Achieving Rigour and Relevance in Information Systems Studies: Using grounded theory to investigate organizational cases

Abstract

This paper builds on the belief that rigorous Information Systems (IS) research can help practitioners to better understand and to adapt to emerging situations. Contrary to the view seeing rigour and relevance as a dichotomy, it is maintained that IS researchers have a third choice; namely, to be both relevant and rigorous. The paper proposes ways in which IS research can contribute to easing the practitioners’ burden of adapting to changes by providing timely, relevant, and rigorous research. It is argued that synergy between relevance and rigour is possible and that classic grounded theory methodology in combination with case-based data provides a good framework for rigorous and relevant research of emerging phenomena in information systems.

Keywords

• information systems
• grounded theory
• organizations