The Nature of Theory in Information Systems by Shirley Gregor

1. The Nature of Theory in Information Systemsby Shirley Gregor 組員: 602530036簡郁珊 602530030蔡孟如 602556017楊宗承 指導教授 : 洪新原教授 102年9月

2. Abstract introduction 在理論中不同的觀點 Classifying theory in IS Five types of theory in IS 大綱

3. 摘要

4. 介紹

5. 介紹 • What is theory • Definition of theory • the nature of theory

6. 介紹 Theory elements

7. 介紹 • 思考知識或理論架構可能出現的問題 譬如: • What is theory? 什麼是理論 • How is theory constructed? 理論是如何構成的 而這些問題被歸類為四個互相關聯的類別

8. Text 介紹 Domain questions. Epistemological questions 四種問題的類別 Structural or ontological questions Socio-political questions

9. 介紹 Domain questions. 領域問題 • What are the core problems or topics of interest? 核心問題或感興趣的話題是什麼 • What are the boundaries of the discipline?學科的界線是什麼

10. 介紹 Structural or ontological questions. 結構或本體論的問題 • What is theory?什麼是理論 • How is this term understood in the discipline? 學科是如何理解這個術語 • How is theory expressed? 如何表達理論

11. 介紹 • Ontological 是由實體(entities)、屬性(attributes)、以及關聯(relations)三個概念組成 實體 entities 關係 relations 屬性 arreibutes

12. 介紹 • Ontology • 廣義: An ontology is an explicit specification of a conceptualization • 其他重要性定義 • Shared conceptualization • logical theory

13. 介紹 • Ontology是共享概念模型的形式化規範說明，該定義有四層含義

14. 介紹 • Epistemological questions. 知識論的問題 • How is theory constructed?理論是如何構成的 • How can scientific knowledge be acquired? 如何獲得科學知識 • What research methods can be used?什麼研究方法可以使用

15. 介紹 • Epistemological 探討知識的本質、起源和範圍的一個哲學分支 • 目的 the nature of knowledge the extent or scope of knowledge

16. 介紹 • 先驗知識 僅憑推理得到的知識，而不受直接或間接經驗的影響 (經驗:指通過感官對世界的觀察) • 後驗知識 知識的得來和證實需要藉助經驗，又稱經驗性知識 • 知識論的核心問題之一為是否存在先驗綜合知識

17. 介紹 • 知識架構圖 knowledge is justified true belief知識是「証明為真的信念」

18. 介紹 • Socio-political questions. 社會政治問題 • Where and by whom has theory been developed? 理論在哪,由誰所開發 • How is knowledge applied? 知識如何應用

19. 在理論中不同的觀點

20. 在理論中不同的觀點 • Generalization • Data is form the foundation for theoretical development. • The notion of prediction entails some conception of generality. • In order to predict what will happen in the future, we need a generalization that includes future events.

21. 在理論中不同的觀點 • Causality • The idea of causality, or the relation between cause and event, is central to many conceptions of theory. • The ability to make predictions from theory can depend on knowledge of causal connections.

22. 在理論中不同的觀點 • Four prominent approaches to the analysis of event causation can be distinguished (see Kim 1999): • Regularity (or nomological) analysis. • Counterfactual analysis. • Probabilistic causal analysis. • Manipulation or teleological causal analysis. Company Logo

23. 在理論中不同的觀點 • Regularity (or nomological) analysis • Universal regularity gives rise to universal or covering laws. • “There are some causes, which are entirely uniform and constant in producing a particular effect; and no instance has ever been found of any failure or irregularity in their operation” (Hume 1748, p. 206). Company Logo

24. 在理論中不同的觀點 • Counterfactual analysis • Under this approach, what makes an event a cause of another is the fact that if the cause had not occurred, the event would not have (the cause is a necessary condition). Company Logo

25. 在理論中不同的觀點 • Probabilistic causal analysis • There are other causes, which have been found more irregular and uncertain; nor has rhubarb always proved a purge, or opium a soporific to everyone, who has taken these medicines. • This view is thought to be suited to the social sciences, where the lack of a closed system and the effects of many extraneous influences make other analysis difficult to undertake. Company Logo

26. 在理論中不同的觀點 • Manipulation causal analysis. • In this view, a cause is an event or state that we can produce at will, or otherwise manipulate to bring about a certain other event as an effect. • This analysis relies on an everyday understanding of a cause as an act by an intentional agent, for example, flicking a switch causes a light to turn on. Company Logo

27. 在理論中不同的觀點 • Explanation • In scientific research, explanation is one of the purposes of research. • An explanation is a set of statements constructed to describe a set of facts which clarifies the causes, context, and consequences of those facts. • Explanation is a way to uncover new knowledge, and to report relationships among different aspects of studied phenomena.

