Furthering Information Systems Action Research: A Post-Positivist Synthesis of Four Dialectics

Abstract

As authors of Information Systems (IS) Action Research (AR) studies attempt to report their results, the calls for AR research design, conduct, presentation, and evaluation guidelines must be answered to advance the maturation process of AR and move it into a more prominent position in mainstream publications. AR is a research approach that is most often associated with researchers who subscribe to an interpretive epistemology and collect qualitative data and is more common in Europe and Australia than in North America. To further IS AR, especially in North America, we offer ten recommendations based on a post-positivist synthesis of four dialectics: rigor/relevance, positivist/interpretive epistemology, quantitative/qualitative methodology, and confirmatory/disconfirmatory evidence. Any researcher may profit from developing his or her own synthesis of these four dialectics. Our synthesis reveals an innovative view of falsifiability, grounded theory methodology, triangulation, and recommendations for presentation of findings to a broad audience in mainstream research journals.