A critical study of the multiview methodology : a poststructuralist textual analysis of concepts in inquiry

This thesis considers the concept of information as meaning through the following research question: \nhow can we work critically with a tradition of information systems development methodologies? \nMotivation for this derives from the way 'hard' methodologies have traditionally regarded information as \nstructured data. This neglects 'soft' concerns for how people attribute meaning to data through a process \nof 'inward-forming' as they use data to make sense of a situation. The research is potentially important \ninsofar as it considers how viewing information as structured data may have confused attempts at theory \nbuilding. That is, if information is conceived of as structured data, then this may be reflected in how we \nconceive of a methodology's theory with the result that the meaning of a methodology becomes \nguaranteed by the theory. This gives rise to a prescriptive tradition of theory that is potentially misleading \nbecause it neglects the personal skills of those who use methodologies. \nThis is investigated through a descriptive/interpretive research approach using a poststructuralist textual \nanalysis of concepts in the theory and practice of a methodology. While structuralism views meaning as \nsomething static contained 'within' a text that readers passively consume, poststructuralism emphasises \nhow readers actively derive meaning through their interactions with texts. In addressing the hermeneutic \nand deconstructive aspects of poststructuralism, the research draws on the philosophers, Paul Ricoeur and \nJacques Derrida respectively. With regard to Derrida, deconstruction is used to argue how the main \nposition asserted by a methodology's texts is undermined by elements within the texts themselves. This \ncritically questions the foundations on which a methodology claims to be based. \nThe general purpose is to build theories of methodology that address information as meaning. To this \nend, the thesis centres on four areas of investigation: it considers themes associated with linking 'hard' \nand 'soft' methodologies, investigates a specific methodology that links such approaches, raises a critical \nelement by deconstructing concepts in inquiry, and considers implications for the relationship between \ntheory and practice of methodology. The area of application for the research was Multiview Methodology \n(MVM) because it combines a range of existing methodologies that reflect 'soft' concerns for how people \ninterpret meaning as well as a traditional 'hard' focus on structuring data for use on computerised \ninformation systems. \nThe deconstructive approach used in this research is not yet common in the field of information systems. \nAs such, this research is intended to contribute towards new critical strategies that challenge \nmethodologies as conceptual systems in their own right as distinct from strategies that challenge their \nauthors. Focusing on the conceptual implications of methodologies rather than their authors' intentions \nresulted in four main outcomes: a conception of paradigm as network, which refers to a shared \nconception of meaning, though commitments to beliefs in particular models vary from heuristic to \nontological; a Trojan horse phenomenon, which refers to tendencies to reiterate limitations criticised in \nothers; constraints of traditional print media insofar as these are associated with linear and static \ndescriptions of methodology in use; and methodology as metaphor, which refers to the process through \nwhich we understand the unfamiliar in terms of the familiar thereby creating new concepts while still \nretaining aspects of our past experiences.