Fact or Fiction:The Philosophy of Fictions in IS

Research

Ms. Sandy Behrens

School of Management and Information Systems

Central Queensland University

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Purpose

Positivists

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Interpretivists

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Either/Or Proposition

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Really?

Weber (2004)

Guba & Lincoln (2004)

Vaihinger (1924)

InterpretivismPositivism

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Making sense

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Value?

Reconciliation

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Vantage Point

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Fictions

AbstractiveSymbolicHeuristicPractical (ethical)Aesthetic

Abstractive

Meridian of Ferro

Zero point determination

Water as measure of gravity

Abstractive Fictions in IS

Schemas, models and diagrams

Theories eg. TAM

Methods for implementation and design

Symbolic

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Metaphors

Symbolic Fictions in IS

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Methodologies used for systems development

Designing effective IS interfaces

Conceptual Bias in IS research

Heuristic

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Ptolemaic cosmic system

Newton’s laws of gravitation

Teleology

Heuristic Fictions in IS

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Data modelling

Teleology - primary metaphors

Practical

• Ethics

“All men are created equal”

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Practical Fictions in IS

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Ethical issues in organizations

Ethical behavior of researchers

Aesthetic

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Mythology

Aesthetic Fictions in IS

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Systems Design - Look and feel

Ciaborra - creativity and strategy

Vantage Point

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Moving Forward

s.behrens@cqu.edu.au

Read the paper: Conference proceedings

Talk with me: Questions after this session

At the conference

s.behrens@cqu.edu.au

Slides: Freely available at Slide Share

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