Theoretical perspectives in IS research from variance and process to conceptual latitude and concept

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European Journal of Information Systems
ISSN: 0960-085X (Print) 1476-9344 (Online) Journal homepage:
Theoretical perspectives in IS research: from
variance and process to conceptual latitude and
conceptual fit
Andrew Burton-Jones, Ephraim R McLean & Emmanuel Monod
To cite this article: Andrew Burton-Jones, Ephraim R McLean & Emmanuel Monod (2015)
Theoretical perspectives in IS research: from variance and process to conceptual latitude and
conceptual fit, European Journal of Information Systems, 24:6, 664-679, DOI: 10.1057/ejis.2014.31
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Published online: 19 Dec 2017.
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RESEARCH ESSAY
Theoretical perspectives in IS research: from
variance and process to conceptual latitude and
conceptual fit
Andrew Burton-Jones
1
,
Ephraim R. McLean
2
and
Emmanuel Monod
3
1
UQ Business School, The University of
Queensland, Brisbane, Australia;
2
J. Mack
Robinson School of Business, Georgia State
University, U.S.A.;
3
Antai College of Economics
and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
China
Correspondence: Andrew Burton-Jones,
UQ Business School, The University of
Queensland, Colin Clark Building, Blair Drive,
St Lucia, Brisbane 4072, Australia.
Tel: [phone];
Fax: [phone]
Received: 24 February 2013
Revised: 27 December 2013
2nd Revision: 11 June 2014
3rd Revision: 12 July 2014
Accepted: 16 August 2014
Abstract
There has been growing interest in theory building in Information Systems (IS)
research. We extend this literature by examining theory building perspectives.
We define a perspective as a researcher ’ s choice of the types of concepts and
relationships used to construct a theory, and we examine three perspectives –
process, variance, and systems. We contribute by clarifying these perspectives
and explaining how they can be used more flexibly in future research. We
illustrate the value of this more flexible approach by showing how researchers
can use different theoretical perspectives to critique and extend an existing
theoretical model (in our case, the IS Success Model). Overall, we suggest a shift
from the traditional process-variance dichotomy to a broader view defined
by conceptual latitude (the types of concepts and relationships available) and
conceptual fit (the types of concepts and relationships appropriate for a given
study). We explain why this shift should help researchers as they engage in the
knowledge generation process.
European Journal of Information Systems (2015) 24 (6), 664 – 679.
doi:10.1057/ejis.2014.31; published online 30 September 2014
Keywords: theory; methodology; process; variance; system; epistemology
Introduction
According to Glaser & Strauss (1967), the highest rewards in science go
to those who generate an important theory. Many researchers also consider
a paper ’ s theoretical contribution to be the main measure of its quality
(Straub et al,