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The Philosopher's Corner: Questioning Assumptions in the Information Systems Discipline

Author:

Andrew Burton-JonesAuthors Info & Claims

ACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems, Volume 49, Issue 3

Pages 121 - 124

https://doi.org/10.1145/3242734.3242743

Published: 25 July 2018 Publication History

Abstract

A healthy characteristic of any research field is a willingness to question its own assumptions. In this essay, I discuss Treiblmaier's proposal to question the epistemological and methodological assumptions of the Information Systems field. Treiblmaier's proposal is thoughtful and provocative and reflects his deep knowledge of the topic and his strong desire for an alternative epistemological and methodological future for our field. Drawing on Feyerabend, Treiblmaier recommends that IS researchers adopt epistemological anarchism, methodological anarchism, and "anything goes" as a guiding principle. I argue against all of these viewpoints. I argue that epistemological anarchism will not foster research progress, methodological anarchism will not lead to major new insights, and "anything goes" as a guiding principle will not benefit the field. Despite disagreeing with Treiblmaier's main recommendations, I highlight several points that I agree are important for the field to address.

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Cited By

Mendling JBerente NSeidel SGrisold T(2021)The Philosopher's CornerACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems10.1145/3462766.346277352:2(127-140)Online publication date: 28-Apr-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3462766.3462773
Alter S(2020)The Philosopher's CornerACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems10.1145/3433148.343315551:4(123-138)Online publication date: 2-Nov-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3433148.3433155
Cuellar M(2020)The Philosopher's CornerACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems10.1145/3400043.340005051:2(101-112)Online publication date: 18-May-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3400043.3400050
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

The Philosopher's Corner: Questioning Assumptions in the Information Systems Discipline
1. General and reference
  1. Document types
    1. General literature

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Published In

cover image ACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems

ACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems Volume 49, Issue 3

August 2018

115 pages

ISSN:0095-0033

EISSN:1532-0936

DOI:10.1145/3242734

Editors:
Stacie Petter
Baylor University, Waco, TX
,
Tom Stafford
Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA
,
Xihui "Paul" Zhang
Northern Alabama University, Florence, AL
,
Heidi Seward
Baylor University, Waco, TX

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Copyright © 2018 Copyright is held by the owner/author(s).

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 25 July 2018

Published in SIGMIS Volume 49, Issue 3

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Cited By

Mendling JBerente NSeidel SGrisold T(2021)The Philosopher's CornerACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems10.1145/3462766.346277352:2(127-140)Online publication date: 28-Apr-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3462766.3462773
Alter S(2020)The Philosopher's CornerACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems10.1145/3433148.343315551:4(123-138)Online publication date: 2-Nov-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3433148.3433155
Cuellar M(2020)The Philosopher's CornerACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems10.1145/3400043.340005051:2(101-112)Online publication date: 18-May-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3400043.3400050
Treiblmaier H(2019)Taking Feyerabend to the Next LevelACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems10.1145/3312576.331258750:1(77-94)Online publication date: 12-Feb-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3312576.3312587

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