R ESEARCH METHODS

3.3 Summary

3.1 Research methods

I will now elaborate my research approach by first giving a theoretical introduction to the methodology I applied in my research; Action research. However, the action research was conducted in my case study, which will be commented upon as well.

3.1.1 Action research

Action research is an established research method applied in various genres of science. In its early days action research was conducted mostly within the fields of social and medical sciences. The method has been in use since the middle of the twentieth century, with the first projects applying action research as a method taking place during the Second World War. Greenwood and Levin (1998) define action research as:

“…social research carried out by a team encompassing a professional action researcher and members of an organization or community seeking to improve their situation. Action Research promotes broad participation in the research process and supports action leading to a more just or satisfying situation for the stakeholders.”

Action research is considered to produce relevant results, as it is grounded in practical action with the objective to solve immediate challenges and at the same time generate knowledge; both for the specific context and in general.

METHODOLOGY

Figure 3: The five stages of action research (Baskerville, 1996).

According to Baskerville (1996), as illustrated above, action research is commonly structured as:

“…a five phase, cyclical process … In practice such methods often vary depending on the application. This ideal approach first requires the establishment of a client-system infrastructure or research environment. Then, five identifiable phases are iterated:

(1) diagnosing, (2) action planning, (3) action taking, (4) evaluating and (5) specifying learning.”

Further Baskerville (1996) states that:

“A key aspect of the infrastructure is the collaborative nature of the undertaking. The research scientists work closely with practitioners located within the client system.

These individuals provide the subject system knowledge and insight necessary to understand the anomalies being studied.”

Action research is then a cyclic process that enables iteration, accordingly making action research an explanatory approach allowing adjustment of the research as one goes along (Smith, 1993). This means that, in contrast to more standardized research methods; where typically a theory is investigated, data collected and then analyzed, or a hypothesis is made, tested and evaluated, action research enables a more flexible approach where collection and analysis of data may decide the next step for action (Dick, 1993). Emphasize on change and action implies responsiveness as an important element (Dick, 1993).

METHODOLOGY

3.1.2 Action research in the field of IS

Only lately, towards the end of the 1990s, action research in the field of IS has started to make an impact (Meyers and Avison, 2002). Following the International Federation for Information Processing in 1998 Avison et al. (1999) pointed to five main contributions of action research in development of information systems:

• The multi-view contingent systems development framework

• The soft systems methodology

• The Tavistock School’s socio-technical design

• Scandinavian research efforts intended to empower trade unions

• The Effective Technical and Human Implementation of Computer-based Systems (ETHICS) participative and ethical approach to information systems development

Sustainable networks of action

The compound reality to be taken into consideration when acknowledging a social systems perspective in IS represents a common challenge in action research projects.

These complexities are generally highly noticeable in action research IS projects in developing countries. A widespread destiny originating from complexities in the context is failure of making action research projects sustainable. Typically, action fails to persist after the departure of the researchers. Small donor funded pilot projects focusing on action in a limited scale often face this problem (Braa et al., 2003).

Output from limitedly scaled action research initiatives is for practical intentions more or less useless for health management, since only full coverage will help the manager in daily decision making processes. When no benefit of such pilot projects is found, the efforts are being left largely unsustainable (ibid.).

Braa et al. (2003) argue that action research in IS requires large networks to survive, exemplified by HISs in developing countries. Such networks of action are considered crucial regarding scalability and sustainability. This could be accomplished and facilitated by building around ICT (Castells 1996). They draw from Elden and Chisholm’s (1993) key lessons from two decades of action research within IS development; the need to situate action within networks rather than on singular units;

“Using networks of different organisations or work units that can struggle together to learn from each other to develop designs that meet specific requirements of local conditions has emerged as an alternative to establishing experimental units” (Elden and Chisholm 1993 p.293)

Action research projects therefore need to scale up and hence obtain a critical mass.

In the context of HISs in developing countries, coverage and sustainability are interconnected (Braa et al., 2003). To be able to scale, action research efforts need to go through alignment processes with existing structures and networks, especially regarding aspects of control and institutionalization. Transfer of appropriate knowledge must be embedded in the alignment processes, because local expert

METHODOLOGY

groups will be responsible for continuing maintenance and development when the researchers have left.

3.1.3 Case study

Benbasat, Goldstein and Mead, (2002, p.81) describe a case study as follows:

“A case study examines a phenomenon in its natural setting, employing multiple methods of data collection to gather information from one or few entities (People, groups, or organizations)”.

Another typical aspect of case studies is annotated by Cornford and Smithson (1996 p.49):

“A case study is an in-depth exploration of one situation.”

Exploration of case studies commonly need to span over a certain period of time, as a snapshot of a situation has problems of capturing change processes. As a rule, using a multiple of means, the researchers dedicate themselves to a specific situation; the case, and in return a richness of data might be obtained (ibid., p.49). For the purpose of generalization a single case study may not, accordingly to the tradition of positivist science, give appropriate data. However, finding other similar studies for comparison may improve the chance to make the problem area better addressable.

Walsham (1993, 2001) indicates case studies as “interpretive”, where different researchers may have diverse perceptions of the problem area. However, the idea is to expose “a truth” rather than “the truth”. As something that is interpretive is of subjective matter, a case study of interpretive nature may be interpreted differently by different people, as the case will be narrated using the researcher’s own thoughts and ideas on the phenomena described.