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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Nick,<br>
<br>
On your question:<br>
<br>
"What kind of IS research is valuable anyway?"<br>
<br>
The following citation from Kurt Levin gives a good hint:<br>
<br>
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nothing more
practical than a good theory”</span><br>
<br>
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charset=ISO-8859-1">
It is not only a statement
about what is good for practice, but also a definition of what a
good theory
is, i.e. a theory that can be useful in
practice.
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<br>
The next logical step is "in order to be useful in practice" the
theory should be understood by those who do work in practice,
which in turn requires radical change in the style of scientific
publications in IS. It was nice to discover that even this problem
got some attention during ICIS 2012.<br>
<br>
Cheers<br>
<br>
Ilia<br>
<br>
On 2012-12-30 20:32, Nik R Hassan wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAK-kOSTMfJCC4AxVDmJu=LEHTKLxMtuvKczagHyjEhP71hnyAA@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite"><b>A small revolution in the IS field</b><br>
<br>
As we approach the end of yet another year in the history of the
IS field, I'd like to say how glad I was to have attended ICIS
this year. It may just be me, but I think I just witnessed a small
revolution taking place (at least in North America) in the field.
I heard IS scholars making unconventional remarks I have not heard
before. I enclose some quotes, and what went through my mind in
parenthesis [I am just reporting - please don't shoot the
messenger :-) ].<br>
<br>
[Varun*] "We can do very good research, but that doesn't mean we
are producing good knowledge … can we create 'better' knowledge?…
exciting, innovative and addressing important questions of our
time"<br>
<br>
(wha… [my jaw dropping] did Varun just say what I thought he
said?? He's admitting we're not producing good knowledge?)<br>
<br>
[Varun] "are we scripting the way we do research....requiring us
to select a theory and apply it to our phenomena, create a
mid-level model and then refine it ... add mediators and
moderators to it … Does this script work for good knowledge?"<br>
<br>
(Wow … I kinda think everyone knew that was the game, the standard
publishing script, and I was taught exactly that in school, but to
hear a scholar say it in public and analyze it … cool!)<br>
<br>
[Bernard**] "I've been looking back at all the work that I've
done… I don't think I've done enough ... We really should be doing
research to resolve significant global problems...<br>
<br>
(if Bernard feels he hasn't contributed much, how much have the
rest of us done?)<br>
<br>
[Bernard] ... at NUS, we've put together an inter-disciplinary
team and received a big grant using social media to reduce pests
... and increase food production ... Let's not be too fixated
about whether MISQ or ISR would publish such research ... let's
target our work at Nature or Science .... to earn the respect of
others outside our community<br>
<br>
(that's easy for him to say, he's already published tons in MISQ
and ISR. But isn't there something wrong with the picture? Isn't
research that's frequently published in the top journals of the
field that's supposed to make their way to journals like Science
and Nature? What does that say about our "normal" research?)<br>
<br>
[Manju**] "After we have had the satisfaction of publishing in
MISQ or ISR, and at least after making tenure and Full, it is time
to start thinking about researching big ideas that make a
difference "<br>
<br>
(Publishing 2-3 papers in MISQ and ISR, and getting full professor
is going to take at least 10-20 years out of the most productive
years of anyone's life, if they're fortunate enough to get there.
Shouldn't those most productive years already be spent in
researching big ideas? Shouldn't big ideas be some part of getting
a full professorship in IS?)<br>
<br>
[Steven Alter in a follow up email] <br>
Our ICIS panel "DSR … remind me again about whether it is a new
research paradigm or a rationale of last resort …" chaired by
Allen Lee, with Steven Alter, Helmut Krcmar, and Mike Chiasson …
remarks similar to Varun … that DSR is increasingly governed by a
script that makes papers easier to review but … becoming an
obstacle to genuine innovation … script encourages DSR researchers
to do design-related work in a way in which few if any designers
actually design things in the real world, which is especially
unfortunate for a type of research that is called design SCIENCE
research."<br>
<br>
All of these remarks are making me rethink about the notion of
"value" in our work (not to be confused with "usefulness" or
"utility"). It's close to "relevance" but since relevance has so
much baggage attached to it, perhaps we should be taking a closer
look at what valuable research really means.<br>
<br>
What kind of IS research is valuable anyway?<br>
<br>
<br>
Nik Rushdi Hassan<br>
Univ of Minnesota Duluth<br>
Chair SIG Philosophy<br>
<br>
*Varun Grover and Kalle Lyytinen presented at the SIG Philosophy
Workshop at ICIS on "IS Theory-State of the Art" - available soon
on the SIG Philosophy homepage<br>
<br>
**Bernard Tan and Manju Ahuja presented at the Senior Scholars
Panel at ICIS 2012 chaired by Fred Niederman<br>
<br clear="all">
<br>
-- <br>
Nik R. Hassan, PhD<br>
Assoc. Professor, Finance & MIS Dept.<br>
Labovitz School of Business and Economics<br>
University of Minnesota Duluth<br>
1318 Kirby Drive, LSBE 335Q<br>
Duluth MN 55812<br>
Office Phone: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="tel:%28218%29%20726-7453" value="+12187267453"
target="_blank">(218) 726-7453</a><br>
Fax: <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="tel:%28218%29%20726-7516"
value="+12187267516" target="_blank">(218) 726-7516</a><br>
Home Page: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.d.umn.edu/%7Enhassan" target="_blank">www.d.umn.edu/~nhassan</a><br>
LinkedIn <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/nik-rushdi-hassan/33/591/a9b">http://www.linkedin.com/pub/nik-rushdi-hassan/33/591/a9b</a><br>
Email: <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:nhassan@d.umn.edu"
target="_blank">nhassan@d.umn.edu</a><br>
<br>
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<br>
<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
===============================================
Dr. Ilia Bider
Process- och systemutvecklingskonsult at ibissoft.se
Lektor & Forskare at DSV.su.se
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:ilia@ibissoft.se">ilia@ibissoft.se</a> +46 (0)8 164998
Design science in action ... <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://slidesha.re/Uq3RTC">http://slidesha.re/Uq3RTC</a></pre>
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