Resources:
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Unit III: History of Information Systems Research
READING:
Read: Pan, Chpts 7-10
Read: APA Manual, Appendix 3-A Elements and Examples of References in APA Style: A. Periodicals; and B. Books, brochures, and book chapters
INTRODUCTION
Let's backtrack for a moment and take a historical perspective on information systems epistemology [theory of knowledge] -- I say "information systems epistemology" as a library or information agency is an information system, -- in doing so, we hope to expose some of the hidden assumptions which lie behind our concept of valid research and valid research methods. And because information systems are largely human or social in nature, they share all the difficulties associated with the social science. [See also material on Action Research.]
LECTURE NOTES
Historical Perspective On Information Systems Epistemology
Epistemology refers to our theory of knowledge ; in particular, how we acquire knowledge . We may ask: What is knowledge? and How do we obtain 'valid' knowledge? Knowledge, roughly synonymous with understanding, has been an integral part of life and has been sought by humans since the dawn of mankind. The Greeks classified knowledge into two types: doxa (that which was believed to be true ) and episteme (that which was known to be true ). Science was the process of inquiry by which doxa was transformed into episteme.
Of course, a major problem is: How do we really know what we know? The solution is to define knowledge in an alternative fashion, one where knowledge is only 'asserted.' It is supported by evidence (usually of an empirical variety), and knowledge claims are conceived of in a probabilistic sense. Knowledge is, therefore, not infallible but conditional: It is a societal convention and is relative to both time and place. Knowledge is a matter of societal (or group) acceptance. The society sets conventions which must be followed if the knowledge claimed is to be accepted by that society. How is knowledge acquired? This is the role of science. But science, too, is a convention, related to societal norms, expectations, values, etc. It is the search for understanding. Science is something that people do.
A number of writers have proposed the need to change our concept of science. Some, such as Kuhn, 1970, have suggested that science may be more appropriately described in terms of problem or puzzle solving. Using this concept, then science has less to do with specific methods and more to do with practical solutions to problems. Within this context, the researcher should be viewed as a craftsman or a tool builder, one who builds tools, separate from and in addition to, the researcher as tool user.
In the West, there is a fairly strict concept of science. It is based on positivism: an epistemology which posits beliefs and scrutinizes them through empirical testing. Positivism is so embedded in our society that knowledge claims not grounded in positivist thought are simply dismissed as ascientific and therefore invalid. Because of the dominance of positivism, it is imperative that we understand what it is, why it is at the roots of our knowledge acquisition attempts, and what are the alternatives.
Positivist Science
Positivism is generally defined by a four-point doctrine:
- the rule of phenomenalism - thee is only experience, all abstractions, either matter or spirit, have to be rejected;
- the rule of nominalism - words, generalizations, abstractions, etc. are linguistic phenomena and do not give new insight into the world;
- the separation of facts from values ; and
- the unity of the scientific method .
Positivism has also been defined as an epistemology which seeks to explain and predict what happens in the social world by searching for regularities and causal relationship between its constituent elements. Another way of viewing positivism is as being based on five pillars:
- unity of the scientific method ;
the accepted approach for knowledge is valid for all forms of inquiry: animate or inanimate objects; human, animal or plant life; physical or non-physical phenomena
- search for human causal relationship ;
the desire to find regularity and causal relationships among the elements of study; the process used is based on reductionism, where the whole is further and further reduced into its constituents parts
- belief in empiricism ;
the strongly held conviction that the only valid data is that which is experienced from the senses -- extrasensory experience, conscious and unconscious organizing apparatus, subjective perception, etc., are not considered acceptable
- science (and its process) is value-free ; and
the belief that there is no intrinsic value position in science -- science has no relationship to political, ideological, or moral beliefs
- the foundation of science is based on logic and mathematics ;
logic and math are the universal language and a formal basis for quantitative analysis -- an important tool [weapon] in the search for causal relationships.
Positivism also embraces a particular ontological (the nature of the world around us; in particular, that slice of reality which the scientist address) position -- that of realism : the universe is comprised of objectively given, immutable objects and structures and they exist as empirical entities, independent of the observer's appreciation of them. CONTRAST TO relativism or instrumentalism of the anti-positivists, which holds that reality is a subjective construction of the mind. Socially transmitted concepts and names direct how reality is perceived and structured; reality therefore varies with different languages and cultures. What is subjectively experienced as an objective reality exists only in the observerÕs mind.
To return to the history of Information Systems (IS) epistemology, or theory of knowledge.... The development of social science epistemology in the West, which is the root in IS, can be divided into four very loose stages with a fifth just beginning to emerge. During these stages, two forces were at work: 1) the 'forces of the believers' who were largely responsible for the development of positivist thought and can be traced back to the writings of Plato and Aristotle, and 2) the 'forces of doubtors' who were largely responsible for the development of alternatives to positivism and can be traced back to the Sophists (e.g. Hippias, Protagoras and Prodicus). The four stages are: 1) the arrival of positivism , 2) the entering of anti-positivism , 3) the re-entering of positivism (through logical positivism), and 4) the arrival of the contemporary critics . The fifth and currently emerging stage is emergence of post-positivism .
