Epistemologies in Use in Information Systems Research: Divergence or Change?

Researchers have referred to the dangers of widely diverse approaches for the future of Information Systems (IS) research and argued for ‘controlled diversity’, where some degree of consensus exists. The aim of this study was to test the degree of epistemological diversity found in a national IS research community and through this, to provide a verification and update of the results of a similar analysis in a North American context. The paper reports on an empirical study of the epistemology of Australian academic mainstream IS papers published in ten outlets between 1980 and 1996. Although increasing epistemological diversity was found it started from a homogeneous base and there were indications that it was controlled. The study tracked part of a longitudinal change process that may lead to consensus