28. 在理論中不同的觀點 • Prediction • A prediction or forecast is a statement about the way things will happen in the future, often but not always based on experience or knowledge. • Theories can aim at predictions, which allow the theory both to be tested and to be used to guide action.

29. 理論的建構程序 • A central question for this essay is how to construct a classificatory scheme for theories in Information Systems • The method for classifying theory for IS proposed here begins with the primary goals of the theory.

30. 理論的建構程序 • 歸納法理論建構流程 • 確定研究問題，界定範圍 • 建利概念性或理論的結構 • 將概念操作化，建立待驗證的假說 • 設計方法蒐集資料，檢定假說 • 分析檢驗做出結論 • 確定結論的適用範疇即可能限制

31. Classifying theory in IS

32. 分辨歸納在資訊系統中的理論 prescription analysis & description explanation prediction 分辨歸納在資訊系統中的理論 The four primary goals of theory discerned are

33. 分辨歸納在資訊系統中的理論 • Components of theories across the taxonomy

34. 分辨歸納在資訊系統中的理論 • Some components of theory are necessary for other components. • Each theory must have some means of representation (include words, either spoken or written, mathematical symbols, operators from symbolic logic, diagrams, graphs, and other pictorial devices.)

35. 分辨歸納在資訊系統中的理論 • A single concept can have more than one physical representation: for example, the mathematical symbol “=” represents the same concept as the words “is equal to.” • Each theory must also have constructs, which refer to the entities (physical phenomena or abstract theoretical terms) that the theory concerns. • All the other components of theory depend on these basic components.

36. Five type of theory in IS

37. Theory for explaining B Theory for analyzing A C Theory for predicting 資訊系統理論 的五種型態 D E Theory for desing and action Theory for explaining and predicting 在資訊系統中的五種理論類型

38. 在資訊系統中的五種理論類型 • There is some variation within each theory type, with different types of work depending on the focus of work undertaken and the scope of the theory. • The classification is dependent on the main or primary goals of the theory, rather than goals that are present only to a minor degree.

39. 在資訊系統中的五種理論類型 • Type I: Theory for Analyzing • Analyze & state “what is”. • The most basic type of theory. • They describe or classify specific dimensions or characteristics of individuals, groups, situations, or events by summarizing the commonalities found in discrete observations.

40. 在資訊系統中的五種理論類型 • Type I: Theory for Analyzing • Theory that describes and analyses is valuable, as stated above, when little is known about some phenomena. • Any evidence gathered would be expected to have credibility.

41. 在資訊系統中的五種理論類型 • Type I: Theory for Analyzing

42. 在資訊系統中的五種理論類型 • Type II: Theory for Explaining • This type of theory explains primarily how and why some phenomena occur. • Explanations of how, when, where, and why events occurred may be presented, giving rise to process-type theory.

43. 在資訊系統中的五種理論類型 • Type III: Theory for Predicting • These theories are able to predict outcomes from a set of explanatory factors, without explaining the underlying causal connections between the dependent and independent variables in any detail. • The focus of the theoretical model could be on prediction • Reasons to justify the ascription of causality in regularity relationships might not yet have been uncovered.

44. 在資訊系統中的五種理論類型 • Type III: Theory for Predicting

45. 在資訊系統中的五種理論類型 • Type III: Theory for Predicting • Associated research approaches include statistical techniques such as correlation or regression analysis and data mining. • The existence of regularities or correlations between two variables does not necessarily imply a causal relationship.

46. 在資訊系統中的五種理論類型 • Type IV: Theory for Explaining and Predicting (EP Theory) • This type of theory says what is, how, why, when, and what will be. • EP theory implies both understanding of underlying causes and prediction, as well as description of theoretical constructs and the relationships among them. • Many research methods can be used to investigate aspects of the EP theory type.

47. 在資訊系統中的五種理論類型 • Type IV: Theory for Explaining and Predicting (EP Theory)

48. 在資訊系統中的五種理論類型 • Type V: Theory for Design and Action • This type of theory says how to do something. • It is about the principles of form and function, methods, and justificatory theoretical knowledge that are used in the development of IS (Gregor 2002a; Gregor and Jones 2004; Walls et al. 1992).

49. 在資訊系統中的五種理論類型 • Type V: Theory for Design and Action

50. 在資訊系統中的五種理論類型 • Interrelationships among Theory Types