SPECIAL ISSUE: CRITICAL REALISM IN IS RESEARCH CAUSAL EXPLANATION IN THE COORDINATING PROCESS: A CRITICAL REALIST CASE STUDY OF FEDERATED IT GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES

In order to gain broad exposure to the emergent properties of the relevant structures and to counter potential biases in the research process (Wynn and Williams 2012),1 we employed multiple data collection methods to explore the coordinating process at Large Pub. These included semi-structured interviews, passive observations, review of archival data, and informal conversations with key participants. The data collection process took place between October 2003 and January 2007. A summary of the data collected is presented in Table A1. The primary data source was the interviews of key informants which included 24 interviews with 20 ITAC participants, and 12 interviews with 12 BPA participants all totaling 49 hours (see Tables A2 and A3). The interviews included almost all of the primary participants in both coordinating efforts. The interviews were semi-structured, starting with a standard interview guide and evolved based on participant insights and prior findings. For participants who were re-interviewed, the same basic interview guide was used with the focus on confirming prior findings and identifying changes. All interviews were conducted by the first author, and approximately one-half by both. Interviews typically lasted about 1.5 hours, and all but four were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. Interviews were supplemented with extensive field notes. To insure each interview accurately conveyed the participant’s thoughts, each was given an electronic version of the interview transcription and asked to review for accuracy. In addition to interviews, extensive observations were made by the authors as passive observers of regularly scheduled ITAC meetings. A total of 26 monthly ITAC meetings were observed between March 2004 and October 2006. Other observations included two multiday off-sit