On Categorizing the IS Research Literature: User Oriented Perspective

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new approach for categorizing the body of knowledge captured in the existing literature, past and present in such a way that contributions to the use side of systems development are made explicit. The new twist of this approach is that it seeks to bridge the most prevalent divides currently fragmenting the IS literature by offering an integrative classification framework for “use side” oriented IS research. We call our approach to literature classification “substance oriented”, because it builds on social theory concepts related to user concerns. It follows neither the latest paradigmatic nor earlier inductive citation or key word based literature classification schemes. Instead, it explicitly builds on the core concepts of Giddens’ Structuration Theory (ST), at least at its highest level. The approach has some affinity to Ritzer’s (1991) “metatheorizing”.