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On the ‘Impossibility’ of Critical and Emancipatory Design Science Research

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Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS 2013)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing ((LNBIP,volume 190))

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Abstract

Popper’s [1] ‘piecemeal social change’ is an approach manifesting itself in science as critical and emancipatory (C&E) research. It is concerned with incrementally removing manifested inequalities to achieve a ‘better’ world. Although design science research in information systems seems to be a prime candidate for such endeavors, respective projects are clearly underrepresented. This can be attributed to the demand of justifying research ex post by an evaluation in practical settings. From the perspective of C&E research it is questionable if powerful actors grant access to their organization and support projects which ultimately challenge their position. Within the present inquiry it is argued that the idea of Lewis’s [2] ‘possible worlds’ can be leveraged as basis for C&E design science research. It is suggested that a theoretical approach, based on a synthesis of justificatory knowledge and ‘organizational options’, can complement the practical oriented design science research focus by allowing to design technical systems not only for factually existing contexts, but also for theoretically grounded, more desirable structures.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The terms ‘method’ and ‘methodical’ refer to the general procedure involved in conducting a study, which differs from the concrete ‘research strategy’ or technique, used to collect and analyze data [cf. 25–27]. In this perspective, the terms ‘methodology’ and ‘methodological’ refer to the theoretical underpinning of methods captured in the disciplinary body of knowledge.

  2. 2.

    This application is a summarizing excerpt of the author’s Ph.D. thesis [75], which provides a more comprehensive case.

  3. 3.

    An analysis concerned with structural criticism, e.g., the neglect of environmental resource management [see 75], is not pursued here.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Computer Science and Business Information Systems, University of Duisburg-Essen, Universitaetsstr. 9, 45141, Essen, Germany

    J. Marcel Heusinger

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  1. J. Marcel Heusinger
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Correspondence to J. Marcel Heusinger .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Groupe ESEO, Angers, France

    Slimane Hammoudi

  2. Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal, Setúbal, Portugal & INSTICC, Setúbal, Portugal

    José Cordeiro

  3. Wroclaw University of Economics, Wroclaw, Poland & Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Leszek A. Maciaszek

  4. Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal, Setúbal, Portugal & INSTICC, Setúbal, Poland

    Joaquim Filipe

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Heusinger, J.M. (2014). On the ‘Impossibility’ of Critical and Emancipatory Design Science Research. In: Hammoudi, S., Cordeiro, J., Maciaszek, L., Filipe, J. (eds) Enterprise Information Systems. ICEIS 2013. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 190. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09492-2_20

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