Case Studies And Grounded Theory Method In Information Systems Research: Issues And Use

Information systems (IS) are a hybrid of information technology, procedures and people in organizations. The Grounded Theory Method (GTM) was at its inception explicitly developed for research about the interactions of individual human actors in predominantly social settings. Therefore, applying the method to IS research-where organizational cases are often a dominant unit of analysis-requires both an extension of the method and a wider interpretation of its guidelines. This research note discusses these issues and suggests an extended process of analysis of case-based data in line with traditional GTM canons.