SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETING CASE-STUDY RESEARCH - COMBINING RIGOUR, RELEVANCE AND PRAGMATISM

The organizational and social issues associated with the development, implementation and use of computer-based information systems have incr easingly attracted the attention of information systems researchers. i nterest in qualitative research methods such as action research, case study research and ethnography, which focus on understanding social ph enomena in their natural setting, has consequently grown. Case study r esearch is the most widely used qualitative research method in informa tion systems research, and is well suited to understanding the interac tions between information technology-related innovations and organizat ional contexts. Although case study research is useful as a means of s tudying information systems development and use in the field, there ca n be practical difficulties associated with attempting to undertake ca se studies as a rigorous and effective method of research. This paper addresses a number of these difficulties and offers some practical gui delines for successfully completing case study research. The paper foc uses on the pragmatics of conducting case study research, and draws fr om the discussion at a panel session conducted by the authors at the 8 th Australasian Conference on information Systems, September 1997 (ACI S 97), from the authors' practical experiences, and from the case stud y research literature.