Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Critical Research (critical + research)
Selected AbstractsThe ethical nature of critical research in information systemsINFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Issue 2 2008Bernd Carsten Stahl Abstract., Critical research in information systems is based on and inspired by ethics and morality. In order to support this proposition, this paper will suggest a way of classifying critical research that differs from definitions common IS research. According to the current definition, research is critical when it is motivated by the intention to change social realities and promote emancipation. Based on this critical intention, critical research is furthermore characterized by critical topics, critical theories, and critical methodologies. Using these criteria of critical research, the paper argues that critical research is ethical in nature. To support this view, the paper introduces the concepts of ethics and morality by analysing two traditions of moral philosophy, here called the ,German tradition' and the ,French tradition'. Using three examples of current critical research in information systems, the paper will show that ethics and morality strongly influence critical intention, topics and theories. Having thus established the ethical nature of critical research, the paper concludes by discussing the weaknesses of critical research from the point of view of ethics and morality. [source] CHINESE PUBLIC FINANCE FRAMEWORK: A CONTEXTUAL ANALYSISFINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY & MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2010ChunLei Yang This paper explores the complexities of government financial management in China and examines the nature of the recent Public Finance Framework (PFF) reform in that country. We argue that this reform is not just the latest instalment in a centrally dominated reform agenda (and a logical and strategic development in the process of social, political and economic transformation), but that it reflects the Central Government's struggle to fine-tune central-local financial relationships and to grapple with the consequences of the previously misplaced delegation of government budgets. In so doing, the paper challenges the prescriptive research which often pervades policy studies in China. Instead, it analyses the historical and contemporary contexts which are shaping government administration in China, and sheds new light on the background, implementation and future prospects of Chinese public sector financial reform. Overall, our contextual analysis provides a starting point for more critical research into the changes in government financial administration at both policy and organisational levels in China. [source] Poverty and Local Governments: Economic Development and Community Service Provision in an Era of DecentralizationGROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2009LINDA LOBAO ABSTRACT Social scientists have given substantial attention to poverty across U.S. localities. However, most work views localities through the lens of population aggregates, not as units of government. Few poverty researchers question whether governments of poorer localities have the capacity to engage in economic development and service activities that might improve community well-being. This issue is increasingly important as responsibilities for growth and redistribution are decentralized to local governments that vary dramatically in resources. Do poorer communities have less activist local governments? Are they more likely to be engaged in a race to the bottom, focusing on business attraction activities but neglecting services for families and working people? We bring together two distinct literatures, critical research on decentralization and research on local development efforts, that provide contrasting views about the penalty of poverty. Data are from a unique, national survey of county governments measuring activity across two time points. The most consistent determinants of activity are local government capacity, devolutionary pressures, and inertia or past use of strategies. Net of these factors, levels and changes in poverty do not significantly impact government activity. There is no evidence the nations' poorest counties are racing to the bottom. Findings challenge views that poverty is a systematic structural barrier to pursuing innovative economic development policies and suggest that even poorer communities can take steps to build local capacity, resources, and networks that expand programs for local businesses and low-wage people. [source] The ethical nature of critical research in information systemsINFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Issue 2 2008Bernd Carsten Stahl Abstract., Critical research in information systems is based on and inspired by ethics and morality. In order to support this proposition, this paper will suggest a way of classifying critical research that differs from definitions common IS research. According to the current definition, research is critical when it is motivated by the intention to change social realities and promote emancipation. Based on this critical intention, critical research is furthermore characterized by critical topics, critical theories, and critical methodologies. Using these criteria of critical research, the paper argues that critical research