Applying the principles of interpretive field research: An example of an IS case study on shared services

All sound research commence with the selection of a research paradigm. The chosen research paradigm is significant in shaping the researcher’s perspectives of the world and it is a vital step in any study’s’ research design. There are different paradigms that IS researchers can choose from; amongst which the interpretive paradigm is growing in acceptance.. Though interpretive research has emerged as an important strand in Information Systems (IS), guidelines on how to conduct interpretive research and how to evaluate them have been scarce. Klein and Myers presented seven principles with examples for each from three case examples. While these principles are much valued, there is a lack of support for novice researchers on how to embed these principles in an overall research design, which could help with the aid of a detailed example that has done so. Thus, this paper aims to address this gap, and presents how Klein and Myers’s principles were applied within an example study that investigated shared services in the Malaysian Higher Education context. The example study adopted the interpretive paradigm as the most suited approach that fitted their research questions and goals. More details about the selection and adoption of the Klein and Myers’s guidelines in the context of the shared services research case study are presented in the paper.

Multi-method, multi-theoretical, multi-level research in the learning sciences

We examine methodologies and methods that apply to multi-level research in the learning sciences. In so doing we describe how multiple theoretical frameworks informs the use of different methods that apply to social levels involving space-time relationships that are not accessible consciously as social life is enacted. Most of the methods involve analyses of video and audio files. Within a framework of interpretive research we present a methodology of event-oriented social science, which employs video ethnography, narrative, conversation analysis, prosody analysis, and facial expression analysis. We illustrate multi-method research in an examination of the role of emotions in teaching and learning. Conversation and prosody analyses augment facial expression analysis and ethnography. We conclude with an exploration of ways in which multi-level studies can be complemented with neural level analyses.

The nurse researcher : an added dimension to qualitative research methodology

Nurse researchers are increasingly adopting qualitative methodologies for research practice and theory development. These approaches to research are, in many cases, more appropriate for the field of nursing inquiry than the previously dominant techno-rational methods. However, there remains the issue of adapting methodologies developed in other academic disciplines to the nursing research context. This paper draws upon my own experience with interpretive research to raise questions about the issue of nursing research within a social science research framework. The paper argues that by integrating the characteristics of nursing practice with the characteristics of research practice, the researcher can develop a 'nursing lens', an approach to qualitative research that brings an added dimension to social science methodologies in the nursing research context. Attention is drawn to the unique nature of the nurse-patient relationship, and the ways in which this aspect of nursing practice can enhance nursing research. Examples are given from interview transcripts to support this position.

Making the processes of designing explicit within an information technology environment

In this paper, technology is described as involving processes whereby resources are utilised to satisfy human needs or to take advantage of opportunities, to develop practical solutions to problems. This study, set within one type of technology context, information technology, investigated how, through a one semester undergraduate university course, elements of technological processes were made explicit to students. While it was acknowledged in the development and implementation of this course that students needed to learn technical skills, technological skills and knowledge, including design, were seen as vital also, to enable students to think about information technology from a perspective that was not confined and limited to `technology as hardware and software'. This paper describes how the course, set within a three year program of study, was aimed at helping students to develop their thinking and their knowledge about design processes in an explicit way. An interpretive research approach was used and data sources included a repertory grid `survey'; student interviews; video recordings of classroom interactions, audio recordings of lectures, observations of classroom interactions made by researchers; and artefacts which included students' journals and portfolios. The development of students' knowledge about design practices is discussed and reflections upon student knowledge development in conjunction with their learning experiences are made. Implications for ensuring explicitness of design practice within information technology contexts are presented, and the need to identify what constitutes design knowledge is argued.

Relationship between emotional climate and the fluency of classroom interactions

This study examined emotional climate in relation to the teaching and learning of grade 7 science. A multi-method and multi-theoretic approach used sociocultural frameworks as a foundation for interpretive research, conversation analysis, prosody analysis, and studies of nonverbal conduct. Emotional climate varied continuously throughout a lesson. Dialogues occurred and afforded learning when interactions between the teacher and students were fluent and included humour and collective effervescence. Emotional climate was negatively valenced when the teacher and/or students endeavoured to establish and maintain power by restricting others’ participation to spectator roles. The teacher’s endeavours to maintain and establish control over students were potentially detrimental to teaching and learning, teachers and learners. This type of teaching gradually evolved into a form we referred to as cranky teaching, whereby the teacher and her students showed signs of frustration and the enacted teaching and learning roles lacked fluency. The methods we pioneered in the present study might be helpful for other teachers who wish to participate in research on their classes to ascertain what works and should be strengthened, and identify practices and rituals that are deleterious and in need of change.

An exploratory study for the development of emergency nurse practitioner specialist clinical practice standards

This thesis presents a mixed methods study to develop specialty specific clinical practice standards for Emergency Nurse Practitioners. This is the first time in Australia that Nurse Practitioners standards have been developed for a clinical specialty. These standards will guide educational preparation for the role and ongoing Continuous Professional Development for endorsed Emergency Nurse Practitioners.

