We examined 155 behavioral information systems research articles published from 1983-1958 and found that while this research is not rooted in a single overarching theoretical perspective it does exhibit a single set of philosophical assumptions about the the nature of valid evidence and the phenomena of interest to information systems researchers. We argue in this paper that these philosophical assumptions draw on the natural science tradition, and hence may not always be appropriate for inquiry into the relationships between information technology and people or + organizations. In particular, we suggest that the development and use of information technology within organizations is inherently processual and contextual, and that these characteristics are not always adequately captured by the philosophical assumptions prevalent in information systems research. Positing social process as central to information systems phenomena asserts the importance of studying the ongoing interactions among people, information technology and organizations, as these are situated historically and contextually. We argue in this paper that the dominant research perspective in information systems research is not well-equipped to deal with situated interactions over time, and propose additional research philosophies to augment the one currently favored by behavioral information systems researchers. We outline the features of such additionaI research perspectives, the interpretive and the critical, providing empirical examples to illustrate how and when they may be useful. We conclude that multiple research perspectives can usefully be employed within the inforrnation systems community to enrich understanding of behavioral information systems phenomena.

This paper critically reviews measures of user information satisfaction and selects one for replication and extension. A survey of production managers is used to provide additional support for the instrument, eliminate scales that are psychometrically unsound, and develop a standard short form for use when only an overall assessment of information satisfaction is required and survey time is limited.

We examined 155 behavioral information systems research articles published from and found that while this research is not rooted in a single overarching theoretical perspective it does exhibit a single set of philosophical assumptions about the the nature of valid evidence and the phenomena of interest to information systems researchers. We argue in this paper that these philosophical assumptions draw on the natural science tradition, and hence may not always be appropriate for inquiry into the relationships between information technology and people or + organizations. In particular, we suggest that the development and use of information technology within organizations is inherently processual and contextual, and that these characteristics are not always adequately captured by the philosophical assumptions prevalent in information systems research. Positing social process as central to information systems phenomena asserts the importance of studying the ongoing interactions among people, information technology and organizations, as these are situated historically and contextually.We argue in this paper that the dominant research perspective in information systems research is not well-equipped to deal with situated interactions over time, and propose additional research philosophies to augment the one currently favored by behavioral information systems researchers. We outline the features of such additionaI research perspectives, the interpretive and the critical, providing empirical examples to illustrate how and when they may be useful. We conclude that multiple research perspectives can usefully be employed within the inforrnation systems community to enrich understanding of behavioral information systems phenomena.

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"User involvement" in information system development is generally considered an important mechanism for improving system quality and ensuring successful system implementation. The common assumption that user involvement leads to system usage and/or information satisfaction is examined in a survey of 200 production managers. Alternative models exploring the causal ordering of the three variables are developed and tested via path analysis. The results demonstrate that user involvement in the development of information systems will enhance both system usage and the user's satisfaction with the system. Further, the study provides evidence that the user's satisfaction with the system will lead to greater system usage.