A Set of Principles for Conducting and Evaluating Interpretive Field Studies in Information Systems Heinz K. Klein Michael D. Myers

Standards, not rules For interpretive (and hermeneutic) field studies Principles are not a pre-defined set of criteria Improvement over status quo Hope to ignite some debate Bring on the principles!

The seven principles 1/3 The Fundamental Principle of the Hermeneutic Circle – Iterating between fragments and the whole – Meaning must be found within context The Principle of Contextualization – Reflect on social and historical background of the resreach setting

The seven principles 2/3 The Principle of Interaction Between the Research and the Subjects – How the researcher impacts the data The Principle of Abstraction and Generalization – Relate principles #1 and #2 to general concepts The Principle of Dialogical Reasoning – Contratictions between theory and data

The seven principles 3/3 The Principle of Multiple Interpretations – One incident, 100 different stories The Principle of Suspicion – There may be biases and distortion

Conclusion No longer a need to justify by (inaproperiate) positivist criteria Raise the standard – Considering applying these principles to your research The principles are a visible target – Bring on the debate