Untangling causality in design science theorizing

Although Design Science Research aims to create new knowledge through design and evaluation of artefacts, the causal agency through which artefacts obtain predicted outcomes is frequently underspecified. Within this domain of knowledge, six types of causal reasoning can be applied by researchers to more clearly articulate why desired outcomes will result from the implementation of the artefact. In addition, reflecting on the causal foundations for the design will enable more definitive evaluation of the design theory and for scientific explanation of the behavior of the artefact-in-use. The proposed framework is based on an extensive literature in causal theory and the implications discussed will enable researchers to articulate the causal reasoning used in Design Science theorizing.

[1]  Claudio U. Ciborra,et al.  The labyrinths of Information , 2002 .

[2]  S. Sloman.  Causal Models: How People Think about the World and Its Alternatives , 2005 .

[3]  Terry Winograd,et al.  Understanding computers and cognition - a new foundation for design , 1987 .

[4]  H. Klein,et al.  Four Paradigms of Information Systems Development Developing computer-based information systems necessarily in volves making , 1989 .

[5]  A. Georges L. Romme,et al.  Making a Difference: Organization as Design , 2003, Organ. Sci..

[6]  Les Gasser,et al.  A Design Theory for Systems That Support Emergent Knowledge Processes , 2002, MIS Q..

[7]  Matt Germonprez,et al.  Identification-interaction-innovation: A phenomenological basis for an information services view , 2008 .

[8]  Matt Germonprez,et al.  A Theory of Tailorable Technology Design , 2007, J. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[9]  R. Bhaskar.  A realist theory of science , 1976 .

[10]  J. Bennett,et al.  Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding , 2010 .

[11]  Rudy Hirschheim,et al.  Four paradigms of information systems development , 1989, CACM.

[12]  Boris Hennig,et al.  The Four Causes , 2009 .

[13]  Shirley Gregor,et al.  The Anatomy of a Design Theory , 2007, J. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[14]  Arthur Schopenhauer,et al.  On the fourfold root of the principle of sufficient reason and on the will in nature , 2007 .

[15]  J. Moon,et al.  What Would An Adequate Philosophy of Social Science Look Like?*‡ , 1977 .

[16]  John N. Hooker,et al.  Is Design Theory Possible , 2004 .

[17]  Matt Germonprez,et al.  Reflecting, tinkering, and tailoring: Implications for theories of information system design , 2010 .

[18]  R. Bhaskar,et al.  The Possibility of Naturalism: A Philosophical Critique of the Contemporary Human Sciences , 1979 .

[19]  Alan R. Hevner,et al.  Design Science in Information Systems Research , 2004, MIS Q..

[20]  Richard Baskerville,et al.  Generalizing Generalizability in Information Systems Research , 2003, Inf. Syst. Res..

[21]  E. F. Codd,et al.  Relational database: a practical foundation for productivity , 1982, CACM.

[22]  Andrew Abbott,et al.  Time Matters: On Theory and Method , 2001 .

[23]  Shirley Gregor,et al.  Building theory in the sciences of the artificial , 2009, DESRIST.

[24]  C. Glymour,et al.  Making Things Happen: A Theory of Causal Explanation , 2004 .

[25]  Shirley Gregor,et al.  The Nature of Theory in Information Systems , 2006, MIS Q..

[26]  Ned Hall,et al.  Causation and counterfactuals , 2004 .

[27]  Wesley C. Salmon,et al.  Causality and Explanation , 1998 .

[28]  E. F. CODD,et al.  A relational model of data for large shared data banks , 1970, CACM.

[29]  J. Pearl.  Causality: Models, Reasoning and Inference , 2000 .

[30]  E. F. Codd,et al.  Relational database: a practical foundation for productivity , 1982, CACM.

[31]  Jørn Braa,et al.  DEVELOPING HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES THE FLEXIBLE STANDARDS STRATEGY , 2006 .

[32]  Colin Potts,et al.  Design of Everyday Things , 1988 .

[33]  Göran Goldkuhl,et al.  DESIGN THEORIES IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS - A NEED FOR MULTI-GROUNDING , 2004 .

[34]  J. Aken.  Management Research Based on the Paradigm of the Design Sciences: The Quest for Field-Tested and Grounded Technological Rules , 2004 .

[35]  Juhani Iivari,et al.  A Paradigmatic Analysis of Information Systems As a Design Science , 2007, Scand. J. Inf. Syst..

[36]  C. Argyris.  Actionable Knowledge: Design Causality in the Service of Consequential Theory , 1996 .

[37]  Paul Dourish,et al.  Where the action is , 2001 .

[38]  Neil C. Ramiller,et al.  Virtualizing the Virtual , 2007, Virtuality and Virtualization.

[39]  R. Torretti.  Mario Bunge: Scientific research. I. The search for system. II. The search for truth. Berlin Heidelberg. New York. Springer-Verlag. 1967 , 1967 .

[40]  Keith A. Markus,et al.  Making Things Happen: A Theory of Causal Explanation , 2007 .

[41]  Matt Germonprez,et al.  Tinkering, Tailoring and Bricolage: Implications for Theories of Design , 2009, AMCIS.

[42]  John R. Venable,et al.  The role of theory and theorising in Design Science research , 2006 .