Information Systems Research Methodology Curricula at Public South African Universities

The academic discipline of Information Systems (IS) is relatively young and its history is dotted with debates about its identity. Arguably, one influence shaping the identity of the IS discipline is the research education and training provided to postgraduate students who subsequently undertake res...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: McArthur, Brian, Vithal, Renuka
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic disciplines
Colleges & universities
Computer science
Core curriculum
Education
Educational objectives
Handbooks
Informatics
Information systems
Literature Reviews
Names
Paradigms
Qualifications
Realism
Research methodology
Students
Studies
Teaching
Trends
Universities
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Summary:The academic discipline of Information Systems (IS) is relatively young and its history is dotted with debates about its identity. Arguably, one influence shaping the identity of the IS discipline is the research education and training provided to postgraduate students who subsequently undertake research and generate knowledge in IS. In this article, the formal research preparation of IS students is examined through a census sample of public South African universities at the postgraduate level through document analysis of formal curriculum handbook entries and module outlines of research methodology (RM) modules. Analysis of the RM module purposes, content, teaching, resources, assessment and learning outcomes of the intended official curriculum yielded two key themes in terms of orientation to: research paradigms and IS specialisations. These reveal a dominance of positivistic approaches and a limited focus on IS practitioner specialisation, which point to how RM curricula are shaping research and the evolving identity of IS as an academic discipline. It is proposed that RM curricula provide an overview of qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches as a foundation for the chosen specialisation.
ISSN:2049-0968
2049-0976