Seeking Middle-Range Theories in Information Systems Research

The information systems (IS) research community continues to raise questions about the characteristics and role of theory in IS. Some suggest the preeminence and misplaced emphasis on theory distorts and limits IS research, while others suggest the manner in which theory is borrowed and adapted impedes creative and innovative theorizing. This essay describes an established mode of theorizing that produces middle-range theories, abstract enough to allow for generalizations and useful conclusions, but close enough to observed data to be empirically validated. Theorizing in this manner holds the potential to produce novel and exciting theories, far removed from the formulaic, endless rearrangement of variables that are typically derived from grand theories. After elaborating on the differences between grand theories and middle-range theories, this essay suggests several guidelines on how to build middle-range theories

Theory borrowing in IT-rich contexts : lessons from IS strategy research

While indigenous theorizing in information systems has clear merits, theory borrowing will not, and should not, be eschewed given its appeal and usefulness. In this article, we aim at increasing our understanding of modifying of borrowed theories in IT-rich contexts. We present a framework in which we discuss how two recontextualization approaches of specification and distinction help with increasing the IT-richness of borrowed constructs and relationships. In doing so, we use several illustrative examples from information systems strategy. The framework can be used by researchers as a tool to explore the multitude of ways in which a theory from another discipline can yield the understanding of IT phenomena

INFLO-Mation: A Model for Exploring Information Behavior through Hip Hop

This paper explores the insights that hip hop might afford young adult library researchers who study information behavior, particularly in online environments. A Critical Race Theory (CRT) approach was used to explain how existing information behavior models describe youth experiences in ways that mask their unique racialized experiences and culturally specific information-creating behaviors. Using CRT’s counter-storytelling method, a new model called INFLO-mation is introduced, featuring a continuum of information behaviors captured within three descriptive categories of creativity: Rhythm, Rhyme, and Remix (R3). Findings include a discussion the INFLO model, its classification scheme, and illustrative examples from contemporary teens’ digital media practices rooted in hip hop culture

An Affordance-Actualization Perspective on Smart Service Systems

Smart physical products increasingly shape a connected IoT world and serve as boundary objects for the formation of ‘smart service systems’. While these systems bear the potential to co-create value between partners in various industries, IS research still struggles to fully capture the phenomenon to support successful digital innovation in IoT settings. In our work, we analyze the phenomenon of smart service systems taking an affordance-actualization perspective. Based on a qualitative content analysis of a multi-case study, we identify elements and propositions to build mid-range theoretical knowledge for smart service systems. We suggest that providers and users of smart products not only realize their own affordances via their actions but might also affect the immediate concrete outcomes of partners. The developed theoretical framework and six distinct propositions should build the theoretical base for further research into the phenomenon in IS research

An Affordance-Actualization Perspective on Smart Service Systems

Smart physical products increasingly shape a connected IoT world and serve as boundary objects for the formation of ‘smart service systems’. While these systems bear the potential to co-create value between partners in various industries, IS research still struggles to fully capture the phenomenon to support successful digital innovation in IoT settings. In our work, we analyze the phenomenon of smart service systems taking an affordance-actualization perspective. Based on a qualitative content analysis of a multi-case study, we identify elements and propositions to build mid-range theoretical knowledge for smart service systems. We suggest that providers and users of smart products not only realize their own affordances via their actions but might also affect the immediate concrete outcomes of partners. The developed theoretical framework and six distinct propositions should build the theoretical base for further research into the phenomenon in IS research

Narrowing the Theory’s or Study’s Scope May Increase Practical Relevance

Numerous articles in top IS journals note as a limitation and lack of generalizability that their findings are specific to a certain type of technology, culture, and so on. We argue that this generalizability concern is about limited scope (e.g., explanatory breadth). The IS literature notes this preference for generalizability as a characteristic of good science and it is sometimes confused with statistical generalizability. We argue that such generalizability can be in conflict with explanation or prediction accuracy. An increase in scope (e.g., increasing explanatory breadth) can decrease explanation or prediction accuracy. Thus, in sciences such as cancer research, where explanation and prediction accuracy are highly valued, the cancer accounts (generally speaking) have become increasingly narrower (and less generalizable). IS thinking has not yet benefitted from these considerations. Whether generalizability is valued should be linked with the research aims. If the aim is practical applicability through explanation or prediction accuracy, then “limited” generalizability could be a strength rather than a weakness