is ethical in nature. To support this view, the paper introduces the concepts of ethics and morality by analysing two traditions of moral philosophy, here called the ,German tradition' and the ,French tradition'. Using three examples of current critical research in information systems, the paper will show that ethics and morality strongly influence critical intention, topics and theories. Having thus established the ethical nature of critical research, the paper concludes by discussing the weaknesses of critical research from the point of view of ethics and morality. [source] Doing critical research in information systems: some further thoughtsINFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Issue 2 2005Chrisanthi Avgerou Abstract. In her paper in this volume, McGrath argues for more explicit methodological accounts of critical research in information systems. In this short paper, I voice my concern that emphasis on methodological accountability may well inhibit criticality, and I argue for the need to recognize that researchers bring into their investigation tacit knowledge, emotions, and moral and political convictions that cannot be rationalized in methodological descriptions. Moreover, I suggest that critical research should maintain suspicion to instrumental reasoning and that it should place its effort to producing knowledge on an alternative agenda of substantive social issues by the interplay of theory and empirical evidence. [source] A Transaction Structure Approach to Assessing the Dynamics and Impacts of ,Business-to-Business' Electronic CommerceJOURNAL OF COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION, Issue 3 2002Dr Richard Hawkins This paper proposes some ways forward in stimulating and structuring interdisciplinary research on business-to-business electronic commerce. A ,commerce-centered' perspective is proposed that is grounded in concepts of commerce as a complex socio-economic institution. On this basis, a conceptual framework is developed for assessing the dynamics and impacts of electronic commerce in the value chains of products and services. The approach focuses on examining technical change in transaction structures, and how this relates to the evolution of electronically-mediated business relationships in the rapidly developing Internet environment. The approach is oriented towards critical research questions concerning the effects of electronic commerce on the ways various market participants exercise and/or respond to control over the organization and operation of value chains, and the implications for business, the public interest and policy. The practical research possibilities of the transaction structure approach are then discussed as oriented toward a comparative analytical framework. [source] Gentrification ,Research' and the Academic Nobility: A Different Class?INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN AND REGIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 1 2008CHRIS ALLEN Abstract This essay is a response to Tom Slater's article ,The eviction of critical perspectives from gentrification research'. My essay addresses two issues. First, I consider the issue of why gentrification research appears to be losing its critical edge. I argue that social position infects understanding and, inevitably therefore, academic knowledge production. Thus the social proximity of the academic nobility to gentrifiers (and social distance between the academic nobility and the displaced) has epistemological consequences, notably, the lack of critical perspectives in gentrification research. Second, Slater's paper appears to be an appeal for more ,critical' research from the academic nobility. Perhaps we should go even further. We should actually question the epistemic authority of the academic nobility, which claims its legitimacy to speak about gentrification on the grounds that it undertakes ,research' into the phenomenon. There are strong and sound epistemological reasons for also listening to the marginalized voices of people that have ,first hand' (albeit not ,research') experience of the negative effects of gentrification. Résumé Ce texte est une réponse à l'article de Tom Slater sur ,l'éviction' des perspectives critiques des études sur la ,gentrification'. Il aborde deux points. En premier lieu, il traite des raisons pour lesquelles ces études semblent perdre leur acuité critique. La position sociale entache la compréhension et, donc inévitablement, la production de savoir académique. Ainsi, la proximité sociale entre la noblesse académique et les nouveaux propriétaires aisés (et la distance sociale entre la noblesse académique et les déplacés) a des conséquences au plan épistémologique, notamment l'absence de points de vue critiques dans la recherche sur la ,gentrification'. En second lieu, le texte de Slater apparaît comme un appel à des études plus critiques de la part de la noblesse académique. Peut-être faudrait-il aller plus loin, jusqu'à une réelle remise en cause de l'autoritéépistémique de la noblesse académique, laquelle revendique sa légitimité pour parler de la ,gentrification' en arguant qu'elle mène des ,recherches' sur un phénomène. Il existe des raisons épistémologiques solides et sensées pour écouter les voix marginalisées des gens qui ont une expérience de ,l'intérieur' (pas de ,recherche') sur les effets néfastes de la ,gentrification'. [source] | ||||||||||