Abstract
Although, the information systems (IS) field is dominated by positivistic research there exist plausible alternatives. The dominating alternatives include constructivism, grounded theory for theory development, and structuration theory as an underpinning theory for developing theories for technology-enabled organizational change. The alternatives overcome some problems with positivism, but they are themselves not without problems. This chapter presents and discusses how critical realism (CR) can be an alternative philosophical underpinning for IS research. The chapter presents briefly CR and how CR can be used in IS research. Contemporary examples of how CR can be used and is used in research aiming at generating new IS theory, IS evaluation research, and IS design science research are presented.
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