Value-In-Context with Service Innovation in the Digital Age: A Service-Dominant Logic Perspective

The increasingly complex service context with the convergence of physical products, digitalization, and service offerings presents a major challenge for IS research on service innovation. This article addresses the resulting need for research on an adequate understanding of the perceived value of innovative digital services. It continues previous work that makes the first move in this regard—conceptualizing this value as the sum of direct value-in-context (S-D logic), and indirect and option value-in-context (both newly introduced). This article closes two research gaps. First, the option and indirect value-in-context components are clarified by developing propositions that link both to S-D logic’s main concepts of service innovation. Second, the value-in-context anatomy is empirically validated with two conjoint analyses. It can be shown that both newly introduced components of value-in-context indeed are decisive factors for customers’ perceptions of value with innovative digital services—implicating their conceptual separation

Theory Choice In Critical Realist Information Systems Research

There has recently been calls for Information Systems (IS) researchers to revisit the dominant mode of theorizing in IS research practice, a process often reduced to “shopping” around for an appropriate theory among a diversity of competing theories. To answer this call, this paper examines the process of theory choice from a critical realist perspective, and in so doing develops guidelines for middle-range theorizing in critical realist IS research. Three steps are identified in this process, these being to (1) understand the background theories relevant to the phenomenon under investigation, (2) contrast and combine these background theories, and (3) situatedly integrate the background theories. The process is illustrated by demonstrating its use in a case study of the emergent usage of adaptive IS

Realist Evaluation of the Early-Stage Implementation of a Smartphone-Based Disease Surveillance Project in Two Armed-Conflict Communities in Nigeria

We investigate the early-stage implementation of a smartphone-based acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance project in communities experiencing armed conflicts in Nigeria. We aim to expose factors influencing the early-stage implementation of smartphone-based AFP surveillance in two rural communities experiencing armed conflicts in Northern Nigeria. Thus, exploring “what works, for whom and under what contextual conditions?” in the early-stage implementation of a smartphone-based AFP surveillance project, given the involvement of multiple stakeholders. We adopted stakeholder theory as a lens to guide the study. We adopted a qualitative case study method, realist philosophy, semi-structured interview, participatory observation, and thematic data analysis. The findings reveal mechanisms (sense of connectedness, ownership, fear) and contextual conditions (infrastructural challenges, healthcare workforce, security constraints) influencing early-stage implementation. We postulate a model that explains the factors influencing the early-stage implementation of the smartphone-based AFP surveillance project in security-constrained communities

Research Commentary: Setting a Definition, Context, and Theory-Based Research Agenda for the Gamification of Non-Gaming Applications

As a nascent area of study, gamification has attracted the interest of researchers in several fields, but such researchers have scarcely focused on creating a theoretical foundation for gamification research. Gamification involves using game-like features in non-game contexts to motivate users and improve performance outcomes. As a boundary-spanning subject by nature, gamification has drawn the interest of scholars from diverse communities, such as information systems, education, marketing, computer science, and business administration. To establish a theoretical foundation, we need to clearly define and explain gamification in comparison with similar concepts and areas of research. Likewise, we need to define the scope of the domain and develop a research agenda that explicitly considers theory’s important role. In this review paper, we set forth the pre-theoretical structures necessary for theory building in this area. Accordingly, we engaged an interdisciplinary group of discussants to evaluate and select the most relevant theories for gamification. Moreover, we developed exemplary research questions to help create a research agenda for gamification. We conclude that using a multi-theoretical perspective in creating a research agenda should help and encourage IS researchers to take a lead role in this promising and emerging area