Snapshots of teacher librarians as evidence-based practitioners

Drawing on recent doctoral research (Gillespie 2013), this paper presents snapshots of teacher librarians’ lived experience as evidence-based practitioners in Australian schools, and it defi nes what constitutes evidence for teacher librarians. Gillespie’s doctoral research responded to fi ndings of the Australian Government’s Inquiry into School Libraries and Teacher Librarians in Australian Schools (House of Representatives, Standing Committee on Education and Employment 2011) which indicated the urgent need for empirical evidence about the professional practices of teacher librarians and their contributions to school goals and student academic, social and cultural achievements. Such evidence is crucial to ensure the future viability of teacher librarians and their contribution to learning and teaching in schools. This qualitative, interpretive research responds to this need by exploring the experiences of 15 Australian teacher librarians to discover how they gathered and used evidence in performing their professional roles.

Profiling emergency nurse practitioner service

The aim of this study was to investigate the practice profile of emergency nurse practitioners across Australia. Nurse practitioners have been providing health service in the emergency setting internationally for more than 30 years, and evidence supports the value of this role in terms of patient satisfaction, effectiveness in improving service indicators, and acceptability of the role. The introduction of this service model has been instrumental in reducing waiting times for low-acuity patients and impacting positively on emergency department service delivery. Recent rapid uptake of this role internationally has outpaced development of the service model to inform education and ongoing service development. This was a national study that used interpretive research methods to identify the practice profile of emergency nurse practitioners. Data were collected from December 2012 to February 2013 through in-depth interviews. An inductive approach was used in data analysis to identify conceptual themes and develop an analysis framework. The study participants worked in a range of service models and managed patient presentations across all levels of acuity and complexity. The findings show that although there is no single definable model of the emergency nurse practitioner role in Australia, there are practice features that are common across all service models; these have been conceptualized as "modes of practice." This study has produced new knowledge about the practice profile of emergency nurse practitioners. The findings will inform development of practice standards for education and continuing professional development for emergency nurse practitioners and facilitate standardized operational definitions for ongoing research into this growing service model.

The waves in business transformation management: a conceptualization of how IT-enabled Business Transformations Unfold

We examine IT-enabled Business Transformations (ITBT) based on three case studies of successful, multi-year ERP implementation programs. Given the inconsistencies in segmenting the different key periods in ITBTs in both literature and our cases, we sought to consolidate the common events or critical incidents in such initiatives. We label those key periods as waves, and the emergence of triggers and reactions thereunto in the management of business transformations. We show that business transformations unfold in four distinct waves: Wave 1 Concept Development, Wave 2 Blueprint Design, Wave 3 Solution Delivery and Wave 4 Post-Transformation. These waves are characterized by the occurrence of strategic- and program-level triggers to which organizations respond by invoking different management services. Our interpretive research provides a new conceptualization of ITBTs based on a service-oriented view of such initiatives. This view draws attention to managerial capabilities as a service to transformations, and how and when these capabilities are required to respond to triggering incidents. We outline propositions and recommendations for business transformation management.

Identifying and delineating information experience as a research domain : A discussion paper

A line of information and information literacy research has emerged that has a strong focus on information experience. Strengthened understanding, profiling and theorising of information experience as a specific domain of interest to information researchers is required. A focus on information experience is likely to have a major influence on the field, drawing attention to interpretive and experiential forms of research.

Qualitative methods in information systems research

Qualitative research methods are widely accepted in Information Systems and multiple approaches have been successfully used in IS qualitative studies over the years. These approaches include narrative analysis, discourse analysis, grounded theory, case study, ethnography and phenomenological analysis. Guided by critical, interpretive and positivist epistemologies (Myers 1997), qualitative methods are continuously growing in importance in our research community. In this special issue, we adopt Van Maanen's (1979: 520) definition of qualitative research as an umbrella term to cover an “array of interpretive techniques that can describe, decode, translate, and otherwise come to terms with the meaning, not the frequency, of certain more or less naturally occurring phenomena in the social world”. In the call for papers, we stated that the aim of the special issue was to provide a forum within which we can present and debate the significant number of issues, results and questions arising from the pluralistic approach to qualitative research in Information Systems. We recognise both the potential and the challenges that qualitative approaches offers for accessing the different layers and dimensions of a complex and constructed social reality (Orlikowski, 1993). The special issue is also a response to the need to showcase the current state of the art in IS qualitative research and highlight advances and issues encountered in the process of continuous learning that includes questions about its ontology, epistemological tenets, theoretical contributions and practical applications.

An interpretive field study of packaged software selection processes

Packaged software is pre-built with the intention of licensing it to users in domestic settings and work organisations. This thesis focuses upon the work organisation where packaged software has been characterised as one of the latest ‘solutions’ to the problems of information systems. The study investigates the packaged software selection process that has, to date, been largely viewed as objective and rational. In contrast, this interpretive study is based on a 21⁄2 year long field study of organisational experiences with packaged software selection at T.Co, a consultancy organisation based in the United Kingdom. Emerging from the iterative process of case study and action research is an alternative theory of packaged software selection. The research argues that packaged software selection is far from the rationalistic and linear process that previous studies suggest. Instead, the study finds that aspects of the traditional process of selection incorporating the activities of gathering requirements, evaluation and selection based on ‘best fit’ may or may not take place. Furthermore, even where these aspects occur they may not have equal weight or impact upon implementation and usage as may be expected. This is due to the influence of those multiple realities which originate from the organisational and market environments within which packages are created, selected and used, the lack of homogeneity in organisational contexts and the variously interpreted characteristics of the package in question.