Discovery and Representation of Causal Relationships in MIS Research: A Methodological Framework1
Authors: Lee, Byungtae; Barua, Anitesh; Whinston, Andrew B.
Journal: MIS Quarterly (1997)
DOI: 10.2307/249744
The lack of theories and methodological weakness have been pointed out as two distinct but related problems in empirical management information systems (MIS) research. Reinforcing the existing belief that too much attention has been devoted to “what" as opposed to “why” or “when” relationships exist, this paper focuses on a subset of model building and methodology issues involving the systematic discovery and representation of causal relationships. Our analysis of the existing empirical MIS literature reveals the need to build richer causal models, to increase the flexibility of model representation, to integrate the isolated worlds of pure latent and pure manifested variables, and to provide a tighter linkage between the exploratory and confirmatory research phases. Based on philosophy of science and advances in the fields of experimental economics and sociology, we propose a foundation for developing richer models by explicitly considering the exogeneity and endogeneity of constructs and a manipulative account of causality, and by recognizing the role of incentives, agent, and organizational characteristics in MIS models. Since richer models require more flexible tools and techn…