This article provides a critical assessment of the potential of participant observation as an interpretive data-gathering method for management information systems (MIS) research by drawing on a participant observation study of Executive Information Systems development. It identifies a range of issues with respect to participant observation in MIS research that may also be an integral part of reflective research practice for any field researcher.
Atkinson, P. and Hammersley, M. (1994) ‘Ethnography and Participant Observation’, pp. 101-118 in N.K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research. London: Sage.
2.
Barrow, C. (1990) ‘Implementing an Executive System: Seven Steps for Success’, Journal of Information Systems Management7(2): 41-46.
3.
Becker, H.S. and Geer, B. (1957) ‘Participant Observation and Interviewing: A Comparison’, Human Organization16(3): 28-32.
4.
Burkan, W.C. (1991) Executive Information Systems: From Proposal Through Implementation. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
5.
Checkland, P. (1981) Systems Thinking, Systems Practice. Chichester: Wiley.
6.
Cottrell, N. and Rapley, K. (1991) ‘Factors Critical to the Success of Executive Information Systems in British Airways’, European Journal of Information Systems1(1): 65-71.
7.
DeLong, D.W. and Rockart, J.F. (1986) ‘Identifying the Attributes of Successful Executive Support System Implementation’, pp. 190-205 in J.F. Rockart and C.V. Bullen (eds) The Rise of Managerial Computing. Homewood, Illinois: Dow Jones-Irwin.
8.
Downs, E., Clare, P. and Coe, I. (1988) ‘Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method: Application and Context. London: Prentice-Hall.
9.
Fitzgerald, G. (1992) ‘Executive Information Systems and their Development in the UK’, International Information Systems1(2): 1-35.
10.
Flowers, S. (1996) Software Failure: Management Failure: Amazing Stories and Cautionary Tales. Chichester: Wiley.
11.
Giddens, A. (1984) The Constitution of Society. Cambridge: Polity Press.
12.
Goffman, E. (1989) ‘On Fieldwork’, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography18(2): 123-132.
13.
Goffman, E. (1990) The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. London: Penguin.
14.
Jones, M.R. (1994) ‘Learning the Language of the Market: Information Systems Strategy Formation in a UK District Health Authority’, Accounting, Management and Information Technologies4(3): 119-147.
15.
Kluckhohn, F. (1940) ‘The Participant Observer Technique in Small Communities’, American Journal of Sociology46(3): 331-343.
16.
Leidner, D.E. and Jarvenpaa, S.L. (1993) ‘The Information Age Confronts Education: Case Studies on Electronic Classrooms’, Information Systems Research4(1): 24-54.
17.
Mitchell, R.G. (1991) ‘Secrecy and Disclosure in Fieldwork’, pp. 97-108 in Shaffir, W.B. and Stebbins, R.A. (eds) Experiencing Fieldwork, London: Sage.
18.
Mumford, E. (1981) ‘Participative Systems Design: Structure and Method’, Systems, Objectives, Solutions1(1): 5-19.
19.
Nandhakumar, J. and Jones, M. (1997a) ‘Too close for comfort? Distance and Engagement in Interpretive Information Systems Research’, Information Systems Journal7(2): 109-131.
20.
Nandhakumar, J. and Jones, M. (1997b) ‘Designing in the Dark? User Involvement in Executive Information Systems Development’, pp. 75-86 in K. Kumar and J.I. DeGross (eds) Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Information Systems, Atlanta, Georgia, US.
21.
Nandhakumar, J. and Jones, M. (2001) ‘Accounting for Time: Managing Time in Project-Based Teamworking’, Accounting, Organizations and Society26(3): 193-214.
22.
Orlikowski, W.J. (1992) ‘The Duality of Technology: Rethinking the Concept of Technology in Organizations’, Organization Science3(3): 299-326.
23.
Orlikowski, W.J. (1993) ‘CASE Tools as Organizational Change: Investigating Incremental and Radical Changes in Systems Development’, MIS Quarterly17(3): 309-340.
24.
Orlikowski, W.J. and Baroudi, J.J. (1991) ‘Studying Information Technology in Organizations: Research Approaches and Assumptions’, Information Systems Research2(1): 1-28.
25.
Prasad, P. (1993) ‘Symbolic Processes in the Implementation of Technological Change: A Symbolic Interactionist Study of Work Computerization’, Academy of Management Journal36: 1400-1429.
26.
Prasad, P. (1997) ‘Systems of Meaning: Ethnography as a Methodology for the Study of Information Technologies’, pp. 101-118 in A.S. Lee, J. Liebenau and J.I. DeGross (eds) Information Systems and Qualitative Research. London: Chapman &! Hall.
27.
Schwartz, M.S. and Schwartz, C.G. (1955) ‘Problems in Participant Observation’, American Journal of Sociology60(4): 343-353.
28.
Taylor, S.J. and Bogdan, R. (1984) Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods: The Search for Meanings (2nd edition). New York: John Wiley.
29.
Trow, M. (1957) ‘Comment on Participant Observation and Interviewing: A Comparison’, Human Organization16(3): 33-35.
30.
Van Maanen, J. (1979) ‘The Fact of Fiction in Organizational Ethnography’, Administrative Science Quarterly24: 539-550.
31.
Walsham, G. (1993) Interpreting Information Systems in Organizations. Chichester: John Wiley.
32.
Walsham, G. (1995a) ‘The Emergence of Interpretivism in IS Research’, Information Systems Research6(4): 376-394.
33.
Walsham, G. (1995b) ‘Interpretive Case Studies in IS Research: Nature and Method’, European Journal of Information Systems4(2): 74-81.
34.
Walsham, G. and Sahay, S. (1999) ‘GIS for District-Level Administration in India: Problems and Opportunities’, MIS Quarterly23(1): 39-66.
35.
Walsham, G. and Waema, T., (1994) ‘Information Systems Strategy and Implementation: A Case Study of a Building Society’, ACM Transactions12(2): 150-173.