A Short History of IS Epistemology
Forces of the Believers
[Plato, Aristotle]
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Forces of the Doubtors
[Sophists]
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200-1000 CE is considered as the 'dark age' of western science thought. Questions about science were interpreted as questions about the nature of g-d. During the latter part of the 12th century, the Muslims allowed European scholars to have access to the entire body of Greek writings, which were then translated into Latin. The 16th and early 17th centuries saw a great awakening in Europe on science.
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17th Century
THE ARRIVAL OF POSITIVISM
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Bacon, 1620
Galileo, 1632
Descarte, 1639
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Foremost among the individuals to shape positivist thought was Rene Descartes (1596-1650). He felt that mathematics was the sole base on which a general theory of nature could be founded. All properties of material objects could be reduced to mathematical form. His most influential doctrine was the separation of mind (soul substance) and matter (physical substance). It was instrumental in the way human being were to be studied.
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Hobbes in the Leviathan (1651) objected to Descarte's separation of mind and matter, saying mind was simply part of nature and could be studied as such: There is one universe made up of matter in regular motion and could be described by mathematical formula. Studying human phenomena was no different from studying any other.
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Spinoza, 1663
Newton, 1687
Locke, 1690
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Vico's The New Science offered an alternative to the empirical approach stating that human phenomena knowledge can be gained through the study of our history. He called for a study of the forms of social life developed by and created through human meaning.
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Hume: all knowledge comes from 1) impressions (immediate, sensory, perceptual content of consciousness); and 2) ideas (vague copies of these impressions that linger as content in our memory and imagination).
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Kant (1729-1804): all knowledge is related to experience, but not all knowledge is derived from experience.A priori knowledge makes experience intelligible.
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A posteriori knowledge is knowledge derived from sense experience; it can be checked against sense experience.
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A priori knowledge is knowledge derived from the function of reason without reference to sense experience; it cannot be checked against or refuted by sense experience.
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Hegel (1771-1831) in his The Phenomenology of Mind postulated that knowledge was obtained through 'dialectics' (truth is discovered by a progression from 'inadequate concepts' to more and more 'adequate concepts').
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Mill, 1843
Spencer, 1873
Mach, 1886
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Ernst Mach was largely responsible for the rapid growth of empiricism that took place in the 20th century. He advocated that knowledge should b be limited to sensations: The only accurate description of the natural world is that which is experienced by one or more of the five senses.
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The anti-positivists were particularly worried that the positivists position failed to appreciate the fundamental experience of life in favor of physical and mental regularities. They neglected meaningful experience which was really the defining characteristic of human phenomena.
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Marx (1818-1883) expanded on Hegelian theory and placed the individual rather than an 'absolute spirit' at the center of things.
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Wilheim Wundt (often considered the father of psychology), although a believer in positivist methods, split with Mach's concept of science in that he did not believe science must be limited to 'sensa' data: Subjective data were necessary particularly for folk psychology which dealt with feelings, affects, and processes of mental life.
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Max Weber (1864-1920) believed that there existed a distinction between 'human action' and 'human behavior.' Action embraces behavior but is deeper in that the acting individual attaches a subjective meaning to his behavior.
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George Herbert Mead (1880-1949) was the father of symbolic interaction. Mead noted the need for a methodology of human science which would recognize the importance of symbols and their significance in understanding human behavior. To obtain an understanding of the action, Mead felt the social actorÕs own view of his world and the meaning his behavior has for him had to be included.
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RE-ENTER POSITIVISM
(Logical Positivism)
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Wittgenstein, 1922
Godel, 1931
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Godel was a prominent member of the Vienna Circle which took Bertrand Russell's new logic, merged it with the positivism of Mach and the development was called 'received view' (or logical positivism or neo-positivism). Logical positivism (or logical empiricism) had a great influence on todayÕs notion of science. Two movements in the theory: 1) from phenomenalism (where the only acceptable data came from experience) to physicalism (where data is seen to emanate from the world and not merely private experience); and 2) shift in the goal of science away from individual explanation (or laws) to theoretical networks of knowledge statements linked together through deductive logic and grounded in direct observation.
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ARRIVAL OF THE CONTEMPORARY CRITICS
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Malinowski, 1926
Skinner, 1938
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Freud, 1933
Wittgenstein, 1953
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In Tractatus, Wittgenstein postulates that there exists some words in language which directly name parts of reality. Soon after it was published, Wittgenstein began to doubt that such a relationship was possible. It occurred to him that the meanings of words were determined by the contexts in which they were used; that meanings were inextricably bound up with social activity (cf. Whorf's thesis).
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Popper, 1963
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Polanyi, 1958
Hesse, 1970
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Mary Hesse (1978) suggests values play an important role in developing theories in social science. She contends that theories are not fully determined solely by facts.
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Kuhn, 1970
Habermas, 1971
Giddens, 1976
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EMERGENCE OF POST-POSITIVISM
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A growing number of researchers, most engaged in social science research, feel orthodox science is not appropriate for their subject of study and argue for supplanting positivism in favor of a new concept of science.
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ASSIGNMENT
- Finalize your research question for your course research project. Post to the appropriate discussion thread.
- Extend review of the literature (for your research question) to cognate area(s)
Journal Entry
Write a narrative describing what you have gained from this course so far, your feelings toward this mode of instruction, and problems you may have encountered--including any solutions you may have already found. Be sure to mark the entry with the title "QUARTER TERM REFLECTIONS -- date". Post journal entry in appropriate thread.
WORK TO BE SUBMITTED
- Research question for your course research project/paper
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