Reviews provide attentive accounts of the present state of knowledge, but our research only rarely provides insightful images of where our knowledge can go. Thus, the focus of Informing Research.

Papers in the Informing Research mini-track will begin by problematizing what is known regarding specific challenges. Problematizing provides the background to identify what is a way forward and what is worth knowing by surfacing problematic assumptions that no longer hold, and also problematic contextual or technological development that threatens what we know or reveals what we don't know. For example, development of theory ontologies would benefit the field by identifying what we can now research, given what we already know; Theory integration between disciplines could keep the IS field moving forward by bridging boundaries or organizing our theories to be accessible to practice; Natural language processing, data mining, and predictive analytics can be used to interrogate large theory corpora revealing contradictions and potential paths forward. New methods in data collection and analysis, new categories of knowledge, and new phenomenon all challenge us to address emerging phenomena and challenges on the background of our accumulated knowledge.

While the possible methodological approaches of the papers in this mini-track are quite broad, this year we specifically encourage submissions which focus on the specific challenges presented below. Accepted papers must present new research perspectives, conceptualizations, or approaches to these phenomena. The papers will excel in investigating the intersection of disciplines, provoking new directions for inquiry or providing new approaches to theorizing. We encourage authors to reflect on both forward-looking research as a contribution as well as novel strategies of looking-forward. Toward these ends, topics of interest include:


1.    Emerging relationships between algorithmic decisions systems and humans with specific emphasis on what these relationships reveal about humanity .

2.    Ontologies, taxonomies, or categorizations of concepts and constructs that expose theoretical ties between disciplines. Examples include: politics, surveillance and privacy; IS systems and ecosystems; socio-technical systems and conceptions of work, tasks, and living.

3.    How can research enable progress towards future liveable worlds and change how we theorize to be more forward looking?

4.    Other challenges may be considered - please consult with the mini-track co-chairs.


The goal of the mini-track is to exploring future directions for theory and theorizing beyond the status quo. Prospective authors are advised that the track does not look for topical literature reviews which are best submitted to one of the conference's topical tracks. Papers in this mini-track must explicitly provide the basis for more speculative future-leaning conceptualizations of phenomenon or provide insight on how to provide such concepts.

For further conference details, schedules and submission guidelines please see:
http://www.hicss.org/

We hope to see you on Maui in January 2022!
Mahalo!

Mini-track Co-Chairs:
Dirk S. Hovorka
Associate Professor
University of Sydney Business School
University of Sydney
New South Wales, AU
dirk.hovorka at sydney.edu.au<mailto:dirk.hovorka at sydney.edu.au>

Benjamin Mueller
Associate Professor
University of Lausanne
Lausanne, Switzerland
benjamin.mueller at unil.ch<file:///E:/HICSS%202019/benjamin.mueller@unil.ch>


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Dirk S. Hovorka
Associate Professor
University of Sydney
NSW, 2006 AU
T +61 2 9351 2949
Senior Editor/Research Perspectives
Journal of the Association of Information Systems (JAIS)
2018 BGS Professor of the Year
http://sydney.edu.au/business/staff/dirk.hovorka