Concepções epistemológicas e metodológicas do campo de Sistemas de Informação na Europa : um estudo exploratório

Abstract

Information Systems (IS) is a relatively new interdisciplinary field in the Computing area compared to other sciences and it is still in process of consolidating its scientific and theoretical foundations. In this sense, the objective of this work was to identify and analyze which are the specific epistemologies and methodologies of the IS field in Europe. This work followed the qualitative research approach, had an exploratory and descriptive characteristic and used bibliographic research procedures. It was noted that the IS field in Europe has specificities due to the type of research being significantly more qualitative, theoretical or philosophical. Research with this bias is not as valued in high-impact journals due to the difficulty of carrying out these studies and the adequacy of the high standard of logic and writing required by the main journals. In addition, the impossibility of having a single unifying paradigm was demonstrated. The results showed that there is a huge concern related to scientific development, on the part of Europeans, due to the number of local universities, but the status of the European publication still has a peculiar denotation, due to the complexity and peculiarities of qualitative research. It was also noticed that interpretive research in Information Systems in Europe has been the dominant paradigm and has grown progressively.