The nature of research: qualitative or quantitative, narrative or paradigmatic?

Abstract. This paper explores the role of qualitative and quantitative approaches in information systems research. The importance of qualitative data and the construction of narratives as a key procedure in the development of theoretical conjectures and empirical generalizations or hypotheses are discussed. This paper also puts the importance of paradigmatic thinking and research into perspective by contrasting this approach with narrative thinking and qualitative research. A recent PhD dissertation on strategic information systems is used to illustrate some of the concepts discussed in the paper. Although the paper advocates the importance of qualitative research and argues that in some respects it may be regarded as more creative than quantitative research, it clearly recognizes that the distinguishing feature of modern science is the formulation of laws, very often mathematical, that capture the essential features of a problem and allow us to make predictions both into the future and about other current situations.