Abstract
In this chapter, we discuss some fundamental characteristics of science as a process and as a product. The chapter introduces key characteristics of scientific products, such as theories, evidence, or measurement. It also introduces basic principles of scientific inquiry, such as replicability, independence, precision, and falsification. In total, this chapter introduces a vocabulary for understanding information systems research as a science.
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Notes
- 1.
Galileo initially endured significant resistance to his findings because his measurement instrument, the telescope, was not trusted as a scientific instrument. It took decades of replication, a scientific principle I explain below, before his findings were confirmed to the extent that they were trusted as valid observational evidence.
- 2.
Refining measurements remains relevant to this day. For example, improvements in neuroscientific measurement methods like fMRI scanners have recently been developed and provide much more precise measurements of brain activities than any other measurement instrument previously used in cognitive psychology.
- 3.
These statements do not qualify these research inquiries as good or bad; they are merely used to distinguish different types of research.
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Recker, J. (2021). Information Systems Research as a Science. In: Scientific Research in Information Systems. Progress in IS. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85436-2_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85436-2_2
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